September 8, 2010, New York): Master storyteller and former Booker Prize judge Frank Delaney (www.frankdelaney.com, http://twitter.com/fdbytheword) is launching his second Twitter Writing Challenge on Monday, September 13: write the best, most arresting simile you can in 140 characters or less. “Similes add flavor and clarity; they fix an image in the reader’s mind. A good simile in a passage of writing is like a raisin in a cake — sweet, and separately memorable, it heightens the relish,” the bestselling writer and former BBC broadcaster explains.

And to encourage, Delaney instructs, “A good simile in a passage of writing is like a discreet and expensive jewel on a frock — it startles at first sight, improves on closer scrutiny, but the overall effect is to add class to the whole picture. A good simile in a passage of writing is like a lovely trumpet riff — it helps to make the point but has its own particular resonance. Given such beliefs, how can I not enjoy the prospect of a Twitter Twallenge for the best simile?”

The prize for the three best simile writers is lunch with Frank Delaney in New York City, whenever the winner is in town (and barring scheduling conflicts,) or a signed copy of the Advanced Readers Edition of Frank’s next novel “The Matchmaker of Kenmare” (Random House, February 2011.)

In Delaney’s first Twitter Writing Challenge, he asked people to tweet the first 140 (or fewer) characters of a novel they wanted to write, inspiring prose such as “She was out swimming the night Carrickton burned.” by @ealvarezgibson, one of the winners. Delaney offers a daily writing tip on Twitter—a mixture of practical, psychological, and funny pointers on creative writing, non-fiction, and travel writing—as well as much lively and literary conversation with his fans.

Delaney’s latest novel “Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show,” (February 2010) was met with rave reviews, including this one from Book Page.

On Bloomsday 2010, Delaney returned to his broadcasting roots—he hosted such BBC radio and TV shows as “Book Shelf,” “The Book Show,” “Frank Delaney,” and “Word of Mouth”— and launched Re:Joyce!, a short weekly podcast on “Ulysses.” It’s been downloaded (for free) over 13,000 times so far, and has been heralded as “the People’s Ulysses” and “a grand addition to Joyceana” by listeners around the world.

Full rules for Delaney’s latest Twallenge (#FDsimile) can be found here at: http://frankdelaney.com/twallenge/simile/index.html