October? Impossible! IWSG

October is my favorite month, hands down. Fall, spooky things, Halloween, sweaters, gorgeous colors in the leaves, pellet stove, and the ability to actually cook real food without spending a fortune on air conditioning or simply roasting. Yay!

Since it's the first Wednesday of October, it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, this group exists to seek and lend support to fellow writers. Anyone can sign up. Simply click on Alex's name and enter your blog on the link list. Make sure to visit this month's awesome co-hosts:

Dolorah @ Book Lover, Christopher D. Votey, Tanya Miranda, and Chemist Ken!

Don't forget about the IWSG Anthology Contest!

Guidelines and rules: 

Word count: 3500-6000

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Theme: 
Masquerade
A Masquerade can be a false show or pretense, someone pretending to be someone they aren't. It can be a ball, a fancy dress party, it can be a mask. Open to interpretation.

Submissions accepted: September 5 - November 4, 2018

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (Double spaced, no page numbers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group. 

We've had some entries already, but we want more, more, more! If YA Romance isn't your genre, this is an excellent opportunity to stretch yourself and try something new.

This month's optional question: How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?

For me, I've found that if there's a major negative life event occurring, my creativity buries its head in the sand. When we evacuated during the Waldo Canyon Fire and were staying at a hotel, people kept saying, "I bet you've got tons of writing time!" Sure. Only I was stuck in a one bedroom hotel room with my terrified children, had no idea if my home was still standing, or my parents', or my friends'. I was too busy figuring out next steps, like where to go if the house was gone. Whether my husband's workplace would still be standing. All that jazz.

When my dad was diagnosed with ALS, I froze up for a few months. No writing. No desire to write, because I didn't have the emotional energy.

I can't say writing has helped me through anything. It's helped me cope with things afterward, but my creativity seems to disappear when my emotional energy is low. That's okay, because I always eventually get back to it, and get to exorcise it through the stories that follow.

Before I get to this month's stats, a couple cool things happened this month.

First, Strangeful Things made women in horror trading cards, and I'm on one! If you're attending the Women in Horror Film Festival, check out the Strangeful Things table. They've got some horror goodies, including these bonus trading cards.

And I discovered this awesome Ladies of Horror Fiction website, which includes a directory of female horror authors. And I'm on it! Exciting!

Also, I was interviewed over at Wonderland Press.

Okay, stats for the month. For those who haven't visited here before, I go over my previous month's submission stats to keep myself accountable.

In September:

3 submissions

1 acceptance

2 rejections

2 publications (Fright Into Flight and Society of Misfit Stories, Volume II

1 other (I've assumed it is rejected since I haven't heard back)

Now for links. Bear in mind I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Nonbinary Review is seeking literary pieces with the theme Dante's Inferno. Up to 2000 words. Pays $.01/word for fiction and nonfiction. Poetry and visual art are paid differently. Deadline October 24.

Flash Bang Mysteries is seeking flash mystery and suspense. 500 to 750 words. Pays $20. Deadline October 31.

Atlantean Publishing is seeking British folklore fiction and poetry. Short story to novelette length. Pays one penny Sterling per word. Deadline October 31.

Horroraddicts.net is seeking short horror pieces for Kill Switch, a tech horror anthology. Think Black Mirror. 2000 to 7000 words. Pays $10. Deadline October 31.

Chicken Soup for the Soul is seeking stories with the theme Life Lessons From the Dog. Stories should be personal and written in first person. 1200 words or less. Pays $200. Deadline October 31.

Shenandoah is seeking short stories, essays, poems, etc. Up to 8000 words. Pay varies. Deadline October 31.

Our Loss Anthology is seeking fiction or poetry dealing with sadness and loss. Up to 8000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline October 31.

Can you write when things are tough? Does it help? Have you submitted any pieces this month? Care to share your stats? Are you going to submit to the IWSG anthology? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.

*artwork by clker.com, OCAL