Angie's Desk: 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Okay, so what happened is a couple/few months ago (don't remember exactly how long) I came across this add-on for Chrome that'd let you use the old Compose box with Gmail. I really hate the new one, and a lot of people seemed to like this add-on, so I added it on. It had a quirk or two (like adding space between the lines in your in-box right after you'd used Compose) but I could live with that to have the old Compose box back. And all was well for a while.

Then like a month ago, I suddenly couldn't get into Gmail on Chrome. First it was just my desktop system, but a few days later it broke on my laptop too. I had no idea what the problem was. I could get into that Gmail account just fine on Firefox, or even [shudder] Internet Explorer, but when I tried to bring it up in Chrome, it just kept cycling and cycling forever, as though it were processing the page but couldn't get anything to resolve. I logged out and logged back in -- nothing. I logged out, restarted the computer, then logged back in -- nothing. I tried approaching Gmail from different angles -- nothing.

Now all this time, Chrome had been bugging me to "complete" my Google+ profile for my AngieBenedetti mail address and, like, get with their system. I wasn't interested in another social network thing, so I ignored it. But eventually, after trying everything I could think of, I though, Maybe Google's messing with me because it wants me to do this Google+ thing? It wouldn't be the first squirrely thing some huge company had done to try to get folks to use one of their products, and Google's been closing its eyes on its "Don't be evil" thing now and again over the last few years, so I figured I might as well try. So I set up my profile on the angiebenedetti mail account.

Nothing.

[sigh]

I moved on, and eventually figured out that it was the add-on that let me have the old Compose box. :( I turned that off and poof! I could see my in-box in Chrome again. I figured the most recent Chrome upgrade had hosed the add-on. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Google did it deliberately, either, because they have major issues about forcing everyone to do things exactly their way. But anyhow.

So I had this Google+ profile floating around out there, with basically nothing but my name on it. Then someone added me to a circle. And someone else added me. So I guess I'm sort of there whether I planned to be or not?

I decided to give in and at least try it. I filled out my profile a bit more, and added a couple of people to circles, but most of the folks it suggested to me to add weren't people I know terribly well. If you're active on Google+, even if only a little, and would like to add me or have me add you or whatever, let me know. I'm still woefully ignorant about how this system works -- I'm not even sure if you'd look for me there as "Angie Benedetti" or "AngieBenedetti" or "Angela Benedetti" -- so however you want to ping me about it, do that. :)

We'll see how this goes. If it turns into a huge timesink, I'll probably walk away. But for now, it might be fun. Anyone else playing?

Angie

[ETA: Closing comments because of a ridiculous amount of comment spam. :/ ]

Friday, November 22, 2013

Ten Reasons to Try NaNoWriMo

I have a post up at the ARe Cafe today about Why Trying NaNoWriMo Is a Great Idea. Check it out. :)

Angie

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

But What About Readers and Reviewers?

There's a discussion over at Jessewave's that evolved into a thread with wider interest to fiction writers in general, so I brought one of my comments (and a bit of what I responded to) back here. Rick Reed wrote the original post, talking about women in m/m romances, and of course the conversation strayed over to the question of m/f sex in m/m books. For those of you who aren't into romance, or aren't into m/m, there's a fairly sturdy divide between readers who are willing to follow a character's story wherever it leads, and readers who, in their own words, don't want anyone getting "girl cooties" in their m/m romance. You can probably tell what side of the debate I'm on. [cough]

Anyway, Carolyne wondered in comments whether it wouldn't be practical to just avoid story elements that readers have said they dislike, in the name of maximizing sales and reviews, then said:

I don’t say all the above in a cranky way, but in asking myself whether it simply makes much more sense to make a reasonable compromise in one’s writing, to be practical and give a story its best chances in the world.

My response got kind of long, as is often the case. I posted it there, but thought I'd put it here too, because it has a larger application than just romance:

This is a question each writer has to answer for her/himself. My answer is no. I won't compromise my work because a few people are loud about what they dislike. They're entitled to their opinions, but my writing is mine.

Another way to think about it is that every subgenre, and quite a few full-blown genres, started out as a writer here or there writing something completely different, something that nobody had ever written before, despite the fact that there was no sign or clue that the readers of whatever the closest genre was "wanted" that kind of work. Paranormal romance started back in the 70s, and IIRC wasn't even considered romance half the time -- you don't find Yarbro's Saint Germain books in the Romance shelves even now, and that's the first I recall. "Weird" romances snuck into the mainstream through the occasional one-off -- anyone remember The Elsingham Portrait? -- and then in the 80s, time travel romance were huge for a few years. There were a bunch of books on the shelf with pocket watches on their spines, so TT fans could find them, while people who preferred "normal" romances just thought they were weird and dumb. Fantasy romances and SF romances (oh, excuse me -- "futuristic" romances) appeared in the late 80s as subgenres, when there had been little or nothing like them before in romance. Enough people glommed on to keep them going, which people who preferred "real" romances about doctors and secretaries and cake bakers and decorators made snarky comments. As late as 2008 a columnist at a major romance blog (now defunct) was griping about how there were "too many" of those weird romances around, about how they were pushing out the "normal" contemporary romances. She was kind enough to allow that there should be "a few" of the weird romances published, but only the very best. (Nice of her to allow people like me a few of The Very Best of the subgenres I like most -- maybe she'd be the one to vet them for me?)

What would romance -- het or GLBT -- look like now if writers who love writing about vampires and aliens and mages and interstellar ambassadors and shifters had read the gripes and snarks of people who only want contemporary romances, and thought, "Gee, if I write this stuff I really love, nobody will read or review it! I'd better toe the line and write about doctors and secretaries and dog walkers, because I want my books to sell and be reviewed!"

Will writing what you love yourself limit your market? Sure. That's always true. If you write mystery romances, there are people who don't like those. If you write about shifters, there are people who'll eyeroll and move on. If you write about cross-dressing main characters, there are people who aren't into that. If you write BDSM romances, plenty of people will avoid them. That's their choice to make, and always has been. I know that no matter what I write, I'll never capture 100% of the market. Not even the biggest, most popular NYT bestsellers capture 100% of their target market, no matter how many marketing weasels call something "the must-read book of the year."

Will writing certain things limit your reviews? Sure. Again, that's always true. If I put a m/f sex scene in a book, Wave won't review it. She pays the hosting fees, so the site runs by her rules. That's not a limitation on what I can or should write, though, and I doubt very much that even Wave thinks it should be.

I'll write what I want to write, and let each book find its audience. Some audiences are going to be bigger than others -- that's how the business works. Trying to guess ahead of time what's going to be huge or what's going to be smaller, and then writing only what you think will be huge, is a fool's game, though. Coincidentally, Dean Wesley Smith posted about something like this just a day or two ago -- The Myth: To sell either to editors or readers, you must write what is hot. Dean's answer to this question is, "Kick all the editor and agent and online board voices out of your writing office and write what makes you passionate or angry or excited." That, right there -- do that, or IMO there's no point in being a writer. We're certainly not here to get rich, right? If your number one goal is making money, there are a lot of easier, less chancy ways of going about it. [wry smile] If I'm not having fun, if I'm not writing what I want and what I love, then I have no reason to be here.

Angie

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Anthology Markets

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Political Phone Spam

Dear American Political Candidates:

Okay, I know you're all exempt from the requirement to refrain from cold-calling the people on the National Do Not Call List. Of course you are -- Congress is made up of politicians, and they made sure that they and their campaign workers would be exempt. You don't want to be hassled at home during dinner by people calling trying to sell you things or make you take a poll. You get how annoying that is. But when it comes to annoying others for your own purposes, well, I guess that looked like a completely different thing.

So when people working for your campaign call our number, which has been on the Do Not Call List since its inception, I understand that I have no legal recourse. No one's going to fine you, or even slap you on the wrist.

But you know, when your campaign workers call people whose numbers are on the Do Not Call List, they're communicating more in your name than just your campaign message. They're also communicating that you don't give a damn what I want, how I feel, or what my preferences are when it comes to communications from people I don't know and have never done business with. You're calling me because you want me to hear your message and you give no damns about whether I want to hear it or not.

That being the case, why should I assume that you'll give any damns about what I think or what I want once you're in office? If you're trying to persuade me that you're the best person to represent my wishes and views in our government, I have to say you're doing a piss poor job of it.

Neither I nor my husband will be voting for any of the people whose campaign workers (or their robo-call minions) have called us with political messages. You've made it clear you don't care what I think, and that you believe you should be above any repercussions for your acts of voter annoyance, and by doing that you've convinced at least the two of us that you'd suck as our elected leaders or representatives. I'll bet we're not the only ones, either.

Have fun on election night.

Angie

Friday, November 1, 2013

HELL NO: The Sensible Horror Film

This is awesome. Why aren't all horror movies like this? I mean, okay, there'd have to be some more actual danger to make a good movie, but that just means the writers have to work harder to put characters with functional brains into dangerous and scary situations. Is it really that hard? I do think this is a writing issue, although I get that in Hollywood, the writer is generally the omega dog in the pack and isn't allowed to do a good job even if he/she wants to and is capable. I wish Hollywood would let its writers create characters who don't have great, gaping chasms between their ears. I might watch more horror movies if they did.

Until that happens, check this one out. :)

Thanks to Pam Singer for sending me the link to this!

Angie

Thursday, October 31, 2013

NaNo?

Is anyone else around here doing NaNoWriMo this year? I'm all signed up -- if you want to be NaNo buddies, I'm here on the NaNo site.

I've done NaNo a few times, only won once so far. The years I didn't participate, I was already working on a novel when November rolled around, and I was pretty sure I didn't have 50K words left. I didn't want to stop to start a new one for fear I'd lose my momentum on the old one. If I'm basically free, though, I'll jump into the NaNo pool, mainly because it's fun, but also because I've found that even in the years I don't win -- and I've had some pretty spectacular crash-and-burn experiences -- I learn something about myself and my writing. That's always valuable.

Anyone else in?

Angie

Monday, October 28, 2013

Ten Things I've Done That You (Probably) Haven't

John Scalzi's been posting these lists on his blog and suggested other people post their own with a link, so here we go. John has obviously done a lot of things most people haven't, since this is his fourth iteration of the list, but I'll try to come up with ten.

1. Chaired an SF convention, twice. The second time from a wheelchair after tumbling down some concrete steps at speed and mangling myself.

2. Spent fourteen years getting an AA degree. (I finished that sucker, too! Never give up, never surrender!)

3. Brought a layer cake made of two failed chocolate cakes (neither rose, for completely different reasons) frosted together into one, for an office birthday party, and BSed everyone into believing that 1) I'd meant it to be like that, and 2) that it was really good.

4. Got stitches in my head twice before starting kindergarten -- once when our dog bit me for taking its bone away (I wanted to throw it so he could fetch it, hey, I was three), and another time when I was lying up on the shelf by the back window of the car when my mom had to stop suddenly, back when seatbelts were completely optional and kids routinely played all over the back seat area.

5. Spent two hours physically holding up a pair of panels forming one of the stage wings at a convention masquerade, because the tech guy had forgotten the wire needed to fasten them together. They drafted a bunch of gofers to hold them up for the whole show. I was smart enough to grab a chair. :)

6. Wrote a personal check for a whole long-weekend convention's worth of soft drinks, because we didn't know the guy wouldn't leave the tanks with us unless we paid in advance. O_O Then got the con chairman to run me to the nearest branch of my bank ASAP so I could deposit the check he wrote me from the convention account so the check I gave the nice soda man wouldn't bounce. [laugh/flail]

[Yeah, most of my weird-and-unique experiences came from working conventions, what can I say?]

7. As basically a senior gofer at a tech conference, authorized a rather large expenditure I totally didn't have the authority to okay, because a vital piece of equipment failed during set-up of our premiere evening event, and all the Committee people were up in their rooms putting on their tuxes and evening gowns, and nobody (including the guy nominally in charge of the event) thought it was important to bring a radio up with them. The other senior gofer who was de facto in charge of the tech set-up was about to melt down right there, and wasn't dumb enough to get the new equipment on her own authority, so I did it. And I was ready to chew a new asshole into any committee member who dared even glance at me about it, 'cause folks, this is YOUR show and it was YOUR responsibility to have someone with signing authority available at all times, and I don't even want to hear it.

8. Went walking through the woods gathering firewood while wearing three layers of ankle-length skirts, while camping, several times. Whether anyone else has ever done this probably depends whether anyone reading this is or was a woman in the SCA at any point. :)

9. Kept a pet spider in a home-made cage (cardboard box with a piece of screening over the top, with a little hinged door cut into the screening and secured with a twist-tie) in my backyard one spring. I caught mosquito hawks in a butter tub to feed the spider. I'm actually rather arachnophobic, and I did this when I was twelve while trying to fight the phobia. It didn't really work, but I was proud of myself for doing it anyway.

10. As part of my job from back when, got to go climbing around under a large piece of equipment of National Importance, something I could tell you about, but then I'd have to track you all down and kill you, and that'd be a lot of work, so, anyway. Funny thing -- Workplace Health and Safety requirements required me to purchase a pair of steel-toed shoes for working out on the floor. I got steel-toed sneakers, which I didn't even know existed until my boss took me to the store that sold them, just because the idea of steel-toed sneakers is kind of funny-cool. The thing is, I was on my back underneath a ridiculously heavy unit, checking off serial numbers on the underside while it dangled over my entire body on a winch. If said winch had failed, the steel-toed sneakers wouldn't have really done much to prevent damage to my person. But by gosh, the rules said I had to wear them, so I wore them. Luckily, the winch held. :P

If anyone else wants to do this, feel free to either comment here, or post to your own blog, with a link back to Scalzi's post. Or at least, go read his list, which is a lot more interesting than mine.

Angie

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Fun Halloween Stuff

Half the fun of late October is buzzing around the net, checking out what people are doing for Halloween.

Josh Sundquist is a paralympic ski champ who only has one leg. He's pretty awesome, and has done some amazing Halloween costumes -- a gingerbread man with one leg bitten off, a leg lamp (remember A Christmas Story?), and this year he's going as a flamingo. O_O Seriously, check out the flamingo. No matter how many limbs Josh has, he's an incredible athlete.

Rob Cockerham's done some great Halloween costumes in the past, and I think I've linked to them once or twice before. This year he's going as Disneyland. This isn't my favorite costume of his, as a costume, but watching the work that he put into it, constructing each ride and building, figuring out how to do water and jungle, how to make the roller coasters actually roller coast -- that was pretty cool.

My favorites from his previous years: Dr. Octopus, holding Spiderman's body over his head, a Fandango paper bag puppet, a vampire of course, and a crowd of paparazzi -- all the cameras actually flash.

And here, Tom Mabe turned a radio controlled quad copter into a flying Grim Reaper, then flew it around a park (some parks? can't tell) scaring people. I don't know how many people were running from the flying, black-robed skeleton and how many were running from the huge flying thing coming at them, but either way it was pretty cool. :) Although as someone in comments said, if he'd done that at an SF con or some other geeky gathering, the thing would've been surrounded by folks who'd run toward it to check it out and see how it was built. [grin]

Hope you're all gearing up for a great Halloween. Have fun!

Angie

Monday, October 21, 2013

Culinary Adventures

So last night I made Scotch eggs. For anyone who hasn't been lucky enough to have one, it's a boiled egg (hard or soft yolk is debated, and up to the cook) encased in a layer of sausage, then a layer of crumb-breading, then deep fried. (There are oven variants, which are hellspawn. Okay, not really, but if you're going to eat Scotch eggs, you might as well go for it, right?)

I had a Scotch egg on our last cruise, where one of the lounges had a British Lunch sort of thing going once a week. They were wonderous -- eggy and crunchy and sausagey, like the perfect breakfast in one bite -- and I've wanted to try making them ever since. "Ever since" finally came yesterday, but unfortunately the process wasn't without its bumps and diversions.

I'm more of a technique cook than a recipe cook; I'd rather learn a technique, then apply it to different foods, than have to memorize a bunch of recipes. When I'm baking I'll usually have a recipe on the counter, because baking is fussy like that, but most savory dishes are freestyle-friendly, once you've accumulated a certain amount of experience. So I typed "scotch egg" into Google and browsed through a few recipes to get the basic idea, then closed the browser and went off on my own.

You need a lot of oil for deep frying, which I've never done before. Seriously, if I got into the habit of deep frying, I'd be significantly fatter than I am now, so it's just as well it's a major pain. (No, we're not buying a countertop deep-fryer gadget, no-no-no.) So the husband brought home a couple of bottles of extra oil (just basic canola), and a pound of bulk breakfast type sausage, and a carton of fresh eggs. I had AP flour and panko breadcrumbs (which I used because, crunchy), plus seasonings and such, all on hand.

First, boil the eggs. My favorite way to boil eggs is in the electric kettle. You fill it about halfway with cold water, put your eggs in carefully (up to about four, depending on the size of the kettle) then flip the switch. The kettle goes on, and when the water boils, it turns itself off. If I'm just making hardboiled eggs for egg salad or something, I leave them in until the water's cooled enough that I can get the eggs out without scalding myself, since I like my hardboiled eggs hardboiled. For Scotch eggs, though, I was going to be cooking the eggs again, so I fished them out with a spoon about five minutes after the kettle shut off, then put them into a bowl of cold water to chill down.

When they were cool enough to handle, I filled a dutch oven (ours is enameled, but I don't think it matters) to within about 3" of the top with the oil, clipped a fry thermometer onto the side, and got it heating. I peeled the eggs and set them aside, got everything else out and set up, then checked the thermometer. It wasn't even registering yet and it'd been about ten minutes, so I left everything and went back to my computer for a bit, figuring I'd check it in another twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes later, the oil was "steaming" and the thermometer still wasn't registering anything. :/ Okay, most likely a broken thermometer. We have one of those cool, gun-shaped infrared thermometers, and it said the surface of the oil was some ridiculous temperature, like seven hundred degrees. O_O Oops. Okay, turn the heat off, and carefully shift the kettle off the hot burner.

The oil's clearly past its smoke point, which means it's technically ruined. In reality, I didn't have any more oil, so I figured I'd try it anyway. First times are for experimenting, right? Mental note, buy another fry thermometer before I do this again.

While waiting for the oil to cool, I broke the sausage slab into four approximately equal chunks, for about a quarter pound of sausage per egg, and flattened each chunk out. The recipes generally say to roll the sausage out between two pieces of clingfilm (which is British for plastic wrap) but I hate that stuff, so I just put it down on a piece of parchment paper and flattened each one out with my palm. I rolled each egg in AP flour in a little bowl, shaking off excess, then wrapped it in sausage. (Flour before sausage is supposed to help the sausage cling.) Shaping the sausage around the egg, once you've got it basically wrapped, is a lot like making meatballs; the actual shaping motion is a lot like that, if you've made meatballs.

I broke two more eggs into another little bowl and beat them, then filled a third little bowl with the panko breadcrumbs. I added some salt and white pepper and garlic powder to the panko, and stirred it up. When the oil was back down around 365 (the recipes said you want it around 350 for the frying, but putting stuff into the oil lowers the temp a bit) I took the first sausaged egg, dipped it in flour, then beaten egg, then rolled it in panko, dipped it in egg again, then rolled it in panko again. The double layer of crumbs is supposed to make the coating extra crunchy. Then I slipped it into the oil with a spider, since dropping it in didn't seem like a good idea. On to eggs two, three and four.

They fried up nicely, and I started taking them out when the panko crust hit a sort of medium-dark brown. Jim and I let them cool off, then ate them like finger food while watching TV.

I couldn't taste the smoked oil in the fried crust, which is good. But the sausage layer was a bit underdone (we ate them anyway and they were tasty and we didn't get sick) and I suspect that the smoked oil made the crust brown faster than it would've with unsmoked oil. Also, if the surface of the oil was 365 when I put the eggs in, the interior was probably a lot hotter, something I didn't think about at the time. So I probably fried them at too high a temperature, which would also darken the outside before the inner sausage cooked all the way. I'll do better in both areas next time.

And there'll definitely be a next time. Despite the glitches, these things are incredibly yummy. Two was very filling, and makes a good meal, if you're not fussy about your produce; most people would probably be good with one Scotch egg and a big salad or something. I imagine Travis would be good with just two eggs and call it a meal, which is what Jim and I did.

Good stuff, definitely worth keeping in the repertoire.

Angie

Monday, October 14, 2013

Anthology Markets

If you've just wandered in off the internet, hi and welcome. :) I do these posts every month, so if this post isn't dated in the same month you're in, click here to make sure you're seeing the most recent one.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, "Until Filled" markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Note that Upgraded's deadline has been pushed back to 31 October.

***

24 October 2013 (was UNTIL FILLED) -- Membrane -- Dreadful Cafe

Unreal. Imaginative. Intense.

An escape from the safe.

These stories will propel the reader—by wormhole or peephole—through the fantastic, the criminal, and the insane.

Sometimes strange, always original, the stories we publish are of the highest production standards, from thrilling premise all the way to professional editing.

We are now soliciting query letters for Membrane, our first anthology. All genres are eligible, but preference is given to stories that cross more than one and which reflect the flavor and theme described above.

Manuscripts must be between 2,000 and 30,000 words and not previously published by anyone but the author. Self-published works are accepted and encouraged!

Please refer to our Submission Guidelines.

Upon acceptance of your completed manuscript, Dreadful Cafe pays for non-exclusive, unlimited, 5-year publishing rights on the following schedule:

Short Stories (2,000-7,000 words) — $125
Novelettes (7,001-15,000 words) — $250
Novellas (15,001-30,000 words) — $500/Negotiable

It's your work.

We are simply paying for the rights to publish, market, and sell your completed manuscript as part of this or any other Dreadful Cafe anthology. You are encouraged to continue marketing on your own.

However, you will be unable to enter into any exclusive arrangement with other parties once you have sold rights to us. Also, note that we may give your story away for free as part of our marketing efforts, and that we may use edited excerpts from your story for the same.

This applies to both electronic and print versions, both in the US and abroad.

We may, at our discretion, hire an editor (at our expense) to work with you on your manuscript. Payment follows final completion and acceptance of the edited manuscript.

Dreadful Cafe reserves the right to reject your manuscript at any time and for any reason, including elimination from future editions of the published anthology.

No royalties or warranties are given or implied.

Estimated Publication: Pre-holiday 2013

Query Submissions Open: April 1, 2013

Query Submissions Closed: TBD

The Dreadful Cafe is committed to socially responsible publishing. All after-cost proceeds from this anthology will go to support St. Jude's Children's Hospital, because life is too short not to have fun and too precious not to do good.

We encourage you to support the many local charities in your community.

***

31 October 2013 -- Upgraded -- ed. Neil Clarke

An original science fiction anthology of cyborg stories edited by a cyborg.

Pay rate: Seven cents per word
Story Length: 1000-8000 words
Simultaneous Submissions: NO
Reprints: NO
Formatting: .doc or .rtf files in Standard Manuscript Format
Paper Submissions: NO
Electronic Submissions: clarkesworldmagazine.com/cyborg
Rights Purchased: First Print and Electronic Rights. Book will be published in print, ebook and (possibly) audio editions.
Deadline: 31 October 2013

Obvious Requirement: Cyborgs or cyborg-related issues must play a role in the story.

Feel free to explore this theme as widely as you like. Have fun with it and keep in mind that not all cyborgs need to be human.

Don’t Send:

== Zombie stories. Seriously. NO.
== Stories previously rejected by Clarkesworld. (I’ve seen it already.)
== Stories involving horrible things happening to children.
== Cyborgs that just escaped from Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc.

Authors already scheduled to appear in this anthology: Elizabeth Bear, Helena Bell, Tobias S. Buckell, Pat Cadigan, Greg Egan, Xia Jia, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan, Robert Reed, E. Catherine Tobler, Genevieve Valentine, Peter Watts, E. Lily Yu.

***

1 November 2013 -- Of Devils and Deviants -- ed. Adam Millard and Zoe-Ray Millard

Of Devils & Deviants will be a literary anthology, released as a hardcover book and a digital book, of around 90000 words with the theme of erotic horror. Your submission must contain elements of both to be considered. We want stories that will make us think, we want tales of the flesh, of the lengths people will go to for gratification. Think Cronenberg and Lars Von Trier; Clive Barker and HR Geiger. We want beautiful prose and originality. Most importantly, we want the darkest, creepiest story you’ve ever conceived.

What We Don’t Want:

We don’t want slasher horror; a naked woman getting hacked to death will not be considered for this collection. We will reject any stories that contain rape, bestiality, and the abuse of minors. We will be looking for originality, so stories featuring well-worn tropes (vampires, zombies, werewolves) will almost certainly be rejected. We don’t want gore for the sake of it, and we don’t want something that could be used as a porn-film script.

Submissions:

== Submit your work in Standard Manuscript Format to crowdedquarantine@mail.com with Fiction Submission: Your Story Title in the subject line. Attach your story as a DOC, DOCX, or RTF file.

== Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email stating your name, story title with word count, byline, address, and any professional publication credits you think might interest us.

== We will accept works of 2000-7000 words. Please query if you intend to submit outside these guidelines. We may be able to help.

== No simultaneous submissions, please, and no multiple submissions (please wait to hear from us before sending another story for consideration).

Standard Manuscript Format refers to William Shunn’s proper manuscript format, details of which can be found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html The only variation on these guidelines is that italics MUST appear as they will be used; no underlining.

Reprints:

Reprints will be considered if they meet our requirements. Please let us know when submitting if your story has been previously published, including details of where it was published and when the rights reverted back to you.

Payment:

We pay 1p (2¢) per word for all stories. Accepted authors will receive three hardcover copies of the anthology, and will also be able to purchase further copies at cost (not including shipping). Payment will be made within 30 days of publication.

Rights:

We are seeking Worldwide English Language rights for 6 months in print and digital formats.

Submission Deadline and Publication Schedule:

We will remain open for submissions until November 1st 2013. Our tentative publication date has been set for February 1st 2014.

***

5 November 2013 -- Fur & Fang -- Apokrupha

Have you been thinking of adding more monster sex into your life? Of course you are. Who isn’t looking for furrier and fangier sex these days? If you haven’t thought about it, we are betting you are now.

Boy meets vamp, girl meets werewolf or even monster on monster, there are no holds (holes) barred in this anthology.

We are looking for the best horrotica stories out there. Add a dash of romance or maybe some comedy, whether it’s dramatic or “climactic”, we want new and original stories that will make us blush…

Never mind making us blush, if we have to read your story with two hands, it probably won’t make it into the anthology.

All participants in your story must be 18 or older, we only want monsters of legal age.

For inquiries, please email: submissions@apokrupha.com

READING PERIOD: October 5th 2013 to November 5th 2013

PAYMENT: $50.00 flat rate

RIGHTS: non-exclusive print and electronic rights

LENGTH: 2000 words to 4000 words

FORMAT: please use standard manuscript formatting, for more information see:

http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

All submissions will be done through Submittable

Please include your full name, contact info, and word count in the document and cover letter (the cover letter is part of the Submissions Manager, not a separate file).

REPRINTS: Unpublished work will get first consideration. Any submitted reprint must not have been published within the last 12 months, and the author must retain all applicable rights. All previous publication information (for the submitted story only) must be disclosed.

RESPONSE TIME: 60 days or less.

[Click through for a link to their Submittable page.]

***

1 December 2013 -- SNAFU -- Cohesion Press

SNAFU will be an anthology of original military sci-fi horror novellas and short stories.

Bioweapons unleashed, mutations, ancient species unearthed in lost caverns deep within the earth… and the soldiers who fight them. You get the drift?

We have solicited novellas from some of the biggest names in the business, and this is your chance to appear alongside them.

There will be approximately 60,000 words taken up with novellas by the solicited authors, so we are looking for three or four original short stories via the submission process to fill the rest of the wordcount up to about 80,000.

GUIDELINES:

We are looking for original stories that take the standard military thriller and inject some horror, whether it be bioweapons, creatures from another planet or dimension, or anything that you can imagine.

We want action-filled, plot-driven tales that carry the reader along for the ride. Think Jonathan Maberry, Greig Beck, Warren Fahy, and Weston Ochse (SEAL Team 666 series). Think Dog Soldiers, Predator, or Alien. If you haven’t read Jonathan Maberry or Greig Beck, or SEAL Team 666 or Fragment, then what are you waiting for? Get reading.

Submission period – September 1, 2013 until December 1, 2013
Payment – 3 cents/word (semi-pro) and a contributor copy of every format that is released
Length – 3,000 to 7,000 words (if your story is longer or shorter, contact us first. We’re willing to look, on a case-by-case basis)

PLEASE NOTE: if your story sits outside our word limits and you haven’t contacted us first to check that this is okay, we will delete it without reading it.

Follow these guidelines when submitting to us:

== Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript
== Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting
== Courier or Times New Roman; 12pt; italics as they will appear. No underlining
== Double spaced
== DO NOT use tab or spacing to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure, do not indent at all
== ONE SPACE after periods
== NO LINE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required
== Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important)

For a guide to standard submission format, see Shunn's short story format.

The only variation to this format is that italics MUST appear as they will be used; no underlining.

== We are looking for original stories only. NO REPRINTS, please.
== Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know when you send us the story.
== If you do not notify us, and then you have to pull the story because it’s been accepted elsewhere, you will make us very unhappy.
== Authors can send us up to two stories at the same time, but please use separate emails. DO NOT attach both submissions to the same email.

Stories that fail to follow these requirements will be deleted without being read, so please don’t ruin your chances.
Email submissions should be sent as an attachment via email as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file.

== Name your file thus: SNAFU_”name”_”submission title”, using an underscore to separate all words.
== Create your email subject line thus: SNAFU_“Submission Title” .

Please include your full contact details (postal address, e-mail, phone number) as well as word count in the body of your email AND on the top of the first page of your manuscript (as per Shunn’s guide, linked above), and send your submission to: submissions@cohesionpress.com

Authors will be notified of their standing no later than two weeks after the submission period ends (no later than December 15). If you have heard nothing back three weeks after the end (by December 22), please contact via submissions@cohesionpress.com with subject line: query_SNAFU.

***

1 December 2013 -- Take This Man -- ed. Neil Plakcy; Cleis Press

Payment: $60.00 per story, payable on publication, plus 1 copy of the book

The editor of Active Duty, Beach Bums and other anthologies seeks romantic erotica focused on male couples in committed relationships.

Many erotic stories focus on the thrill of first contact—but Take This Man will be different, looking at how much sexier an encounter can be when the two men involved have been together for long enough to make a commitment to each other. Formalized or not, the fact remains that when you know what turns your partner on, and vice versa, your encounters can be even hotter, especially when you factor in the emotional component.

The anthology will be published by Cleis Press in time to celebrate the first-year anniversary of the decision knocking down the DOMA.

Story length: 3,000 - 5,000 words
Deadline: December 1, 2013
Publication Date: Fall, 2014
Payment: $60.00 per story, payable on publication, plus 1 copy of the book

Submit your story to Neil Plakcy plax@bellsouth.net as a MS word attachment.

***

1 December 2013 -- Me and My Boi -- ed. Sacchi Green; Cleis Press

Preferred Length: 2000-5000 words
Deadline: December 1, 2013
Payment: $50 per story and two copies of the anthology

This book is a celebration of all things boi, butch, masculine-of-center; the people we love who put their own personal spins on the gender spectrum. Bois who like girls, bois who like bois, bois who like both; those who don't label themselves bois at all but can't stand to wear a skirt. Tell me stories about female-born, screw-the-binary free spirits of all flavors. Cool bois, hot bois, swaggering bois, shy bois, geek boys, drag kings, leather bois, flannel bois. Young is fine, but so are butch daddies, mentors, and role models.

As always, give me fully-developed characters, vivid settings, original voices, intriguing themes, and steamy sex that develops naturally out of all the rest.

E-mail submissions (.doc or .rtf files only) and queries to:sacchigreen@gmail.com.

This book will probably be published in 2015.

***

31 December 2013 -- Take the Heat -- ed. Skye Warren

Theme: Criminals, illegal activity
Word Count: 4,000 – 6,000
Payment: $100

The ultimate bad boys, criminals have the power to capture our attention and waken our darkest desires. Celebrate the illicit in short story format for this taboo contemporary anthology. Put your own spin on the following scenarios or surprise readers with a new one:

- A jaded cop arrests a street walker only to find himself seduced
- A CEO catches a thief in the act—and exacts his own punishment
- A cold assassin finds one target he can’t bring himself to terminate
- An escaped fugitive takes a hostage who just might save him
- A new arrival at the prison stirs up lust in a long-term inmate

Make it sexy and shocking, erotic and thoughtful. A strong plot and well-crafted writing are musts. Twists and mindfucks appreciated. Angst welcome. Romantic elements nice to have. Any variation of genders, pairings, and sex practices accepted, but please refrain from submitting incest, bestiality, or rape as titillation, and all characters should be over eighteen.

The anthology will receive marketing support, including print advertising, review exposure, and event placement. A one-time payment of $100 will be made for each accepted story. Preferred word count 4,000 to 6,000 words. Contract is for 3 years exclusive rights and non-exclusive rights thereafter.

Accepted stories will be professionally edited, but please ensure that your submission is complete and polished. Include the title, your name, pen name, mailing address, email address, and bio on the first page of your manuscript. Format the document in Times New Roman font, 12 point, double spaced, black font, in doc or rtf format.

Submissions are due December 31, 2013. Send your story to skye@skyewarren.com with subject line TAKE THE HEAT.

***

1 January 2014 -- Daughters of Frankenstein -- ed. Steve Berman; Lethe Press

Lethe Press is seeking short stories and novellettes for its forthcoming anthology, Daughters of Frankenstein: Lesbian Mad Scientists! We're looking for more cinematic-style "mad science"--over-the-top vs. textbook--so everything from alchemy to steampunk to cloning in tanks is fine. The protagonist must be lesbian and her sexuality cannot be a stigma. While the mad scientist need not be the protagonist, she must be a three-dimensional character and her interest in (mad) science should have a natural rationale as in real life (though her desired ends to whatever experiment takes place as one of the story arcs need not be natural at all!). Our preference is stories that take place in 19th and 20th centuries, but we are open to other time periods and contemporary tales.

This book would be shelved in SF/Fantasy. So this is not an erotica anthology. Elements of romance are fine and welcome as long as they are natural to the story.

Original stories should be 2,500 to 12,500 words. Payment is 5 cents a word upon publication, which will be in the fall of 2014. Deadline for all submissions is January 31st, 2014. Submissions must be sent as rtf files to lethepress@aol.com with the subject line DAUGHTERS OF FRANKENSTEIN. Feel free to query us.

***

UNTIL FILLED (November-ish 2013) -- ChiralMad 2 -- ed. Michael Bailey; Written Backwards -- First Listed August 2013

Written Backwards is accepting submissions for Chiral Mad 2, an anthology of psychological horror. While the first two anthologies by Written Backwards were open to submissions following initial invites, Chiral Mad 2 is by viral invitation only.

What does that mean? Well, if you can read this, you are invited. It’s that simple.

What’s acceptable? Fiction that disturbs the nonlinear fabric(s) of reality. Mindbenders in the range of 1,000 to 5,000 words that could not only be classified as horror, but as psychological horror with chirality as its backbone (please query for anything longer than 5K, but if your story pushes over 5K a bit, no worries). This anthology suits stories that push the limits of the human condition. The keyword being ‘human.’ Strong character development is a must, and all stories must have some element of chirality, whether it is in character reflection, physical and/or mental symmetry, structure, or any other way you can manage.

What’s the payment? For the first time ever, Written Backwards is paying pro rates. $0.05 US per word, up to 5,000 words, or $250 US max. If your story is a reprint and you were not personally invited to submit a reprint, please query first, but note that payment will be at $0.025 US per word.

Here’s what is needed. Send your work via e-mail as an attached .docx, .doc or .rtf. How you format the story is not an issue. You are a professional. What’s really important is story. Send one to cm2@nettirw.com with a brief introductory message if you feel one is necessary. If you have references, or referrals, use them. Nothing too wordy. Use “Chiral Mad – Submission Title” as your subject line and don’t forget the attachment. We’ve all done it…

And in case you thought all of that was too much to read and scrolled to the end to get to the good stuff (or maybe you simply need a recap), here you go:

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Deadline: November-ish, 2013, or until filled.

Release: Scheduled for a winter 2013 publication (or early spring 2014, depending on how this thing takes off). If there’s any indication from the first Chiral Mad, the book will fill up fast and publication will begin sooner than originally anticipated.

Format: Trade paperback.

Word count: 1,000 – 5,000 words (longer work may be considered, but please query first).

Payment: $0.05 US per word, up to 5,000 words (upon acceptance) and one contributor copy (upon publication). All profit from this anthology will be donated to support Downs syndrome by Written Backwards. Copies will be available for cost as long as you donate profit received to a charity organization of your choice.

Reprints: $0.025 US per word, by invitation only, or if queried first and accepted.

Rights: one-time anthology rights for publication in the English language within the United States of America, with no publication elsewhere for 12 months, upon which time rights revert back to the author.

More information on chirality can be found here: Wikipedia article Chiral, or feel free to pick up a copy of Chiral Mad.

[NOTE: Click through for more info on the editor, the previous anthology, awards won, and charitable contributions being made.]

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Paperbacks, And Another Captive Magic Review

Paperback editions of Captive Magic are available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, although B&N still doesn't have the electronic edition for whatever reason. But anyone who prefers reading hardcopy can get CM in paper now.

==========

Sirius reviewed Captive Magic over at Reviews by Jessewave and seemed to like it a lot, giving it 4.75 out of 5.0. Sirius said:

This book starts slow, in fact for the first five-six chapters I was wondering whether I indeed was reading the book three of the same series, so slow it felt. However as the story progressed the more I thought that the writer made a very wise choice to start slow, because characters were established so clearly that I could see and hear them in my mind. I was especially pleased to see how real supporting characters felt and I loved Breck’s mother and little sister a lot. I thought that giving supporting characters their voices, by describing the neighborhoods where Breck and Manny lived, they acquired more depth. I mean, when I read about the character with firmly established roots, such character becomes much more realistic and believable to me and I thought this was what happened here.

So, bottom line is I have no problems with slow start of the book. When the magical issue both of the guys have to deal with takes more and more priority , the tension slowly increases, because it becomes really important for everybody’s involved to get the creature off Breck’s back and make sure that his sister will not die and as blurb hints Manny is also having problems because of his involvements.

...

I have to say though that while I never doubted the grave consequences for Breck, his sister and Manny for not figuring out how to deal with demon thing, for quite some time while I was reading I did not think that the ethical issues in this book rose to the level of the ending of the second book. I mean who would not have stolen anything in order to save a loved one dying from any illness? Now, if Breck would have been asked to kill in exchange for his sister’s life, that could have been something to wonder whether he would really do it and whether the means are worth the ends. And then BOOM – suddenly the stakes (ethical and others) went up and then the stakes went up again and I completely stopped complaining :)

Thanks to Sirius for a great review! Click through to read the whole thing.

Angie

Monday, September 30, 2013

Great Review for Captive Magic

Pixie at MM Good Book Reviews gave Captive Magic four hearts and said:

I really enjoyed this story with its dimension jumping and puzzle solving, watching as Manny and Breck begin to enjoy a relationship and how they save the day. I liked how they worked together to figure a way out for Breck and how they managed to fix things when everything went wrong. Their relationship was forged during a really difficult time for Breck, and you can see him being pulled in two when the demon gets impatient and begins pulling his strings…. do what the demon wants or be there for his mother and sister? Manny being with him and helping him really saves Breck in more ways than one. While Manny is a large part of this story, I couldn’t help but feel that it was really Breck’s story and although their relationship is special, it is really Breck’s trials that make this story great.

I recommend this to those who love paranormal abilities, dimension jumping, interesting beings, a relationship forged in hard times and a great ending.

Thanks to Pixie! I'm so glad she liked the dimension-hopping and all -- it's a bit different from what I've done in the earlier books, so I was hoping people who've been reading along would enjoy it. :)

Angie

Friday, September 27, 2013

New Book -- The Executive Lounge

This has actually been up for about three weeks, but it was published through the M/M Romance group on Goodreads, and the mods asked us to keep it within the group for a while, so I've complied. I think it's been long enough, though, so I'm posting to let everyone else know about it. :)

The M/M Romance group runs a fic-fest type event each summer, where anyone can choose a photo from the group's collection, write a "letter" to the author explaining what kind of story they'd like, inspired by the photo, and then put it up for grabs as a story prompt. Prompts are first-come-first-claimed. I chose a photo of a young man in a suit sitting on the ground next to a motorcycle, handcuffed to it by his wrists. He didn't look terribly upset to be in that situation, either. The prompt letter was as follows:

Dear Author,

It happened so quickly and was so unpredictable and completely out of control. A last minute, scratch that, a last second business trip out of town. A surprise office party for the CEO at the end of the very first day. BTW, does he look familiar or is my second martini and jet-lag messing with me? Late night bar hopping after that… and who on earth suggested checking out a BDSM club while we were at it? Certainly it couldn’t have been my idea; I know how to keep my kinks well hidden and under control. But here I am, chained to a bike like somebody’s pet and… happy? Damn if I haven’t seen that bike somewhere else up close before…

Sincerely,

Mammarella

What I wrote for Mammarella, inspired by her request, turned out to be a contemporary romance with BDSM themes. The Executive Lounge is a short novel, about 60K words long, and is available in e-book form (for free!) through a web site associated with the group, in PDF, MOBI and EPUB formats. I plan to bring out a paperback version by the end of the year, with the cover shown below. (I gave the fest folks a copy and they didn't use it, so it has a generic event cover; I have no idea why.)

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Made it to the Meet-Up, if Only Just

Last week was busy, and most of it wasn't very pleasant. I was horribly sick with the usual on Tuesday, and it hung around through Friday. Which had me worried because I had a houseguest coming over Friday night, and an event to go to downtown on Saturday, and I was hoping I'd be duct taped back together by then.

Luckily I was, and I got to have Pam Singer over for a couple of nights. She was in town for the Gay Romance Northwest Meet-Up; we actually managed to get a decent amount of sleep on Friday night, and went downtown together on Saturday.

I mentioned the Meet-Up here before, but briefly, it was a one-day conference for writers, publishers and readers of gay romance. The sessions were held at the Seattle central library, in an auditorium with stadium seating. The Keynote speaker, Marlene Harris, went first.

Marlene is a librarian at the Seattle library, and also reviews books online, including gay romance. She talked about how libraries manage their collections, and what readers can do to influence what books libraries acquire. Most libraries have a way to request books through an online form; if you're a user of a particular library, you should feel free to request books that you'd enjoy reading. They're more likely to acquire a certain book, or a certain genre or subgenre of book, if they know they have patrons who want them and will check them out. Note that it's not a good idea for writers or their families to request books just to get them into the library. First, librarians catch on to this and will figure out what's up. Second, if your book is requested and purchased, but then not checked out, that'll make it that much tougher to get similar books -- whether later books of yours, or books in that genre if its one they don't usually carry -- in the future. Readers who use the library should be the ones requesting books, but organic requests from actual users can certainly influence acquisitions for a library's collection.

I'll admit I haven't been a big library user in a while, and even longer if we're talking public libraries as opposed to university libraries, but I had no idea there was a way to request books. If you're a writer whose readers use their local library, encouraging them to request your books for the library collection, if they'll check them out, is a good idea.

Marlene told us that the Seattle library acquired over 200 gay romance books before the event, which was awesome to hear. :) Thanks to Marlene for supporting us and our genre.

The best panel, or at least the one I enjoyed the most, was the last, where we talked about expanding and diversifying the genre. Some publishers publish only gay romance -- only men allowed, although you can have more than two at a time if you like. Some reviewers review only gay romance -- only men allowed, and one will review books about only cis-men at that. Other publishers and reviewers deal with books representing other facets of the queer spectrum, but in reality it's the gay romance, erotic romance and erotica that is published the most, reviewed the most, and which sells the most. And the vast majority of the gay male characters are white, able-bodied, middle- or upper-class, and neurotypical. When religion is mentioned at all, the characters generally come from a Christian background, whether they're devout or practicing or not. (And given how some religious folks treat gay people, it's very realistic for a lot of the characters to be non-religious, or at least non-practicing.) Still, aside from the homosexuality (or very occasional bisexuality) there's a whole lot of privilege on display here.

There's a lot of room for expanding our character set, though, and this discussion was livelier than the others. One of the major reasons why is that early on, Rick Reed, who was on the panel, turned a question directly to the audience, and from then on there was a lot more back-and-forthing. Up to that point, the panels had been more group interviews than panels per se, with the moderator asking a question, each panelist answering, and then the moderator answering another question. Which works, I suppose, but you can do something like that just as well online as in realspace. The reason to get people together is to have an actual discussion, with people talking together, questioning and debating, and disagreeing sometimes -- a real conversation, rather than just a series of answers to a series of questions. Props to Rick for knocking the thing off its rails, whether that was what he intended or not.

There was a book drive for the Gay City LGBT library; each donated book was worth one raffle ticket, and there were a bunch of prizes raffled off, from free books to a couple of Kindles. I won a free book (which I still have to redeem -- thanks Amber! -- and was one number away from a Kindle both times. :P

After the sessions, we all trooped across the street to the Hotel Monaco for a "Happy Hour" that lasted more like three and a half hours. The University Bookstore (which also hosted my reading last month) was there selling books, at the library during the day and then in the evening at the happy-three-hours. I got some books and had them signed, and signed some books for other people, which was cool. And I did a reading, of the first couple of pages of "Learning to Love Yourself," which is currently out of print but should be back up by the end of the year. [crossed fingers] We only had five minutes for our readings, which is ridiculously short, but "Learning" is funny and it got some laughs at the right points, and applause when I was done, so that worked out nicely.

I met a bunch of people at the event, some for the first time and some I'd met before. I'm not going to try to remember everyone because I'll fail miserably, but I spent a few hours in the evening sitting next to Heidi Belleau (we were seated alphabetically) who's very friendly and bouncy. After the event wrapped, I went out with Pam and Amelia Gormley looking for food. We ended up in a restaurant with a wonderful looking menu, although we ended up sitting in a very loud and crowded bar, it being late at night in the wrong part of Seattle if you're looking for casual dining. I couldn't eat any solid food (see above re: sick) but the chef agreed to make me a smoothie. I'm not going to name the restaurant because the smoothie was pretty bad tasting, but I give the chef props for making me something that wasn't even close to anything on the menu; I'm assuming he just sort of winged it, and had never made a smoothie before. I was hungry enough that I didn't really care what it tasted like, and drank the whole thing anyway, so that worked. Pam and Amelia got burgers and fries and I was horribly envious -- the place has duck fat fries, which I've wanted to try ever since I first heard of them. I'm going to have to drag the husband back there some time when my stomach is functional.

We got back home late, and unfortunately had to go to bed way too soon so Pam could get up in time to make her flight. I'm going to have to figure out how to kidnap her for longer next year. :)

And yes, they're doing it again next year. The event was a wonderful success, and will be happening again on 13 September 2014. This is definitely worth saving the date for, if you have any interest at all in gay romance. It was fun, it was cheap, and it was packed front to back with great programming and activities. Good stuff -- looking forward to next year's meet-up.

Angie

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Anthology Markets

If you've just wandered in off the internet, hi and welcome. :) I do these posts every month, so if this post isn't dated in the same month you're in, click here to make sure you're seeing the most recent one.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, "Until Filled" markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Note that Upgraded's deadline has been pushed back to 31 October.

***

30 September 2013 -- Mars -- Third Flatiron Anthologies

We like things Martian: the Red Planet, H.G. Wells, Bradbury, Robinson, Roman God of War, Marvin....

Third Flatiron Publishing is an e-publishing venture based in Boulder, Colorado. We are looking for submissions to our quarterly themed online anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We’re looking for tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios.

Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words.

Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today.

Click through to the "Submissions" tab for preferred formats, etc.

For each issue, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred.

Your story must be original work, with the digital rights unencumbered. Beginning with the Summer 2013 issue, accepted stories will be paid at the flat rate of 3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties, as we're now into our second year.

***

30 September 2013 -- Strange Bedfellows -- Bundoran Press

Bundoran Press Publishing House is now accepting stories for Strange Bedfellows – an original short story anthology of political science fiction 'where ideology is a character.' We are looking for well-written science fiction stories with strong plots and compelling, if not necessarily sympathetic, characters engaged in arguments with the world. We want political stories, immersed in science, that take on those arguments without polemic but with passion – recognizing that causes have both effects and consequences. We don’t care what your politics are; we just want you to tell a good story.

Similar to our novel guidelines, we are accepting any genre of science fiction, from space opera to near future to any of the 'punk' genres. Military SF is fine as long as the focus of the story is on internal conflicts not armed ones. No fantasy, even urban, and generally no horror unless it has a solid SF element. In all cases, political systems, political processes, or political solutions must be central to the story.

No reprints, unless specifically solicited by the editor. (Don’t Query.)

We are considering stories in the 2000 to 7500 word range with a definite preference for 4-6000 words. Shorter and longer stores MAY be considered but no more than two stories shorter than 2000 words will make the book and no more than one over 7500 (hard maximum 12K).

Submissions open immediately and will close on September 30, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. Publication will be in April 2014 in trade paperback and digital editions.

Payment is 5.5 cents per word (Canadian funds) on publication, plus one contributor copy, for exclusive (12 month from date of publication) World English print and digital rights and non-exclusive rights thereafter. Exceptions made for Best of Year anthologies.

Submit story and separate cover letter in .rtf format only. Do not query. Response time is estimated at 4 weeks for rejection or request to hold. Final acceptances by November 15, 2013.

Email your attached rtf document to hayden@bundoranpress.com

***

15 October 2013 -- Kisses by Clockwork -- ed. Liz Grzyb; Ticonderoga Publications

Ticonderoga Publications is opening the reading period for a new themed anthology. This anthology, with the working title Kisses by Clockwork, will combine the fun and irreverence of steampunk fiction with an element of romance. There might be stories of airships, gaslight romance, retro-futurism, post-apocalyptic steam-powered cities, analytical engines or neo-Victorian ladies and gentlemen.

The relationship/s in the stories should have an emphasis on romance rather than erotica, but well-placed steamy scenes necessary for the plot are of course, acceptable.

The anthology will be edited by Liz Grzyb (Scary Kisses, More Scary Kisses, Damnation & Dames, Dreaming of Djinn, The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2010 and 2011) and will be published by Ticonderoga Publications in 2014.

Submission guidelines:
Send me your best romantic steampunk story.
== Story length 2,000 to 7,500 words. (Longer stories may be accepted, although payment is capped at 7,500).
== Original stories only: no reprints, multiple, or simultaneous submissions.
== Stories may be submitted via email at clockwork@ticonderogapublications.com in .doc or .rtf format.
== Manuscript format: double spaced, large margins, Times New Roman font, Australian English spelling.
== Submissions period open: 1 April-15 October 2013.
== Payment: 2 copies of anthology and Aus 2.5 cents/word (GST inc., maximum payment $187.50) on publication.

***

31 October 2013 -- Upgraded -- ed. Neil Clarke

An original science fiction anthology of cyborg stories edited by a cyborg.

Pay rate: Seven cents per word
Story Length: 1000-8000 words
Simultaneous Submissions: NO
Reprints: NO
Formatting: .doc or .rtf files in Standard Manuscript Format
Paper Submissions: NO
Electronic Submissions: clarkesworldmagazine.com/cyborg
Rights Purchased: First Print and Electronic Rights. Book will be published in print, ebook and (possibly) audio editions.
Deadline: 31 October 2013

Obvious Requirement: Cyborgs or cyborg-related issues must play a role in the story.

Feel free to explore this theme as widely as you like. Have fun with it and keep in mind that not all cyborgs need to be human.

Don’t Send:

== Zombie stories. Seriously. NO.
== Stories previously rejected by Clarkesworld. (I’ve seen it already.)
== Stories involving horrible things happening to children.
== Cyborgs that just escaped from Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc.

Authors already scheduled to appear in this anthology: Elizabeth Bear, Helena Bell, Tobias S. Buckell, Pat Cadigan, Greg Egan, Xia Jia, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan, Robert Reed, E. Catherine Tobler, Genevieve Valentine, Peter Watts, E. Lily Yu.

***

1 November 2013 -- Of Devils and Deviants -- ed. Adam Millard and Zoe-Ray Millard

Of Devils & Deviants will be a literary anthology, released as a hardcover book and a digital book, of around 90000 words with the theme of erotic horror. Your submission must contain elements of both to be considered. We want stories that will make us think, we want tales of the flesh, of the lengths people will go to for gratification. Think Cronenberg and Lars Von Trier; Clive Barker and HR Geiger. We want beautiful prose and originality. Most importantly, we want the darkest, creepiest story you’ve ever conceived.

What We Don’t Want:

We don’t want slasher horror; a naked woman getting hacked to death will not be considered for this collection. We will reject any stories that contain rape, bestiality, and the abuse of minors. We will be looking for originality, so stories featuring well-worn tropes (vampires, zombies, werewolves) will almost certainly be rejected. We don’t want gore for the sake of it, and we don’t want something that could be used as a porn-film script.

Submissions:

== Submit your work in Standard Manuscript Format to crowdedquarantine@mail.com with Fiction Submission: Your Story Title in the subject line. Attach your story as a DOC, DOCX, or RTF file.

== Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email stating your name, story title with word count, byline, address, and any professional publication credits you think might interest us.

== We will accept works of 2000-7000 words. Please query if you intend to submit outside these guidelines. We may be able to help.

== No simultaneous submissions, please, and no multiple submissions (please wait to hear from us before sending another story for consideration).

Standard Manuscript Format refers to William Shunn’s proper manuscript format, details of which can be found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html The only variation on these guidelines is that italics MUST appear as they will be used; no underlining.

Reprints:

Reprints will be considered if they meet our requirements. Please let us know when submitting if your story has been previously published, including details of where it was published and when the rights reverted back to you.

Payment:

We pay 1p (2¢) per word for all stories. Accepted authors will receive three hardcover copies of the anthology, and will also be able to purchase further copies at cost (not including shipping). Payment will be made within 30 days of publication.

Rights:

We are seeking Worldwide English Language rights for 6 months in print and digital formats.

Submission Deadline and Publication Schedule:

We will remain open for submissions until November 1st 2013. Our tentative publication date has been set for February 1st 2014.

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1 December 2013 -- SNAFU -- Cohesion Press

SNAFU will be an anthology of original military sci-fi horror novellas and short stories.

Bioweapons unleashed, mutations, ancient species unearthed in lost caverns deep within the earth… and the soldiers who fight them. You get the drift?

We have solicited novellas from some of the biggest names in the business, and this is your chance to appear alongside them.

There will be approximately 60,000 words taken up with novellas by the solicited authors, so we are looking for three or four original short stories via the submission process to fill the rest of the wordcount up to about 80,000.

GUIDELINES:

We are looking for original stories that take the standard military thriller and inject some horror, whether it be bioweapons, creatures from another planet or dimension, or anything that you can imagine.

We want action-filled, plot-driven tales that carry the reader along for the ride. Think Jonathan Maberry, Greig Beck, Warren Fahy, and Weston Ochse (SEAL Team 666 series). Think Dog Soldiers, Predator, or Alien. If you haven’t read Jonathan Maberry or Greig Beck, or SEAL Team 666 or Fragment, then what are you waiting for? Get reading.

Submission period – September 1, 2013 until December 1, 2013
Payment – 3 cents/word (semi-pro) and a contributor copy of every format that is released
Length – 3,000 to 7,000 words (if your story is longer or shorter, contact us first. We’re willing to look, on a case-by-case basis)

PLEASE NOTE: if your story sits outside our word limits and you haven’t contacted us first to check that this is okay, we will delete it without reading it.

Follow these guidelines when submitting to us:

== Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript
== Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting
== Courier or Times New Roman; 12pt; italics as they will appear. No underlining
== Double spaced
== DO NOT use tab or spacing to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure, do not indent at all
== ONE SPACE after periods
== NO LINE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required
== Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important)

For a guide to standard submission format, see Shunn's short story format.

The only variation to this format is that italics MUST appear as they will be used; no underlining.

== We are looking for original stories only. NO REPRINTS, please.
== Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know when you send us the story.
== If you do not notify us, and then you have to pull the story because it’s been accepted elsewhere, you will make us very unhappy.
== Authors can send us up to two stories at the same time, but please use separate emails. DO NOT attach both submissions to the same email.

Stories that fail to follow these requirements will be deleted without being read, so please don’t ruin your chances.
Email submissions should be sent as an attachment via email as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file.

== Name your file thus: SNAFU_”name”_”submission title”, using an underscore to separate all words.
== Create your email subject line thus: SNAFU_“Submission Title” .

Please include your full contact details (postal address, e-mail, phone number) as well as word count in the body of your email AND on the top of the first page of your manuscript (as per Shunn’s guide, linked above), and send your submission to: submissions@cohesionpress.com

Authors will be notified of their standing no later than two weeks after the submission period ends (no later than December 15). If you have heard nothing back three weeks after the end (by December 22), please contact via submissions@cohesionpress.com with subject line: query_SNAFU.

***

UNTIL FILLED -- Membrane -- Dreadful Cafe -- First Listed May 2013

Unreal. Imaginative. Intense.

An escape from the safe.

These stories will propel the reader—by wormhole or peephole—through the fantastic, the criminal, and the insane.

Sometimes strange, always original, the stories we publish are of the highest production standards, from thrilling premise all the way to professional editing.

We are now soliciting query letters for Membrane, our first anthology. All genres are eligible, but preference is given to stories that cross more than one and which reflect the flavor and theme described above.

Manuscripts must be between 2,000 and 30,000 words and not previously published by anyone but the author. Self-published works are accepted and encouraged!

Please refer to our Submission Guidelines.

Upon acceptance of your completed manuscript, Dreadful Cafe pays for non-exclusive, unlimited, 5-year publishing rights on the following schedule:

Short Stories (2,000-7,000 words) — $125
Novelettes (7,001-15,000 words) — $250
Novellas (15,001-30,000 words) — $500/Negotiable

It's your work.

We are simply paying for the rights to publish, market, and sell your completed manuscript as part of this or any other Dreadful Cafe anthology. You are encouraged to continue marketing on your own.

However, you will be unable to enter into any exclusive arrangement with other parties once you have sold rights to us. Also, note that we may give your story away for free as part of our marketing efforts, and that we may use edited excerpts from your story for the same.

This applies to both electronic and print versions, both in the US and abroad.

We may, at our discretion, hire an editor (at our expense) to work with you on your manuscript. Payment follows final completion and acceptance of the edited manuscript.

Dreadful Cafe reserves the right to reject your manuscript at any time and for any reason, including elimination from future editions of the published anthology.

No royalties or warranties are given or implied.

Estimated Publication: Pre-holiday 2013

Query Submissions Open: April 1, 2013

Query Submissions Closed: TBD

The Dreadful Cafe is committed to socially responsible publishing. All after-cost proceeds from this anthology will go to support St. Jude's Children's Hospital, because life is too short not to have fun and too precious not to do good.

We encourage you to support the many local charities in your community.

***

UNTIL FILLED (November-ish 2013) -- ChiralMad 2 -- ed. Michael Bailey; Written Backwards -- First Listed August 2013

Written Backwards is accepting submissions for Chiral Mad 2, an anthology of psychological horror. While the first two anthologies by Written Backwards were open to submissions following initial invites, Chiral Mad 2 is by viral invitation only.

What does that mean? Well, if you can read this, you are invited. It’s that simple.

What’s acceptable? Fiction that disturbs the nonlinear fabric(s) of reality. Mindbenders in the range of 1,000 to 5,000 words that could not only be classified as horror, but as psychological horror with chirality as its backbone (please query for anything longer than 5K, but if your story pushes over 5K a bit, no worries). This anthology suits stories that push the limits of the human condition. The keyword being ‘human.’ Strong character development is a must, and all stories must have some element of chirality, whether it is in character reflection, physical and/or mental symmetry, structure, or any other way you can manage.

What’s the payment? For the first time ever, Written Backwards is paying pro rates. $0.05 US per word, up to 5,000 words, or $250 US max. If your story is a reprint and you were not personally invited to submit a reprint, please query first, but note that payment will be at $0.025 US per word.

Here’s what is needed. Send your work via e-mail as an attached .docx, .doc or .rtf. How you format the story is not an issue. You are a professional. What’s really important is story. Send one to cm2@nettirw.com with a brief introductory message if you feel one is necessary. If you have references, or referrals, use them. Nothing too wordy. Use “Chiral Mad – Submission Title” as your subject line and don’t forget the attachment. We’ve all done it…

And in case you thought all of that was too much to read and scrolled to the end to get to the good stuff (or maybe you simply need a recap), here you go:

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Deadline: November-ish, 2013, or until filled.

Release: Scheduled for a winter 2013 publication (or early spring 2014, depending on how this thing takes off). If there’s any indication from the first Chiral Mad, the book will fill up fast and publication will begin sooner than originally anticipated.

Format: Trade paperback.

Word count: 1,000 – 5,000 words (longer work may be considered, but please query first).

Payment: $0.05 US per word, up to 5,000 words (upon acceptance) and one contributor copy (upon publication). All profit from this anthology will be donated to support Downs syndrome by Written Backwards. Copies will be available for cost as long as you donate profit received to a charity organization of your choice.

Reprints: $0.025 US per word, by invitation only, or if queried first and accepted.

Rights: one-time anthology rights for publication in the English language within the United States of America, with no publication elsewhere for 12 months, upon which time rights revert back to the author.

More information on chirality can be found here: Wikipedia article Chiral, or feel free to pick up a copy of Chiral Mad.

[NOTE: Click through for more info on the editor, the previous anthology, awards won, and charitable contributions being made.]

Angie's Desk

Friday, December 20, 2013

Anthology Markets

Saturday, November 23, 2013

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Friday, November 22, 2013

Ten Reasons to Try NaNoWriMo

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

But What About Readers and Reviewers?

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Anthology Markets

Sunday, November 3, 2013

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Friday, November 1, 2013

HELL NO: The Sensible Horror Film

Thursday, October 31, 2013

NaNo?

Monday, October 28, 2013

Ten Things I've Done That You (Probably) Haven't

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Fun Halloween Stuff

Monday, October 21, 2013

Culinary Adventures

Monday, October 14, 2013

Anthology Markets

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Paperbacks, And Another Captive Magic Review

Monday, September 30, 2013

Great Review for Captive Magic

Friday, September 27, 2013

New Book -- The Executive Lounge

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Made it to the Meet-Up, if Only Just

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Anthology Markets

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