Because of some problems elsewhere on the internet involving some domain service providers, we can expect a follow-on effect creating downtime for an unknown period.

If you experience problems getting to the site for a while, do not panic.  It is a passing effect of problems elsewhere.  Once the domain name network is settled again, everything will work fine.

EDIT: It looks like the effects have passed and the domain name network is smoothing out again. If you still experience any effects, just give it a little time. All the sites on the server appear to have returned to normal.

Petroglyph came up with a great suggestion in Forums: http://www.literalminded.com/discussion-forums/-writing/cellphone-novels , and this is going to be the basis for our March Contest. The rules are as follows:
-Submit a complete “novel” using 200 characters or less. Characters include letters, spaces, and punctuation marks.
-Post your entries here as a reply in this thread by Friday, March 21st.
-Vote one time for top 3 entries.
-Winners will be announced on Monday, March 24th, and posted in our April 2008 newsletter.
Good luck!

Congratulations to the Winners:
1st Place- Bud Budderly 
2nd Place-Icononclast
3rd Place-JennyWren
Wear your medals in style!

 Contest:

I chose this exercise for a couple of reasons. The first, is that there is no exposition allowed. This means that any writers out there who feel shy about submitting their work will have an opportunity to post without the pressure of being able to precisely capture the mood of a stormy sunset. The second, is that writing dialogue is a true challenge, and it can be difficult to give the reader a clear sense of who is speaking, when they are speaking, and what they are speaking about.

I hope you take up the challenge!

The April Contest for a story set in a medieval castle has closed, and Quaeritata is the clear winner.  Not merely because she was the only one to enter, but because all the comments have agreed that the story was excellently done, with good research and the dramatic flair required.

Well Done, Quaeritata!  There’s a gold medal for you.

This notice is for those people who have subscribed to the
Literalminded newsletter and who may have been upset by some
typographical errors. I must assert that I was not inebriated at the
time of sending the newsletter.

The following typographical errors were found in the Literalminded
newsletter and must be corrected immediately. I would appreciate your
help in editing the following in either Word or Open Office.

Next Saturday, December 22nd at 2pm EST will be the first meeting of Literalminded’s Saturday Writer’s Circle.

The Saturday Writer’s Circle will be hosted through Yahoo’s Instant Messaging Conference feature. The purpose will be to discuss the members’ works-in-progress, flesh out ideas and give general support.

You must be a registered user of Literalminded.com and have downloaded Yahoo’s Instant Messaging service. Please send Spastica a private message on this website if you are interested. Once approved, you will receive a conference invitation via Yahoo! Instant Messenger every Saturday at 2pm EST.

2002

Josh sat on the couch with a bowl of Cheetos on his lap. One hand was curled around an ice-cold bottle of Diet Coke, the other was gripped around the remote control. He flipped through the channels absently, waiting for something to grab his attention. It was noon and he was struggling to wake up. Last night the bar had been busy, and he left with over $100 in tips. He said a little prayer that tonight would be just as busy, because he really needed the money.

Actually, I’ll admit that it’s my fault.  Having set up the vote-up/vote-down system, I decided to allow guest voting, if it would feed the system a little.  This has turned out to not be a good idea, as we have been inundated every hour by wave after wave of random voting — by Googlebot and other search engines on their normal trip through the site.

The problem has been corrected, and things shouldn’t be getting promoted and demoted all over the place now.