Publication News, Pantheon, and a Whole Lotta Neglect

I’ve had a few acceptances in the new year that I’m late to mention. First off, I’m very happy to say that one of my favorite stories, “Bridge To Nowhere, Train For The Forgotten” has been selected for Mad Scientist Journal’s Selfies From The End Of The World anthology. I’m even more thrilled, since I’ll be sharing a TOC with heavy hitters like Caroline Yoachim as well as Roads Brazos. Follow the link for the full TOC.

From Bridge To Nowhere, Train For The Forgotten:

“We hold our breaths when the rabbit inches up to the trap, smelling the rod meant to throttle it, its tan paws stepping gingerly through the snow, inches from the latch. Xandria closes her eyes, her long dirty brown hair—just like her mother’s—cascading down in front of her face, her thick wool cattle blanket draped over her shoulders so she looks like a small, wooly brown rock jutting out from the earth. I can hear her stomach growl from where I crouch, my knees screaming bloody murder.

So can the rabbit, apparently, because it looks in our direction. Must’ve seen something mean and hungry in my eyes, because its ears go up and it’s gone, white tail and long legs leaping through the pines and shrubs.”

Xandria hisses, muddy greenish eyes looking mean…but a little relieved too—the meanness just for show.

Also, recently my science fiction story “Sleep, Eidolon” was selected for Kasma SF and I’m looking forward to seeing it up there and to seeing the artwork that’s accompanying my story.

Lastly, the full TOC has been decided in regards to the Gaia: Shadow & Breath Vol. 2 anthology and we’re currently working through story edits and layout for the finished product. Below are some previews of the artwork that will appear alongside these great fantasy stories:

Cats For Ginger In BLIGHT DIGEST Winter Issue

Very excited to announce I have a story coming up in BLIGHT DIGEST’s upcoming winter issue, featuring a familiar roster of writers I’m proud to share a spine with. Out in late February, it includes my story “Cats For Ginger” which was inspired, like a lot of my stories, by a prompt given by someone for a writerly battle on LitReactor. I’m looking forward to reading the entire issue. You can buy the first issue HERE.

Read the announcement from BLIGHT DIGEST.  

New Fiction Coming Soon On NewMyths.Com

So this year I’ve tried to do something a little differently as far as my submitting goes. I’ve made it a goal of mine to try to get paid for everything I write. This has admittedly made acceptances less likely to come by compared to last year, as you’d be surprised how few markets out there actually pay. And let’s be honest, I’m also now competing with much more experienced writers, who also want to get paid for their work. BUT I’m enjoying the close calls, the personal rejection letters, and the positive feedback.

Anyway, this year I’ve had one acceptance: “Walking Billboards and Getting Pressed” at Goldfish Grimm’s Spicy Fiction Sushi (which, if you missed it, you can read HERE).

Now, I get to announce that my dark fantasy flash fiction piece “The Seer Of Black Thorn” has been accepted at NewMyths.com! This was a story I wrote for something called the (un)Official Brawl at Litreactor, which pitted ten writers against each other in a battle royale type thing.

Here’s an excerpt:

And they came, as he knew they would. They came from the tunnels, from their caves on all fours—males and females spilling over cavernous volcanic stone, their sex indistinguishable. They came from the deepest depths of the mountain’s innards, a march of pale naked flesh. Like milk spilt on black stone they surrounded him, bathing Black Thorn in bleached ivory.

WAR Has Broken Out

Last year I participated in a very cool 64 participant double elimination writing tournament on LitReactor. It was a bloody affair, and I was ultimately eliminated pretty early on, in the second round (OUCH!) at the hands of some amazing writers.

While I didn’t hang in there long, it resulted in me writing a story that was my first sale (“The Black Spot“, Mad Scientist Journal) and my story was voted the best of the round.

Now WAR has broken out again, this time at a new workshopping site called LitDemon. I’m participating again, and this time, with more experience under my belt, maybe I’ll fight my way a little farther. And if not? Well, I’ll still have at least one new story to shop around. There’s 16 slots left last I checked.

If interested, click the picture, register, and throw your name into the hat. Good luck.

Pantheon Magazine Presents: GAIA: SHADOW & BREATH

Today’s a good day. Spent a good part of the last few months reading, editing, and re-reading the stories for this anthology, with the help of Sarah Read. It’s a collection of 11 fantasy, magical realism, and dark fantasy tales with an earthy spin. Authors included are Richard Thomas, Kelby Losack, Michael J. Riser, Lindsay Morgan Lockhart, Nick Wood, Phoebe Reeves-Murray, Dino Parenti, Jessica Meddows, Wendy Hammer, Rhoads Brazos and Sean Silleck. And it’s on sale now on Amazon, and CreateSpace. 

This was a lot of fun reading for, and I look forward to doing it again next year. With a portion of the proceeds going to The Nature Conservancy, purchase your copy for under $13.

 

 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gaia-Shadow-Breath-Pantheon-Magazine/dp/1499602839/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1401211273&sr=8-10&keywords=pantheon+magazine

CreateSpace (10% Off Discount code: CFAK5JBZ):  https://www.createspace.com/4813728

FULL TOC

“Casa De Perros” by Michael J. Riser
“Endless Summer” by Jessica Meddows
“Flowers For Jessica” by Richard Thomas
“Flesh And Blood” by Kelby Losack
“The Mother-Of-Pearl Way” by Dino Parenti
“Around The Bones, Tender Leaves Unfurl” by Wendy Hammer
“Berries In The Briars” by Rhoads Brazos
“Old Bart And The Cougar Woman” by Lindsay Morgan Lockhart
“Of Hearts & Monkeys” by Nick Wood
“The Mistake” by Phoebe Reeves-Murray
“Love At The Dawn Of The Elephant Apocalypse” by Sean Silleck

 

First Sale of 2014

The newest issue of Goldfish Grimm’s Spicy Fiction Sushi is up and it includes my story entitled “Walking Billboards and Getting Pressed”, as well as “Childhood Animals” by Victorya Chase.

This is a story I wrote about a year ago in a fun writerly battle on LitReactor that was inspired by something in the news about parents who auctioned off the right to name their child. While I think they had conditions to prevent the winners from naming him/her some bizarre name, like Taco or Hitler, or something, it made me wonder how horrible life would be if big corporations could throw money at people for this right, and the ugly doorways this would lead into. 

You can read the story HERE. 

And read a little bit more about me in the interview HERE.