Super Late Submission Roundup

It's late, but it's here! Bear in mind I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Late September Deadlines

Night Terror Novels is seeking flash fiction pieces for The Theatre Phantasmagoria. The theme for October is "Something Wicked." Stories should be centered around fall/Halloween. Up to 2000 words. Pays a flat rate of 10 pounds. Deadline September 30.

Crystal Lake Publishing is seeking horror stories that address the horror that grows from successes/progress in the LGBTQ+ community. The pendulum, in other words. Up to 6000 words. Pays $.10/word. Deadline September 30.

Rhonda Parrish is seeking stories about women and the sea for an anthology. Up to 7500 words. Pays $50 CAD. Deadline September 30.

Mocha Memoirs Press is seeking F/SF tales of robots/AI have gone off their programming for Crack in the Code. Up to 7500 words. Pays $.08/word. Deadline September 30.

Clan Destine Press is seeking stories of Sherlock as a female for Sherlock is a Girl's Name. Up to 5000 words (paid). Pays $.05AUD/word. Deadline September 30.

Brigid's Gate Press is seeking gothic romances with an emphasis on both the horror and the romance. Must have a HEA. 2000 to 6000 words. Pays $.08/word. Deadline September 30.

Kenyon Review is seeking short fiction, poetry, plays, and essays with the broad themes of food and women's health. Up to 7500 words. This is a paying market, but pay is not specified until a contract is offered. Deadline September 30.

October Deadlines

The Evil Cookie Publishing is seeking extreme horror stories dealing with water for Dead & Bloated. Up to 3000 words. Pays $.03/word. Deadline October 1.

The Last Line is seeking stories that end with the line: "The shredder roared to life, grinding the letter into tiny pieces of confetti." 300 to 5000 words. Pays $20-$40. Deadline October 1.

Quill & Crow Publishing House is seeking "gothic tales of dark magic and wizardry" for Rituals & Grimoires. 5000 to 8000 words. $40 per story. Deadline October 1.

Mythulu is seeking co-authored speculative fiction for Symbiosis. 500 to 2800 words. Pays $.06/word. Deadline October 2.

TDOTSPEC is seeking SF tarot stories for The Science Fiction Tarot. Must give a premise for a SF tarot card design. Up to 7500 words. Pays $.03/word. Deadline October 4.

Wordfire Press is seeking dark mermaid stories for Merciless Mermaids: Tails From the Deep. Up to 5000 words. Pays $.06/word. Deadline October 7. 

Translunar Travelers Lounge is seeking F/SF stories. Up to 5000 words. Pays $.03/word. Deadline October 15.

The Other Stories (a podcast) is seeking horror stories with the theme Possession. Must be right around 2000 words. Pays 15 GBP. Deadline October 15.

Stormbird Press is seeking fiction and nonfiction showing our oceans are worth fighting for for Our Ocean'd Earth. 1000 to 3000 words. Pays 200 euros. Deadline October 30.

Black Beacon Books is seeking mystery short stories. 3000 to 9000 words. Pays 20 euros. Deadline October 31.

Horroraddicts.net is seeking horror stories set in one house of the same manor, set between 1880 and 1980. 2000 to 3500 words. Pays $10. Deadline October 31.

Ontology Books is seeking postmodern horror for A Darkness Visible. 3000 to 8000 words. Pays 80 pounds. Deadline October 31.

No Deadlines

The Vanishing Point is seeking dark speculative fiction. 1500 to 6000 words. Pays $15. No set deadlines.

Shrapnel Magazine is seeking fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and essays. No specific word limit. Pays $30 to $60, depending upon piece submitted. No set deadlines.

Uncharted Magazine is seeking F/SF, Horror/Thriller, and Mystery/Crime. 1000 to 5000 words. Pays $200. No set deadlines.

Go Nomad is accepting pitches for travel stories. 1200 to 2000 words (on average). Pays $25. No set deadlines.

The Sunlight Press is seeking essays, poetry, and fiction. Up to 2000 words, depending upon category. Pays $15 to $40, depending upon category. No set deadlines.

That's it for this month. Any of these of interest? Have you been published by any of these publishers and have recommendations or words of caution? Anything else to share?

May you find your Muse.

Guest Post - The Long & Winding Road of Research - Deniz Bevan

Today I welcome Deniz Bevan! I asked her to talk about research and her upcoming release, Druid's Moon.

The Long and Winding Road of Research

A guest post by Deniz Bevan

Every time I finish a story, I think to myself, “next time I’ll write something contemporary, set in the town I live in, so that I don’t have to do any research!”

In over three decades of writing, this has still yet to happen!

Druid’s Moon started out with an idea from a dream: A man and a woman in a storeroom in a cave, with the door barred, and antagonists on the other side of the door, doing their darndest to get in. Somehow, I knew that the man had been a beast, and that there were even more evil creatures in the depths of the cave, and they had to be defeated.

The fantasy aspect was easy to create! Then came all the bits and pieces of the plot and character backgrounds, and suddenly I had a research list of more than 10 all-encompassing items.

Here are a few:

Kraken: How to merge previous legends with mine
Archaeology: Daily life on a dig, qualifications, language
Cornwall: Locations and languages
Noble families of England, Scotland and Wales: A plausible name and ancestry for Frederick
Fairy tales: Genre staples for Beauty and the Beast tales

There were other items I read up on, including druids and their tombs and Welsh and Cornish myths and legends, that I found I didn’t need as much after all, but everything that had the right sort of flavour, I would read. The most exciting part is always the serendipity of research something and realising that you got it exactly right, or that your story and setting have dovetailed nicely into the history of that location.

The historical aspects of some of my research areas were the ones that really sent me down rabbit holes. The history of shipping, the history of Cornwall... Even ancient art depicting retellings of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale would pique my interest. I’d go to the university library and come back with two stacks of books!

While I’m in the midst of drafting and editing, I try not to read fiction set in my time or place, as I don’t want to be unduly influenced. Later, when edits are nearly complete, I might turn to fiction, to see how other authors have addressed the same location or central idea.

Eventually, there comes a moment when I realise I’m using research as an excuse to procrastinate on edits.

When that happens, focusing on the characters themselves generally gets me back into the story. Some of the most fun research is keeping an eye out for character faces!

Here are Lyne and Frederick:

Frederick is a photo of Romain Grosjean that I came across in my local newspaper; and Lyne is an unnamed screenshot from a survey I was in the middle of taking!

You just never know where the research road will take you...

Druid’s Moon
By Deniz Bevan

Beauty to his Beast…

Lyne Vanlith, an archaeologist who seeks a logical explanation to any mystery, discovers an ancient Druidic curse on her first dig. When the signs foretold by the curse descend on her, Lyne can’t find a reasonable interpretation.

And that’s even before a Beast rescues her from a monstrous sea-creature. She drops a grateful kiss on the snout of the Beast, who transforms into a man, Frederick Cunnick, Baron of Lansladron. Lyne is meant to be Beauty to his Beast—and break the curse forever.

Now both spellkeeper and monster are targeting Lyne. She must take up her legendary role, to defeat the curse and save Frederick—and herself. Instead of logic, for the first time, Lyne must trust her heart.

Release date – September 20, 2022
$14.95, 6x9 trade paperback, 226 pages
Fantasy – Romance (FIC009090) / Paranormal (FIC009050) / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology (FIC010000)
Print ISBN 9781939844866 / EBook ISBN 9781939844873
$4.99 EBook available in all formats

A firm believer in burning the candle at both ends, Deniz Bevan is generally writing a new novel while editing another and blogging about her reading and research adventures. Other days, she tries to stay off the web altogether, as she delves into the history, mystery, and romance of her characters’ lives. http://thegirdleofmelian.blogspot.com/

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IWSG - Winds of Change

It's that time again.

The first Wednesday of each month is when we all gather our neuroses for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. The IWSG exists so we can share our insecurities and support each other. Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, anyone can join. Simply click on his name and put your blog on the linky list. Then hop around and visit your fellow insecure writers.

The co-hosts this month are: 

Kim Lajevardi, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguirre, Olga Godim, Michelle Wallace, and Louise - Fundy Blue. Be sure to stop by and give them a visit as thanks for co-hosting!

This month's optional question is: 

What genre would be the worst for you to tackle, and why?

I'm skipping this month's question. I feel like the bulk of the answers will be horror and romance, and honestly I'm not in the mood for more anti-horror stuff right now.

After a lot of thinking, I'm going to be making some changes to my writing career in the coming months. I don't completely know what that's going to look like yet, but I have an idea. A few ideas. Unfortunately, drama in the horror writing world has started tainting how I feel about horror, and I'm not okay with that. I'm not going to stop writing horror, and I have some long-term projects in the works, but my focus will be elsewhere for a while. There are other worlds to explore, basically, and it's time I branched out more.

Of course, change is scary. I've dipped my toe in elsewhere and had pretty good luck with it, so far. I'm thinking of writing under a pen name, maybe a couple, so I need to decide about that, as well, before I submit anything more in other genres, so I can keep some consistency. I'll definitely be paying attention to those of you who already publish heavily in multiple genres.

Anyway, wish me luck! I feel a bit like I'm flapping in the wind right now with a loose anchoring rope.

Note that the monthly post on open submissions will likely be delayed by a week, as I have a guest post next week.

Okay, time for a submission recap for the month. I post each month during the IWSG to keep myself accountable.

August Submissions:

12 submissions

0 acceptances

12 rejections (1 shortlisted, 1 invitation to direct email another submission right away, 8 personal rejections)

1 withdrawn story

20 submissions currently out

What's your writing insecurity? Have you ever made a drastic change to your writing career? How'd it go? Are you ready for fall?

May you find your Muse.