There’s a liminal nature to abandoned or neglected buildings which attracts me. The place in these photos is an old gypsum silo situated at the back of the village of Hillsborough, NB. The dock where ships laden with gypsum moved up the Petitcodiac River into the Bay of Fundy is gone but for bundles of wood emerging from the shifting mud.
White gypsum pebbles, a form of selenite, dot the earth. Some make their way into my pockets.
The concrete silo is the closest thing to a castle you’ll find in these parts.
The graffiti is a beautiful, hidden expression by individuals trying to exist as liminal as the structure itself. Most of us are that person, desperate to leave a mark, any mark, at some point in our lives.
There are beautiful graffiti artists who leave a memorable image, knowing it will not last. It is art meant to be destroyed to make way for more art. I struggle with this metaphor as a creative person. I dream of a story that echoes through generations and lasts forever. This is that dream’s opposite and I cannot look away.
There are other graffitists, too, caught unprepared with a can of spray paint and a sudden desperation. They scrawl a curse word when they panic in the moment, unable to think of anything clever and too uncertain to make something beautiful. These curses remind me of a primal scream. Of something trapped. I imagine this feeling repeating itself in a future lunch room, a coworker’s unexpected get well soon card laid before them, their mind blank and unable to think of anything more clever than the card already says. They don’t swear this time. They sign their name instead. Maybe they’ll remember the old castle tower in the moment, maybe they won’t.
The tower doesn’t care. It watches the tide go up and down on the river and dreams of pretty white stone.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Submit Your Stories Sunday! Every week I bring you a unique call for submissions to help you find a home for your stories or inspire a new one. Each call will contain a speculative element and will offer payment upon acceptance.
Still on Patrol
Eligibility: Otter Libris is looking for stories surrounding the tradition of referring to lost American submarines and their sailors as ‘still on patrol’ rather than lost at sea. What happens if those sailors return from patrol? Stories from all countries are welcome. Stories should be from 3 000 to 6 000 words.
Take Note: no stories disrespecting the military or depicting abuse will be tolerated. Writers should also be aware that the publisher expects non-exclusive audio, print, and ebook rights for five years after an exclusivity period of one year has passed.
What makes this call stand out: we’re coming on to the perfect time of year to write a spooky supernatural story.
I had A.J. Pearce’s historical fiction Dear Mrs. Bird on my TBR list simply because I have a beloved aunt who is a Mrs. Bird. Somewhere on the interwebs I read that fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society would like it which had me racing to the library. Guernsey is so good I have spare copies in case I meet someone who hasn’t read it. *Ahem* this is the part where I grab you by the shoulders and ask you if you’ve read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. No? I have an extra copy, hold on.
Dear Mrs. Bird is set in London during the Blitz. Pearce mentions in the story notes that she was inspired to write the book after reading through the advice columns of women’s magazine from the Blitz. They gave her a deep sense of the unique challenges women faced at that time.
The story follows young Fire Brigade volunteer Emmy as she fumbles her way into a job typing up letters for a grumpy advice columnist with strict ideals of what is allowed to be spoken in polite society. As bombs drop and lives fall apart around her, Emmy struggles with ignoring the Unacceptable letters of desperate girls who write in for help with controversial issues. She begins writing back, posing as Mrs. Bird, to help the girls find their way.
This book has many lines that made me stop and think. At it’s heart, this book is about a writer. At one point, Emmy’s mentor of sorts, Mr. Collins, “Find out what you’re good at, Miss Lake, and then get even better. That’s the key.” Such simple, important advice. I had to stop reading and jot it down.
It’s also a book about living in a war zone and a city experiencing relentless raids. There are moments of devastating reality. Pearce writes these scenes with skill, zeroing in on the small moments of character. “Some cried out, saying It Hurts, It Hurts. I ignored them and that was disgusting of me. I ignored people who were dying. At the time, it didn’t feel like a decision. If (redacted) was alive (redacted) would need help, so I kept going.” (edited to avoid spoilers).
Dear Mrs. Bird is an excellent read, I recommend grabbing a copy of your book-getting place of choice and settling in for a few hours.
Toby’s Alicorn Adventure, my middle grade fantasy short story about a little girl who finds an alicorn (unicorn’s horn) and uses a magical website to find its lost owner, is out in this month’s issue of Cricket: the Realm of the Imagination!
It’s a real thrill to see my name in the table of contents of a magazine I love reading with my eldest daughter. She says it’s exciting for her too but… I might win the excitement award on this one. *wink*
Artist Benjamin Schipper illustrated Toby and he did a marvelous job. I’m so thrilled to see my characters come to life.
In the story Toby posts an ad to find the owner of a lost alicorn on a website for magical creatures called the Hag’s List. After posting her ad with directions to her bedroom window to claim the alicorn, a few shady characters turn up.
My story was inspired by my partner’s misadventures trying to sell a tractor on a buy-and-sell site popular in our area. If you’ve ever tried to sell something on the internet, you can probably relate to the strange responses Toby gets.
I am happy to admit I squealed with delight when I saw the flying rhinoceros got his own illustration!
If you want to read it for yourself or think your kids would enjoy my story, it is available on Cricket’s website, many fine bookstores, and your local library.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Submit Your Stories Sunday! Every week I bring you a unique call for submissions to help you find a home for your stories or inspire a new one. Each call will contain a speculative element and will offer payment upon acceptance.
Ursula K. Le Guin Tribute Poetry Anthology
Eligibility: original poems which pay to tribute in some way to the late poet and writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Speculative elements are welcome, but not required. There are no limits to words, lines, or style.
Take Note: writers can submit up to three poems
What makes this call stand out: it’s a lovely way to pay tribute to a prolific writer
Payment: $20 per poem, reprints are welcome but the rate will be lower
In the greatest foreshadowing fail I have come across, a writer who specializes in stories about ladies killing their spouses is charged with murdering… her spouse. Welp.
I’ve been reading the Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction issue of Uncanny. Having guest editors makes it stand out from other Uncanny issues in terms of overall style, but Uncanny’s ideals of inclusivity and imaginative fiction hold true.
cover art: And With the Lamps We Are Multitudes of Light by Likhain
My favorite story in the collection is A. Merc Rustad’s first-contact story The Frequency of Compassion. It is nothing short of a masterpiece. Rustad is easily one of my favorite short story writers publishing today. I get a rush of delight when I see their name in a table of contents.
I tried and failed to chose a favorite from the nonfiction included in the issue. As a mother who experiences a varying range of anxiety, A. J. Hackwith’s And the Dragon Was in the Skin resonated deeply. Each essay changed something in the way I see the world. If you’re a writer, read them. Devour them. Listen. They have the power to make us better writers. Better people.
Julia Watts Belser’s poem You Wanted Me to Fly hit me hard, the last line especially. As writers, we need to do so much better.
If you’re not in a place to support Uncanny magazine financially (Space Unicorns!), you can read half of the issue for free at the link above. The second half should be available on the Uncanny website in October.
After a dangerous voyage from the Rivendell wilds of New Zealand, my print copy of the children’s anthology Eeny Meeny Miney Mo: Tales for Tired Tykes has finally made it to my mailbox.
This is a larger book than I had pictured, much bigger than a typical scribbler (school notebook). The print is a nice size for reading and the full page illustrations preceding the stories pop off the page. All of the illustrations were done by artist Jon Stubbington.
The table of contents is a series of those illustrations rather than words, which works well for the younger end of the 3-7-year-old audience. They select a picture and their readers turn to the page to read the title. This frustrates me a little, I’ll admit, being used to titles in my tables of contents, but my girls love this feature.
My story contribution, Leif the Story Hunter, sits somewhere in the middle of the book. Of course I flipped there to read it first. It’s about a boy who lives in the woods with his father, hunting for stories which they trap inside blank books and sell to the bookstore in the city. It’s a wonderful life, but when they trap the wrong story Leif’s father is held hostage until Leif can catch a replacement. Lief has never hunted on his own before…
This is a fun book, and what’s great about it is that it’s geared to kids, not adults, on every level of its design. If you’d like to grab a copy, you can find them at the Patchwork Raven.
That’s it for now but stay tuned because the September 2018 issue of Cricket: the Realm of Imagination is out and I’m watching my mailbox for it. It takes a little extra time to make it into Canada but it’s going to be worth the wait because my funny fantasy story ‘Toby’s Alicorn Adventure’ is inside! The girls and I love reading Cricket and I am so excited to see my story inside those beloved pages.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Submit Your Stories Sunday! Every week I bring you a unique call for submissions to help you find a home for your stories or inspire a new one. Each call will contain a speculative element and will offer payment upon acceptance.
Constellary Tales
Eligibility: fantasy or science fiction stories from 1000-3500 words
Take Note: reading the welcome launch, the editors appear to prefer ‘hero’s journey’ stories
What makes this call stand out: this is a brand new market on the speculative fiction scene which pays pro rates
Payment: $0.06 per word
Submit by: this is an ongoing podcast/magazine, so submissions are open unless otherwise noted.
I’m currently in literary love with Martha Well’s first book in the Murderbot series, All Systems Red. Yowza! This is not what I expected when I started hearing the term ‘Murderbot’ everywhere I went. Murderbot is a clone/robot with a dark past and an introverted nature who hacked their governor module to achieve free will. They just want to watch their soap operas, but now they have to protect their human crew on a hostile planet and-ugh!-the humans keep talking to them. Looks like I’ll be catching up on the other Murderbot books in the series this fall.
How I feel reading Murderbot – Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
The ghost flames flickered over the branches, tasting the sweet sap. For half a breath we thought them safe until the phantom flames shimmered and spread their tendrils. The trees were engulfed. The flames rushed through the forest, devouring everything. When they finished with the Boreal, they started on the Amazon. Not a single dandelion was spared. Life on Earth was over.
Some say the phantom of that fire ate our souls as well, but there comes a bitter heartbreak to being forced off-world which lends itself to poetry and dark, deep thoughts of loss. We, the broken, exist to survive now. Our children will not be burdened by this darkness. For them we carry on.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Submit Your Stories Sunday (previously known as Submission Sunday). Every week I bring you a unique call for submissions to help you find a home for your stories or inspire a new one. Each call will contain a speculative element and will offer payment upon acceptance.
photo courtesy of rawpixel at Unsplash
Artemis Rising 5
Eligibility: speculative fiction written by women. This call covers all four of the Escape Artists podcasts. In the case of Podcastle, submissions must be fantasy stories up to 6 000 words. Escape Pod is looking for science fiction from 1500 – 6 000 words. For Pseudopod, submit horror stories 1500 to 6 000 words. Cast of Wonders wants your young adult speculative fiction up to 6 000 words.
Caveat: for the Artemis Rising event, only women or individuals who have identified as a woman at some point in their lives are eligible to submit. However, at all other times writers who identify as men are welcome to submit their stories, so keep those links handy.
What makes this call stand out: because the Escape Artists markets are podcasts, writers will have the chance to hear a professional read their story.
Payment: $0.06 per word for original fiction
Submit by: Artemis Rising is open from September 1 to September 30th. Check the websites linked above for other submission dates.
Eldin glimpsed his mermaid in the water, the one who stole his heart when he rescued her from the beach. He’d given up everything to find her.
He rushed across The Sea Witch and struggled into scuba gear.
“You sure know what you’re doin’?” asked the Captain.
“Of course.” Eldin flashed his forged dive ticket again.
The Captain cursed as the boy splashed into the water. “No deeper than 30m or the decompression’ll kill ya.”
Eldin found his mermaid waiting for him, smiling and holding out her hands.
She led him to an underwater village built of kelp and coral.
The regulator he needed for breath wouldn’t let him speak his promises of love, but he rejoiced at the warmth of her hand against his glove.
His depth gauge read 120m when his mask cracked. Eldin paid it little mind, his mind too full with the magic of first love.
She let go of Eldin’s hand as a school of merchildren swam to greet her. When she gestured to Eldin they rushed to hug him. He tried to smile but his stomach knotted up with doubts. A smiling merman shook his hand. Her family, Eldin realized, her children. Her husband.
Eldin turned, hoping they wouldn’t see the agony of his shattered heart. He needed to get away. To find somewhere alone to howl with this awful pain.
He released his dive weights, rushing to the surface, heedless of the Captain’s warning.
They never found his body. Some say he turned to sea foam, his sorrow clinging to the surface of her world and to his.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Submission Sundays! Every week I bring you a unique call for submissions to help you find a home for your stories or inspire a new one. Each call will contain a speculative element and will offer payment upon acceptance.
Spoon Knife 4: A Neurodivergent Guide to Space Time
Eligibility: Speculative, original fiction or poetry featuring the concepts of space, time, and neurodivergence. Following through to the original call in the link below will lead you to a greater explanation of what the editors categorize as neurodivergent.
Caveat: stories should not exceed 10 000 words.
What makes this call stand out: this collection offers a great chance to blow up some negative neurodivergent tropes once and for all.
Jenn Zuko tackled the “mother knows best” trope at Writer’s HQ. She pin-pointed exactly why the ending of the Hunger Games trilogy disappointed me, but also why many historical accounts of ‘bad-ass’ women disappoint as well.
Joslyn Chase wrote an article about covers that sell for the Write Practice which offers wonderful strategies and tips for writers struggling with their back cover blurbs.
Jennifer Shelby 