[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday - The Difference a Year Can Make, IWSG & Links

As many probably already know, we here in Colorado have been in a drought for quite some time (we are high desert, so it comes with the territory), though not as bad as California. This has caused the awful fires the last couple years. But last year, while we still had drought and fires for part of the year, rain came. If you've taken a geology class, you know that getting a solid amount of rain when the earth is parched isn't actually helpful, and can, in fact, be harmful, because the dry earth cannot suck up that moisture. Thus, you get flash floods and mudslides.

Last year, we had plenty of flooding, but one place that flooded was Cheyenne Canyon, which tore apart Seven Falls, a local landmark with...seven waterfalls. It actually ripped up chunks of roadway and destroyed the visitor center, and probably much more, but it's closed still, and I have no idea the extent of the damage.

Close to Seven Falls is Helen Hunt Falls. I believe there was damage to the road going up to those falls last year, as well, but the road was open when we went up there yesterday, so I'm not sure. I did want to go up to see it, as last year Helen Hunt Falls was a trickle compared to what it had been a few years before. I figured with the excess of water it saw last year, it would be fuller, so we went to visit. Below, you'll see a photo from yesterday compared to a photo from last year (below that). The angles are different (the falls was so pitiful last year, I really didn't take many photos), but I think the difference is clear.

Helen Hunt Falls 2014

Helen Hunt Falls 2013

Now it's time for IWSG - The Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by the one and only Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To join and share your own writer insecurities, click here and add your name to the list. All are welcome! Talk about whatever you want, whether it's something beating you down right now or something you feel will inspire others. 

I set a goal at the beginning of 2014 that I would be submitting to magazines regularly. I've done it! That's for sure. Thanks to the bloggy inspiration from a local friend, DeAnna Knippling, I'm trying to grow how many things I have out on submission at any given time. (This is an example of her attitude toward rejections.) This year, I've made a total of 18 submissions. I've gotten 11 rejections. I have 7 currently out on submission, with hopefully another joining within the week.  

You know those 11 rejections? I got 4 of them in the same week. That week was already an incredibly rough one for several reasons, so every rejection was an extra slap in the face, and I hit a major slump. BUT I got those stories back out the next week when I pulled myself up out of my wallowing.

So I survived those rejections. I survive each time. And while it doesn't get easier to see that rejection, while my stomach sinks just as low every single time, it does get easier to submit the stories in the first place. What's the worst that can happen? A rejection? Even a nasty rejection? So what??

My challenge to you is to submit, submit, submit! Write, polish, submit. Get a rejection? Send that bad boy back out to someone else. Write, polish, submit, get rejection, wallow, polish, submit, rinse and repeat. Whatever works. And each time you submit one piece? Polish another! Then submit it! Get out there, folks. It's the only way to ever make anything happen.

Now please, please, bring on the acceptances. Sob.

Now for some links!

Accepting Submissions:

Steampunk Trails is looking for steampunk stories of all kinds (Victorian to weird western). Deadline June 31. Payment is a flat fee of $20 and contributor copies.

Perspective Magazine wants short stories based on today's events for their debut issue. Deadline June 22. Payment is a share in ad revenue, as this is a free online publication.

Chicken Soup for the Soul is seeking your personal essays about The Power of Forgiveness. Deadline June 30. They pay $200, plus 10 contributor copies.

Inkstained Succubus Press has an anthology call out for Taking Flight, an erotic anthology of erotic fiction with wings. Deadline June 15. Pays in royalties. 

Rosarium Publishing is looking for "seapunk" stories set in Southeast Asia for the anthology The Sea is Ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia. Deadline is June 30. Pays $.05/word.

Kill Your Darlings takes submissions of original writing in June, deadline June 30. Pays $200 to columnists. They take pitches at any time. 

Visionary Press Collaborative has a call out for short stories for their anthology Alternate Worlds: Evil Genius Anthology. They want you to take a genius and ponder what he or she might have done if they had chosen to go evil. Deadline June 30. Pays in royalties. 

DieGo Comics Publishing is seeking your short stories about witches for their anthology. Deadline June 30. Pays royalties and a contributor copy. They are also seeking short sci-fi and fantasy for their newsletter. Pay not detailed.

Contests:

Baen Books is holding the 2014 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award. Short story up to 8000 words. Contest closes June 30. Winner will be published on the website and paid industry standard.

The University of Pittsburgh Press is holding their 2015 Drue Heinz Literature Prize for collections of short fiction. Deadline June 30. They require that those submitting have been published before. Cash prize of $15,000 and publication

Bonus Contest (Photography):

This one isn't for writing, but for photography. The Gazette (Colorado Springs newspaper) is holding a contest for photos that say "Colorado" to you. Deadline June 30. Two $500 prizes being offered (in the form of a GC to a photography store.)

Any of these of interest to you? Know of any other upcoming deadlines? Photo contests? What's making you insecure right now? Do you live in an area with too little rain, too much, or just right?

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.

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday 10/12/11

For today's [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday, I got to take a bit of a side trip on the way to get my daughter from school. This is one of the surest signs we get that fall has arrived:

That's snow on Pikes Peak! Of course, this isn't the first snow. I tried to get a good pic of that a few weeks ago and wasn't happy with the result. We've actually had snow down here on the ground, but it melted within a couple hours, so I look to Pikes Peak for reassurance on a day where we're supposed to hit 68 degrees. It's fall!

If you look closely, you can also see a dappling of yellow aspens on the green peak in front of the snow-covered Pikes Peak. I love the changing of leaves and can't wait until all that green around Garden of the Gods is full of blazing autumn shades.

This photo was taken at Garden of the Gods, one of my favorite places to go for some camera action. The red rock on the left is the eastern edge of the Kissing Camels formation.

Happy Fall!

Is there a landmark or event that truly, officially says "autumn is here" to you? How do you celebrate the start of fall?

May you find your Muse.

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday 7/27/11

Today we'll stay right at home for [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday. Well, in Colorado Springs, anyway. This is a photo of Helen Hunt Falls, named for Helen Hunt Jackson, a local author in the 1800's.

Helen Hunt was born in Massachusetts, but moved to Colorado after the loss of her husband and two sons. She had become very ill (some reports I find say tuberculosis, while others don't mention the disease), and Colorado Springs was known for curative and restorative powers, the dry air and mineral springs being highly recommended for tuberculosis sufferers, as well as many other illnesses. She became passionate about helping Native Americans after a lecture given by Chief Standing Bear, of the Ponca tribe, and wrote about their plight in books such as Ramona, A Century of Dishonor and The Indian's Plight. She was good friends with Emily Dickinson, and some of her poems were featured in Ralph Waldo Emerson's Parnassus. She was a dedicated activist in favor or the Native people, and traveled to learn more about the government's mistreatment of them.

The falls did not take her name until long after her death from cancer, but she spent much of her last years in North Cheyenne Canon. The area was known as a place to view some of the bounty of natural beauty of Colorado, as well as a place to cool off and hide from the sun's penetrating rays. There are several falls in the vicinity, as well as more trees than can be found in much of the rest of the city.

As far as Helen Hunt Falls these days, it is a wonderful place for an easy hike and breathtaking scenery, so one should always bring their camera along when they strap on their hiking boots.

I hope you enjoyed this peek at Colorado history.

May you find your Muse.