Hike Your Way to Christmas Spirit & Links

My minions and I have been hiking almost daily for the past two weeks. There's a park with hiking and rock climbing within walking distance of my house, which helps quite a bit. As soon as they're done with homework, we're off, trying to beat dusk. On our first day hiking, we discovered this little tree, all decorated for Christmas. Today, we found the number of ornaments almost doubled. We'll be taking our own up there to add tomorrow. Here's the tree when we first came across it.

Isn't it cute? It's like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, only this one's got roots.

Now for some links.

Accepting Submissions:

Untreed Reads wants your submissions for Haystacks and Homicide: Short Tales of Farmland Crime. 1500-5000 words. Deadline December 31. Pays in royalties.

Grey Matter Press is seeking submissions for a new anthology, Monsters (working title.) 3000-7500 words. Deadline January 30. Pays $.05/word. 

Dark Regions Press has a call for submissions for Dreams From the Witch House, an anthology. Open call ends January 31. 2000-10,000 words. Lovecraftian fiction by women. Pays $.05/word. 

Great Old Ones Publishing is seeking cryptid stories for From the Corner of Your Eye, an anthology. 3000-8000 words. Deadline January 31. Pays $25 + a contributor copy.

Chicken Soup for the Soul has several topics closing soon. Inspiration for Nurses closes January 15. Stories About the Christmas Season closes January 31. Time to Thrive and Support for Mental Health Professionals close December 31. 1200 words or less. Pays $200.

Pantheon Magazine is seeking fantasy, dark fantasy, and magical realism for Gaia: Shadow and Breath. Deadline January 31. Pay not specified.

Amoeba Ink is seeking stories for The Tomato Anthology. Tomatoes must play a role. 7500 words or less. Pays $10-20, depending upon length.  

Lazy Fascist Review seeks stories that slip through the cracks. 500-12,000 words. Pays $50 per story, $10 per poem. Open submissions.

International Living is seeking expats who want to write their story. 500-600 words.

Every Day Fiction wants flash fiction up to 1000 words. All fiction genres. Pays $3 per story.

Have you seen any fun Christmasy things that brought the spirit of the holiday back for you? Any of these publications something you might try for? (I'm considering four of them.) Anything to share? Publishing news?

May you find your Muse.

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday - A View From Above & Links

We hiked up Helen Hunt Falls the other day, amidst a lovely light drizzle (feels magnificent on a 90-some degree day!) I thought I'd share the view from near the top.

Now for some links.

Accepting Submissions:

Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing has two anthology calls out. Cirque D'Obscure is a a dark circus anthology. Deadline July 31. The Cogs of Time is a steampunk anthology. Deadline October 31. Pay unknown.

The July theme for Crossed Genres is Favors (gifts with consequences). Deadline is July 31. The August theme is Young Adult, with a deadline of August 31. Pays 5 cents per word.

Wily Writers Audible Fiction has three themes available for dark fiction short stories: psychological horror, military, and overall speculative fiction. Deadline July 31. Selected stories will be published in text and audio file. 5 cents per word.

The Virginia Quarterly Review seeks poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction. Deadline August 1. Pays $200 per poem or .25 cents per word.

Cleis Press has a call out for submissions of erotica to Men of the Manor: Erotic Encounters Between Upstairs Lords & Downstairs Lads. Deadline August 1. Pays $50 and 2 contributor copies.

Burning Book Press is seeking submissions for their Best Men's Erotica 2014 anthology. Deadline August 1. Pays $25.

World Weaver Press is seeking submissions for a Krampus anthology (yet to be named). Krampus is St. Nick's nasty associate, who comes along to punish children deserving of some discipline. Pays $10 and a paperback copy of the anthology.

The Sleepers Almanac, No. 9 is seeking submissions. Closes August 4. Pay unknown.

Contests:

Notting Hill Editions is offering the William Hazlitt Essay Prize, a contest seeking the best English-language essay. Prize is £15,000, with 5 runner-ups at £1,000. Deadline is August 1. Any nationality, any topic, as long as it is in English.

Of Interest:

The Review Review published an article by Lynne Barrett, entitled "What Editors Want; A Must-Read for Writers Submitting to Literary Magazines." A thorough article with good information.

Gotten any outdoor time this week? Hiking or camping? Time at the beach or in the mountains? Any of these publications you're interested in? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.

Where I Go to Think, #COBookMonth

This post is tied in with today's This Colorado Life theme for #COBookMonth:

March 11 - What’s your favorite athletic activity to do? Hiking, biking, boarding? Or are you more a sports follower, chilling out on Sundays with the Broncos?

I like to hike. As I said in the brief blogger spotlight over at LiteraryCO, I live in an area conducive to doing so. It's about a three to five minute drive for me to get to Garden of the Gods:

And a three minute walk for me to get to Ute Valley Park, which is a protected natural area here in town that includes areas for minor rock climbing, meadow walking, and hiking of varying degrees of difficulty. At the beginning of the school year, exhilarated at having two kiddos in school all day for the first time, I went on a spontaneous hike into Ute Valley Park. No water, no cell phone, no weapon. Not smart, necessarily, but I hadn't planned it. I was just going for a quick walk around the park by my house, but Ute Valley called to me, and I hiked up the steep rocky hill that leads me to the park. At the top of the hill I could look down upon my house, and out across the burn area from Waldo Canyon Fire. The view was stunning. Behind it all stood her majesty, Pikes Peak:

Into the park, I went, and I was promptly lost in my thoughts. Given, I stayed aware of my surroundings. After all, we have mountain lions, bears, rattle snakes, etc., so it's wise to keep an eye out and to make some noise so they hear you coming. That really wasn't a problem after scaling the mondo hill at the beginning of the hike. I'm sure they could hear my ragged breathing from three miles off.

Ute Valley Park is surrounded by residential areas and small roads, but inside the park you'd never know it except for the occasional home sightings when on certain paths. After scaling that first hill, each path led me downwards in one direction or another. I chose the one that would take me deepest into the park, to the ooey gooey center. Okay, it's not ooey gooey, seeing as this is Colorado and it's rather dry. But I was heading to the center.

A red-tailed hawk soared above me, possibly seeking prey, or perhaps just enjoying the mild breeze and the feel of gliding with little effort. A speckled brown mountain cottontail rabbit shot off into the brush, white tail flashing as it disappeared.

Peace. Perfection.

This is what I love. This is where I can free my mind, where creative thoughts can flow, where I can work through issues, figure out where to go with a story line, work on a character. This is where I go to think.

Where do you go to think? What helps you free your mind? Do you like to hike, or do you prefer some other form of athletic activity (or none at all)?

May you find your Muse.

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday - The Falls & Links

I'm late!  Sorry about that.

I'm finally getting back to the Seven Falls pictures, of which the Stellar's Jay was the first one.

The entry gate

A view of the lower falls from Eagle's Nest

These trees always fascinate me.  Poor things  are on eroding hills, their roots exposed, yet they survive.

I don't think this little fall counts among the seven, as it doesn't have a name.

The lowest fall, Hill Falls, named after the current owner.  A fan waterfall.

And the trek begins...

Now for links:

Blog Hops/Fests:

M. Pax and Tyrean Martinson are hosting the Hobbit Blogfest on December 14.  Post your answers to four hobbit questions and see what everyone else has said.

A group of bloggers has created a blogfest to honor Alex J. Cavanaugh, the ninja who has given so much to the blogging community.  The Cheers Cavanaugh Blogfest will occur December 10th-12th.  Hosted by Mark Koopman, Morgan Shamy, Stephen Tremp, and David Powers King.

The And You Are... Blog Hop is being hosted by Tammy Theriault and Emily R. King.  Scheduled for December 3, you're asked to answer some questions from David Spade.  There will be three Christmas presents given out to posters.

Call for Guest Posters:

We are looking for guest posters on the A-to-Z Challenge blog.  You can contact any one of us via the contacts page, but Tina is your girl for arranging guest posts.  This is a great way to get yourself out there to a new audience.

Free books:

You can try for a chance at a free eARC of Exhale, by Jennifer Snyder.  Just stop by Hannah Grace's blog, Paper, Ink and Coffee and enter.  Exhale will be released December 10!

This Friday, not only will Andrew Leon of StrangePegs be releasing part 9 of his Shadow Spinner serial, but that and all previous parts will be FREE!

Other:

Odyssey Writing Workshops Charitable Trust does online writing workshops.  Of particular interest if you can't attend in-person classes, but want to enrich your writing knowledge.

Anything to share?  Participating in any of these hops/fests?  Excited about part 9 of Shadow Spinner?  Have you guest posted on the A-to-Z blog yet?

May you find your Muse.