Giveaway Winner, New Release, Podcast Appearances

First up, the good news! The winner of the Wendigo Nights bundle is Autumn Miller. Congratulations to Autumn, and thank you to everyone who entered and supported me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I also have a short story in the horror anthology Dismember the Coop. All the stories are inspired by Alice Cooper songs, and proceeds will go to Solid Rock Teen Centers, Alice and Sheryl Cooper's charity in Phoenix, AZ.

It can be purchased at Amazon in paperback and e-book, plus there's a large print version available.

The paperback of Wendigo Nights has finally hit Amazon, as well as several other online stores!

You can access all versions now available at the universal link. More are coming soon!

This month's episode of the Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem is out, with guest Kameron Claire. We discussed Shen Yun and the related cult, Betty Neumar (a possible black widow), and the Menendez Brothers (there's new information!). You can click the link above or look for it on your favorite podcast platform.

You can find Kameron Claire and her romance books at any of these places on her Linktree.

And I was a guest on the Ye Olde Crime podcast, a super short bonus episode in which I try to guess Victorian slang.

Finally, if you're interested in helping me get the word out about Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights, you can CLICK HERE to go to my sign up form.

Have you ever listened to Ye Olde Crime? How about Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem? Have you read anything by Kameron Claire? Are you interested in signing up to help me with my book launch?

May you find your Muse.

Guest Post, Podcast Appearance, Call for Guests, & Links

Hello! I was remiss in posting a couple things that popped on IWSG day, so even though I added them to the post that evening after my hosting duties, I wanted to give them due credit before posting this month's submission links.

I visited Damyanti Biswas with a guest post on Writing Short Stories: Benefits for Novelists. As creatives, we always have to be thinking on our feet. My post discusses some ways novelists can use short stories to their benefit. Plus, did you know Damyanti has a new book up for preorder? Blue Bar can be found in various online shops.

Myth & Magic fantasy podcast for writers

In addition, I was a guest on Myth & Magic, a podcast hosted by Neil Mach. He was a delight to speak with. Because he's in England and I'm in Colorado, USA, we met up at 2 AM my time and first thing in the morning for him. You can listen to that episode via Apple Podcasts or via Google Podcasts. Myth & Magic is a fantasy podcast for writers. He also has several novels available for sale.

Neil Mach, host of Myth & Magic

Both of my above hosts are great resources for writers, albeit in different formats. Another resource I've found to be wonderful is PodMatch. It's a website that matches podcasters up with guests. I first found it for my true crime podcast, but haven't actually used it to book anyone yet. It allowed for me to set myself up as both a guest and a host, so I put myself out there as a guest, as well, and have been invited by several interesting podcasts to be a guest. Myth & Magic was one of those. As was DJ Curveball's podcast a few months ago. And I'll be recording with an Italian podcast next week, which is exciting! I'll pass that information along once I have air date and links. As authors, this is a helpful resource, so I wanted to pass it along.

We're always seeking writing guests for Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem. If you'd be interested in being a guest, which would involve you telling us and our listening audience about a true crime, a haunting, or something similar with which you have some sort of personal connection (even if that connection is that this is a thing that has interested you for a time and you want to look into it further and chat about it). You would have about 20 minutes for your piece, and we would each also be presenting a [possibly] related story for 20 minutes each. We record Sundays at 2 PM MT. We always chat for the first few minutes in order to ask you to introduce yourself and your books. If you're interested, please fill out the Google form.

Okay, NOW it's time for links. We're in a busy season for short submissions, so there are a lot in the rest of March and April. Bear in mind I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

B Cubed Press is seeking short stories, essays, or poetry with the theme of speculative fiction holidays for Alternate Holidays. 100 to 7500 words, but longer stories are a hard sell. Pays $.03/word, plus royalties, and a portion of profits goes to the ACLU. Deadline March 30.

B Cubed Press is also seeking short stories, essays, or poetry with the theme of female leaders for Madam President. Same details as their anthology above.

Bag of Bones Press is seeking stories set in 2022 in the genre of horror or dark speculative fiction for Annus Horribilis. Up to 2022 words. Pays £6.66. Deadline March 31.

Iron Faerie Publishing is seeking short stories for fairy tale retellings involving a mirror. Speculative fiction. 2500 to 7000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline March 31.

Hiraeth Publishing is seeking paranormal short stories for ParAbnormal. 3000 to 6000 words. Pays $25. Deadline March 31.

Android Press is seeking solarpunk and/or cyberpunk stories for an anthology. 500 to 7500 words. Pays $.08/word. Deadline March 31.

Lackington's is seeking speculative fiction about prehistories. 1500 to 5000 words. Pays 1 cent CAD/word. Deadline March 31.

Cohesion Press is seeking weird western action horror for SNAFU: Dead or Alive. 2000 to 10,000 words. Pays AUD5c/word. Deadline March 31.

Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing is seeking speculative fiction stories about previously full spaces that have been abandoned for Legion of Dorks Presents: Abandoned--An anthology of Vacant Spaces. Up to 7000 words. Pays $50. Deadline March 31.

Eric Raglin is seeking body horror stories for Shredded: A Sports and Fitness Body Horror Anthology. 2000 to 4500 words. Pays $.03/word. Deadline March 31. 

Cemetery Gates Media is seeking short stories set in a graveyard for Picnic in the Graveyard. Must take place in a cemetery/graveyard. 2000 to 4000 words. Pays $.07/word. Deadline April 1.

Android Press is seeking lunarpunk stories for Bioluminescent. 500 to 7500 words. Pays $.08/word. Deadline April 1.

Bullshit Lit Mag + Press is seeking ridiculous riddles, stories, poems, art, and word games. Up to 2500 words. Pays $5. Deadline April 1.

Camden Park Press is seeking stories that combine fantasy (magic) and cozy/soft-boiled mystery for Witches of a Certain Age. The main character must be a female/female-identifying witch over 40. 6000 to 8000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline April 1.

Seaborne Magazine is seeking short stories and vignettes having to do with the sea. 1500 to 4000 words for short stories. Pays £5. Deadline April 3.

Terrain.org is seeking stories, poetry, nonfiction, and art about wildfires. Fiction is up to 5000 words. Pays $200. Deadline April 4.

Donnie Goodman is seeking marijuana-related horror for the Strange Weeds Anthology. 1500 to 4200 words. Pays $10. Deadline April 20.

Dragon Soul Press is seeking steampunk stories for Age of Artifice. 5000 to 15000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline April 30.

Ghost Orchid Press is seeking horror stories inspired by neurodiverse experiences for Rewired. 1000 to 6000 words. Pays $.03/word. Deadline April 30.

Kopfkino Publishing is seeking fairy tale themed horror for Midnight in the Dying Garden: Fairy Tales for the End of the World. 1000 to 7000 words. Pays $25-$150CAD. Deadline April 30.

Water Dragon Publishing is seeking short stories with positive visions for the future for The Future's So Bright. 2000 to 8000 words. Pays $.02/word. Deadline April 30.

Have you listened to Myth & Magic before? Have you heard of Podmatch? Do you have any questions about possibly being a guest on the podcast? Any of these submission links of interest? Are you submitting right now? How's it going?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG: Home Flipping, Taking a Plunge, and Putting Yourself Out There

 Well, hello, it's that time again. Time for another installment of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. 

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, this group serves as a place for writers to come together once a month, on the first Wednesday, to discuss our insecurities and lend support to others. Anyone can participate. Just click on Alex's name above and put your blog on the linky, then be sure to visit some of your fellow IWSG'ers.

This month's co-hosts are  Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney, Liesbet @ Roaming About Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre!

The optional question is: Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why?

I'm probably more productive during the winter because I'm trapped in the house. Then again, that was true when my kids were actually leaving the house to attend school. Now my day-time schedule revolves a lot more around when they're online for school. And, of course, right now there's hardly any writing getting done because I'm in classes.

My insecurities this month have to do with how much I'm putting myself out there. Having premiered a new podcast last month and put out my first collection that had ALL new stories, rather than previously published ones, it's been a different and sometimes nerve-wracking experience. But all good, so far.

Speaking of new releases, two of my friends have put out new books!

First up, K.A. Olgren has a cozy mystery full of snark about house flippers. I asked her to do a Top Ten Reasons you Might be a House Flipper:

Top Ten Reasons Why You Might Be A House Flipper

1.     If you spend hours scouring the internet for home design trends and you’ve received a sizeable inheritance or enjoy working with people whose job title is “hard money lender”, pressure is your middle name and stress is your last, you might be a house flipper.

2.     If you like crawling through crawl spaces and attics hoping not to find structural flaws, strange items, and/or bodies (animal or otherwise), you might be a house flipper.

3.     If you want a chance to be wealthy, like to work with your hands, and don’t mind ending up broke because you just discovered the sewer line has disintegrated and is nonexistent one foot from the main, you might be a house flipper.

4.     If the thought of chasing squirrels out the attic with a boom box turned up as loud as it can go makes you giddy, house flipping might be for you.

5.     If buying a new six-foot vanity because the faucet you installed had a factory defect and blew up overnight, flooding the bathroom and the garage you just finished drywalling, you might be a house flipper.

6.     If the idea of spending hours hitting every home improvement store in town to find one clearance bin kitchen cabinet knob because you miscounted sounds like a blast, you might be a house flipper.

7.     If you find listening to the neighbors’ horrific tales of the former occupant and her twenty-seven cats who were found feasting on her deceased body thereby cursing her to be a ghost haunting the house you just bought thrills you, you may need psychiatric help; and you might be a house flipper.

8.     If slowly driving around neighborhoods like a stalker, looking for dilapidated houses with newspapers and flyers piled up in the driveway is your idea of a leisurely Sunday drive, you might be a house flipper.

9.     If you enjoy ruminating over the mechanics of why the water draining from the tub came up through and overflowed the kitchen sink, or why the dishwasher only works when you flip the switch on for that cute little lamp post at the end of the driveway, you might be a house flipper.

10. If you enjoy jumping through hoops for realtors, inspectors, title companies, money lenders, partners, contractors, and banks, to finally sell the money pit you just spent four months fixing up, congratulations! You are a house flipper. You are stout of heart, questionable in sanity, mostly fit of body, and driven in spirit.

Time to find another house!

You can get the Kindle version of "Flipped: A Jillian McElroy Flipping Mystery" by clicking on the title.

The next one is Liesbet Collaert's long-awaited release:

Tropical waters turn tumultuous in this travel memoir as a free-spirited woman jumps headfirst into a sailing adventure with a new man and his two dogs.

Join Liesbet as she faces a decision that sends her into a whirlwind of love, loss, and living in the moment. When she swaps life as she knows it for an uncertain future on a sailboat, she succumbs to seasickness and a growing desire to be alone.

Guided by impulsiveness and the joys of an alternative lifestyle, she must navigate personal storms, trouble with US immigration, adverse weather conditions, and doubts about her newfound love.

Does Liesbet find happiness? Will the dogs outlast the man? Or is this just another reality check on a dream to live at sea?

 To purchase "Plunge: One Woman's Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary," click on the title, which will take you to the global link. You can get it in paperback and e-book.

If you didn't see my last post, I now have a weekly podcast about true crime, unsolved mysteries, cryptids, the paranormal, and more, called Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem. New episodes every Wednesday on your favorite podcast platforms! Today's release is about an area in North Carolina called The Devil's Tramping Ground and the cryptids of Maryland. Click HERE to find the episode listings on our website. If you have a story about one of these topics to share concerning a personal experience or one a family member or friend has experienced, we'd love it if you'd email us so we can read it on the podcast. You can find our email on the website or fill out the form on the main page, which will notify us automatically.

Also, don't miss my new holiday horror collection. These are NOT all Christmas stories. They include holidays from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. Available in e-book and paperback. Click HERE to purchase. (After some negative opinions about holiday horror, I would appreciate if you refrain from posting similar on my page, thank you.)

Now it's time for my submissions to keep myself accountable. Bearing in mind that I'm in the middle of taking college classes, was starting a podcast and learning how to edit it, and had a book to get out, here are my submissions stats for November:

13 submissions

7 rejections

1 withdrawn

0 acceptances

I was supposed to have a short story come out in an October publication, but one month later, that edition hasn't come out and I've yet to hear a word about it. I've also noticed an increase in markets not bothering with sending rejections, and I'm struggling to continue submitting versus just putting out my own books in light of this. The only thing keeping me from that right now, is that I love the experience of working with editors and meeting other writers who are in the same magazines and books. We'll see. I'm feeling significantly discouraged.

School is going well. I've finished 8 credits since I started. I'm trying to speed it up now.

I hope you have a pleasant December. See you again in 2020!

What are your insecurities? Have you been submitting? Have you found the same thing I have with fewer people sending rejections? Are you hanging in there through the pandemic? Interested in any of the new books? Have you tried out the podcast yet?

May you find your Muse.

*Image: Blue Swoosh - OCAL - clker.com 

Podcast News!

Hi there!

First, I want to thank everyone who helped in spreading the word about my new release! Whether it was blog friends helping me by allowing me by featuring it on their blogs or friends who shared it on their social media, I appreciate every bit of help!

Second, remember all those months ago when I mentioned putting together a podcast? Well, it's out and about in the world, and I realized I hadn't shared it here on my blog!

My co-host, MB Partlow, and I have released our third episode as of today! Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem is about true crime, the paranormal, cryptids, and other freaky things. You can listen via most podcasting services (some take longer for processing), with a new episode every week on Wednesday mornings.

So far, we've talked about the Gator and Reptile Farm in Mosca, CO; the murder of Heather Dawn Church; the ghosts of Riverside in Thornton; a set of historical axe murders in Colorado Springs; the serial killer who came after my mom when I was in the car with her (yes, I'm finally releasing his name, and I explain why on the podcast); and an entire town that looked the other way over a murder in New York.

If you don't have a go-to service for your podcasts, you can also listen to it directly on our website.

Podcast Website

Podcast Facebook Page

I hope you'll listen and let me know what you think! We post some pictures and links about the episodes on the Facebook page, and our new episodes appear on our website by about 2 AM on Wednesday mornings (7 AM on our Facebook page), all Mountain Time.

And for those who haven't seen it yet, you can find my new release at the below links! Despite the book cover, these are NOT just Christmas horror stories. There are two of those, but the others cover holidays between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day, including Hanukkah, New Year's, and Groundhog Day, and more!

Amazon Paperback (US--links for other countries are available on my Publications tab)

Universal Link (this will take you to a page that lets you choose which e-book retailer you get it from)

Finally, our local library district puts on an event each year called Mountain of Authors. Sadly, this year they had to move it online due to COVID, but they still had us do something called a Book Buzz, where we recorded a couple minutes of why people should buy our book. Not being a natural salesperson, it was nerve-wracking to do, but I appreciate the opportunity. I'm embedding the link here so you can see what a dork I am.

It's a funny life for someone who has long tried to stay out of the limelight. I have some readings I'll be posting eventually, too! One humiliation at a time. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favorites? Where do you listen to them? Would you be able to talk for a minimum number of minutes about your new release? 

May you find your Muse.