IWSG - Stretching Myself

It's IWSG time! And this month I'm a co-host, along with Kate Larkindale, Diane Burton, and Janet Alcorn.

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer's Support Group exists for writers to share their insecurities and give and get support. Anyone can join. Simply click on Alex's name and go to the IWSG tab to sign up. Post the first Wednesday of each month and hop around to visit others.

The optional question is: Have you ever written something that afterwards you felt conflicted about? If so, did you let it stay how it was, take it out, or rewrite it?

I don't believe I've done this. At least not that I can remember. It's one of those things where I feel like I must have, but simply can't think of an example. I did have a story that got rejected because I had harmed a dog (the dog did not get killed). Only, the editor said they wished I had gone all the way and killed the dog. So I edited it and killed the dog. The next editor rejected it because I killed the dog. For a time, I kept both versions of the story and submitted them to different markets, paying attention to which way I thought that particular market might lean, but I never sold it. Ultimately, I gave up, removed the dog entirely, and killed a human in the dog's place, then included it as a bonus story in one of my collections.

As far as current insecurities, I'm in the middle of a project that has me questioning whether I've really advanced far enough in my writing abilities to be able to pull off this off. Am I good enough? Did this opportunity come to me too early? All I know is I'm going to do my best and hope that my insecurity is unfounded. I've got a little more research to do, and have two months to get it in by deadline.

For locals, I've got a book signing coming up on August 12th, 1-3 PM, at Hooked on Books. They will be providing cookies and lemonade. I'll be signing with Bowen Gillings, Steven J. Anderson, and Christina Bergling.

I also have a signing with a larger group at Tattered Cover in September, so I'll post about that next month. I'm looking forward to MileHiCon in October, as well, so will have that information soon, too.

If you haven't signed up for my newsletter, my first one in several months is going out soon. You can subscribe over to the right. I send out release information to my newsletter subscribers first!

My podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem is ongoing. We're actually in season 6, which is pretty crazy! We do two seasons per year. I'd like to get some more interesting cryptids and hauntings on the show (it is true crime heavy, but I'd love to have more ghosts and monsters to mix in). Any recommendations? What are some of your favorite myths, monsters, or ghosts? Any haunted sites you think might make a good story?

What's your favorite cryptid? Have you ever worried that you weren't good enough to do a project you'd taken on? What did you do to push through? What are your insecurities? Any exciting new projects you're working on?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - Publishing Path, Stats & Links

It's the first Wednesday of September, and the last summer IWSG until next year!

The IWSG, or Insecure Writer's Support Group is a monthly blog gathering created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, where we address our insecurities and support each other. Anybody can join. Just click on Alex's name and sign up! Then post on the first Wednesday of each month and hop around to visit other IWSGers.

This month's co-hosts are  Toi Thomas, T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler! Be sure to stop by and visit them!

The optional question is: What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?

My publishing path started with short stories. I started experimenting with them then submitting then getting published, and they completely sucked me in. Now I'm looking at trying to get a novel traditionally published.

My insecurities right now are centered on which project I should be putting the most effort into. I've done a poor job querying my novel, so no new queries out this month. There are two novels I need to finish, and since I can't decide between them, I just work on other things. Plus, I have a craft book on writing, submitting, and marketing short stories outlined, but I haven't started writing it yet.

And then there's the siren song of short stories. I sit here doubting these longer projects, so I avoid them completely, working on short stories instead. Because they make me happy.

What I need to do is choose one long-term project, buckle down, and finish it. In the meantime, I keep beating myself up about my failure to do so, and keep writing short stories. Which means I'm still working, still getting things done, but I'd like to finish these other projects, too.

Submissions for the next IWSG anthology open today!

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.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges:
Elizabeth S. Craig, author
Elana Johnson, author
S.A. Larsen, author
D.L. Hammons, Write Club founder
Gwen Gardner, author
Kelly Van Sant, Red Sofa Literary Agency
Kristin Smith, author

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title. 

Each month I post my submissions stats to keep myself accountable. This month is a good one! After a lull in publication (I got a bunch of short stories accepted this year, but many of the releases were slated to the end of this year, starting in September), I've got stories in two anthologies releasing in September. More on that below. For now, my stats for August submissions:

Short Stories
3 stories submitted
2 rejections (one after a short listing of almost a year, which left me incredibly disgruntled and disappointed)
1 acceptance
10 submissions pending

0 new novel queries sent
1 novel query pending

Time for my good news!

I've got a short story in Flight Into Fright, an all female horror anthology. It just released yesterday! Purchase links can be found here: Fright Into Flight.

I also have a story in the upcoming The Society of Misfit Stories, Volume II. These are novellas and novelettes, so it's a big collection. Pre-order link is on Amazon, with release on September 15.

I'll also be participating in a signing later this month. Books and Brews will be a multi-author signing, with small presses selling books. This will be Thursday, September 27, 6-8 PM, at Peak to Peak Tap & Brew in Aurora. Other participating authors are Chuck Anderson, DeAnna Knippling, Stace Johnson, J.L. Forrest, Jamie Ferguson, Jim LeMay, Lou J. Berger, Mario Acevedo, Rebecca Hodgkins, Richard Friesen, and Wayne Foust.

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

Accepting Submissions: 

Feral Cat Publishers is seeking odd short fiction for Bubble Off Plumb. 1000 to 5000 words. Pays $.03/word plus royalties. Deadline September 30.

Red Room Press is seeking horror short stories for American Psychos: A Serial Killer Anthology. 3500 to 5500 words. Pays $100. Deadline October 1.

The Last Line is seeking flash fiction and short stories. Must have the last line "I will visit again if I am ever back this way." 300 to 5000 words. Pays $20-$40. Deadline October 1.

The /tEmz/ Review is seeking fiction, poetry, and reviews. 1 to 10,000 words. Pays $20.

Grasslimb is seeking poetry, prose, reviews, and art. Up to 2500 words. Pays $5-$70, depending upon type and length of work.

Folded Word is seeking fiction, poetry, essays, and more. Pays $5.

Flash Fiction Magazine is seeking flash fiction. 300 to 1000 words. Pays $40.

Tough is seeking crime short stories. 1500 to 7500 words. Pays $25.

Craft is seeking fiction and non-fiction. Up to 7000 words. Pays up to $200.

New Reader Magazine is seeking fiction, poetry, memoir, and more. Minimum of 500 words. Pay starts at $10.

What are your insecurities? How have you done on submissions this month? Is there anything you've been needing to do, but haven't been able to? Any of these links of interest? Will you be submitting to the IWSG anthology? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.

Release Party Photos & Links

Since I somehow had it in my head that it was IWSG (yeah, not for another week--maybe it's because I have some exciting new to share...), I figured I'd do a brief post about my book release party, which was this past Thursday at a local restaurant, 3.14 Sweet & Savory Pi Bar.

Photo by Ron

Photo by Sue

It was wonderful to see so many of my friends and family members. Even people who don't read horror, and therefore didn't buy a book, came out to show their support. I offered a discount if people brought canned/dry goods to donate to One Nation Walking Together, and was excited that a few people took me up on that, so I'll be taking their donations along with my own (if you're local, their food drive will be going through April 30, with the food going to those living in poverty on reservations--they also take cash donations online throughout the year).

I have to give a shout-out to the local writing community. I'm incredibly lucky to live in a city (and state) with a strong arts and writing community. There are all manner of writing groups and gatherings, and many people I've met through these groups came to the signing to show their support.

Here's a snippet of photos from the party. If you've got me on Facebook, you've probably already seen these, and then some!

Photo by Ron

Selfie by Jason

Photo by Ron

Selfie by Justin

As anyone who's had a book signing knows, it's impossible to feel like you got to talk to everyone satisfactorily, and I missed out on getting photos of some of those who attended, but the bits of time I had with people were such great fun. I was exhausted afterward, and took a couple days to fully recover from the party, but it was completely worth it.

To close out before I jump into submission links, here's a photo of me with my husband, aka the cover designer, snapped by a friend. He has helped throughout the process, and was a huge help that night, carrying things, helping setup, keeping me hydrated, taking pictures, and packing up at the end. Oh, and he made the signage you see! He has mad skillz.

Photo by Sue

Now for the 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 poetry, fiction, essays, and art relating to A Wrinkle in Time (book only). Up to 5000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline April 23.

Unnerving Magazine is seeking gothic fiction and poetry for Haunted Are These Houses, an anthology. 400 to 6000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline April 28.

Flash Bang Mysteries is seeking mystery and suspense of all types. 500 to 750 words. Pays $20. Deadline April 30 (does not open for submissions until April 1).

Hellbound Books is seeking horror like that around in the 80s for Schlock! Horror!, an anthology. 5000 to 15,000 words. Pays $10. Deadline April 30.

Sincyr Publishing is seeking creative nonfiction and poetry about personal healing after trauma for Kintsugi. 1000 to 5000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline April 30.

Cohesion Press is seeking military horror for Snafu: Resurrection. 2000 to 10,000 words. Pays $.04AUD/word. Deadline April 30.

Less Than Three Press is seeking polyamorous LGBTQ+ non-erotic stories about family for Happiness in Numbers. 10,000 to 20,000 words. Pays $200. Deadline April 30.

What was your favorite game or feature at a book release/signing? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.

Author Meet and Greet Update & Links

I'd love to be able to post something of consequence right now, to put out an informative post, or to even post fun horror stuff since this is usually my favorite time of year, but the election and just plain PEOPLE have me so depressed right now that I sit here staring at this blank screen and can't think of anything I want to talk about. I'm thankful it's not impacting my fiction writing, but it's just not happening for me on here.

So instead I'm going to post about the fun Author Meet and Greet I was part of this weekend. Because I had a great weekend until I went on social media tonight, so I'm just going to back up and pretend this evening didn't happen.

A local small press put on a signing event Saturday, and I was invited to be a part of it as one of two horror authors! It was held in a local art gallery, so we were surrounded by paintings and other forms of visual art, which is a great setting. There was wine, there were goodies, and there was a talented group of local authors. Friend and fellow horror author DeAnna Knippling shared the table with me, so we had some fun decorations.

The sign is new. My husband got up early and made it for me that day. Isn't he awesome? He even dropped by and said hi about partway through, and to see if I needed lunch or anything else.

I had four of my titles there, and I sold out of two of them! Not to say I had a big inventory of them or anything, but it was still exciting. Especially as my biggest fear going in that morning was that I would sell a big goose egg, thus letting down the friends running the event. I imagine it helped that it's the month of October. You know, formerly my favorite month. It's the month some folks who don't otherwise touch horror check it out. Even bigger than selling out, I sold to strangers! We authors try to support each other by buying books, but strangers, people who were not writers, they bought my books! Meep!

Now I have to decide whether I'll go through the work of selling my books at MileHiCon at the end of the month. It involves getting sales tax licenses for state and the city of Denver, and I only have two of my books. While I might be able to get my books in time for MHC that I sold out of, I'm not willing to pay expedited shipping to ensure it. So I need to decide this week, and to determine whether it's worth trying to get at least the one book shipped out now. SO MANY DECISIONS!

A lot of people stopped by and chatted, and even when they didn't buy a book, it was nice. All in all, I'd say it was a successful event, but I'm not the one who has to do the bookkeeping on it. If it was, in fact, successful, they'll hopefully be doing it again with other authors, but I don't know how soon that will be. Organizing events is stressful, and nothing teaches you that like doing it!

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

Accepting Submissions:

Ellipsis, a Westminster College literary journal, is open for their annual publication. Poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, drama, and art. Pays $10-$50. Deadline November 1 for most categories.

Belmont Story Review is open for fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. No word limit mentioned. Pays a cash honorarium. Deadline November 1.

Mofo Pubs is open for submissions to their anthology Wanderlust. Sexually explicit literary erotica. 1000-5000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline November 3.

Lamplight is open for submissions. Dark literary fiction. Up to 7000 words. Pays $.03/word up to $150. Current deadline November 15.

The Lorelei Signal is open for fantasy short fiction. Up to 10,000 words. Pays between $2 and $7.50. Current deadline November 15.

Contests:

Don't forget the Insecure Writer's Support Group 2016 Anthology Contest. 3000-6000 words. Fantasy with the theme "hero lost." Pays in royalties. You will be published in an e-anthology. Deadline November 1.

New York Encounter is holding a poetry contest. Theme: Reality has never betrayed me. Cash prizes up to $300. Deadline November 1.

For Fun:

It's always good to find new scary books. Here's a list of 40 Scariest Books of the Last 200 Years by Sarah Mangiola on The Lineup.

How was your weekend? Bought any good books lately? Read any books in the last month or so you'd recommend? Are you ready for Halloween? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.