Wednesday, July 15, 2015

The Happy Little Non-Planet & Links

Has everyone out there been watching updates about our fly-by of Pluto?


Courtesy of a meme I saw, all I can see is a happy planet with a heart-shaped belly, its hands on the belly on either side, and a cute smiley face. I do love that it has a heart on it. You think that's enough to convince NASA that Pluto should be reinstated as a planet?

By the way, there are a bunch of Pluto memes going around. Do a quick search on "Pluto meme" and see what comes up. (I was too lazy to post any and have to mess with attribution.) The photo above is courtesy of NASA.

Accepting Submissions:

Mothership Zeta has a narrow submission window. They're looking for fun speculative fiction (yes, even fun horror). Up to 6000 words. Flash fiction and short stories. Pays $.06/word for short stories, $30 for flash fiction. Only open July 12 through July 25.

Literary Wanderlust has put out a call for A Few of Our Favorite Things: A Holiday Anthology. Romance. 10,000-18,000 words. Token payment of $30 per story. Deadline July 31. They are also accepting novel submissions in various genres.

Incandescent Phoenix is looking for submissions for their solarpunk dragon anthology. They define solarpunk on their website if you're curious. 1000-10,000 words. Pays in shared royalties. Closes July 31.

Helen Literary Magazine is accepting submissions for their October issue with the theme "Animal." 500-5000 words for fiction, 1500-5000 words for creative nonfiction. They also accept poetry, spoken word, performance and short film. Pays between $2 and $10, depending upon submission type. Deadline August 1.

Specklit is looking for drabbles. 100 words. Fiction or nonfiction reviews. Pays $.05/word for fiction, nothing for nonfiction. Deadline August 31.

Local Hero Press is seeking short stories for their Caped anthology. Superhero fiction. Up to 5000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline August 31.

Vine Leaves Literary Journal is open for vignettes. All genres except erotica. They also take artwork. Up to 800 words. Pays $5 AUD. Current deadline August 31.

Wicked Tales is looking for short fiction for Muffled Screams. The theme is "Corner of the Eye." 3000-20,000 words. Pays $.01/word, plus a share of profits if it breaks a profit. Deadline August 31.

Contests:

Amazing Stories is holding the Gernsback Writing Contest. Science fiction. 1000-2000 words. Theme: What will our solar system look like 250 years from now? Top ten stories will be published and paid $.06/word. Deadline July 31.

Lunch Ticket is once again hosting the Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction. Essays up to 5000 words, your choice of topic. Prize is $250 and publication in Lunch Ticket. Closes July 31 along with their publications Amuse-Bouche, also taking submissions through that date.

Any of these of interest to you? Anything to share? Publishing news? Experience with any of these publications? Have you been following news about Pluto? Do you think it should be a planet? 

May you find your Muse.

24 comments:

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Yes, make Pluto a planet again. I've been checking out out the pictures. It's very cool.
Susan Says

Christine Rains said...

They definitely need to make Pluto a planet again. And maybe Xena too? Fantastic links. I've got a bunch of short stories out there right now. Waiting is so rough!

Crystal Collier said...

You always have such great links.

I'm all for re-planetizing Pluto. I mean, how dare they demote it. ;)

Chrys Fey said...

Pluto will always be a planet to me!

Andrew Leon said...

Now, see, it would have been better if it had been mouse ears.

Anonymous said...

I've seen a few cute and funny Pluto memes. But now I won't stop seeing the heart. Pluto is full of love!

Susan Kane said...

Pluto has always held a special place in my heart! It should be re-instated and right now.

Susan Kane said...

Pluto has always held a special place in my heart! It should be re-instated and right now.

Liz Blocker said...

I've totally been watching the pics! It's really cool, even if the technology is old (ish).

klahanie said...

Hi Shannon,

I have most certainly kept up with the updates on that flyby of Pluto. A few years back, I put up a post about my outrage over demoting poor Pluto to just a meaningless orb floating about the far reaches of the Solar System. Time to make Pluto a real planet again! What do those astronomers know?

All those links and thanks for doing that.

Sadly, Shannon, I must go now.....

Gary :)

Melissa Amateis said...

I love that the image of Pluto, the Disney dog, is visible on the planet Pluto. :)

Anonymous said...

Yes! I've been keeping up with the Pluto fly-by. It's amazing. Those Pluto memes with the heart cracks me up and makes me sad, haha

Thanks for the links!!

John Wiswell said...

Mothership Zeta is also one of the few pro markets heavily devoted to "fun" specfic stories. So if you're having trouble competing in lit-dominated or drear-dominated markets, definitely hit them up. They have a very talented squad of editors.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I'm all for making it a planet again. The word game I used to learn the planets doesn't work without Pluto!

Shannon Lawrence said...

The more planets the merrier. Who was it hurting? Good luck with those short stories! The waits can be so long.

Shannon Lawrence said...

That's what I'm saying. Once a planet, always a planet.

Shannon Lawrence said...

They say you can see Pluto's head in Pluto, but no mouse ears.

Shannon Lawrence said...

The heart is the one that stuck with me, too. It's adorable. For a planet, of course.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Agreed! How dare they?

Shannon Lawrence said...

Technology's old within a year, pretty much, so the farther out we try to go, the older our tech will be by the time it reaches there. I never really thought about that.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I say those astronomers know nothing. It has moons, for crikey's sakes! We only have one.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I've seen the images with that outlined/cartooned, too. How appropriate is that?

Shannon Lawrence said...

It makes me sad, too. How can we turn down anything so loving? :p

Shannon Lawrence said...

I have a couple fun stories that probably don't fit elsewhere. I'll have to check them out, thanks!