Where Fairy Tales Come From

First off, I have done A Thing: my short story "Candy, Shoe, and Skull; Sallow Flowers Plucked Like Chains" appears in this month's issue of Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine.

And yes, it's the dark fairy tale issue.

If you know me, you understand why that is perfect.

I've read the magazine and there are some delightfully wondrous and oh-so-dark retwistings of fairy tale in these digital pages. So far my favorites, other than my own story (because: of course), are Eric J. Guignard's "A Kiss and a Curse," a Beauty and the Beast retelling of dire consequence, the narrative poem "Et je ne pleurais jamais les larmes cicatrisantes magiques; c’est seulement un mensonge joli: Arne-Thompson Index No. 310" by Elizabeth McClellan featuring a Rapunzel with agency and engineering on her side, and Rhonda Eikamp's "The Men in the Walls," which is also very, very dark. Well, they're all dark. This is, after all, the dark fairy tale issue. But there's a delight in these dark stories that my brain keeps turning over and over. I love the twists and shapes of these tales.

My piece, "Candy, Shoe, and Skull; Sallow Flowers Plucked Like Chains,"really came about because I kept picking at the notion of where fairy tales come from, then applied that to the modern world.

We're all just dark and twisty beings who don't understand what's going on.

There are two main theories in folklore studies about the origins of these stories of the people and the fact that so many cultures developed the same basic tales seemingly independent of one another. One notion is that these tales arise from the collective subconscious.

Read the rest of this post . . .

Bridging gaps and weaving worlds

Today I'm the writer of the guest post for Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine. Read here to see me make the obvious connection between Rumpelstiltskin and starting a small press.

Meanwhile, writer and blogger Elizabeth Twist is visiting World Weaver Press. her guest post tackles the genre of horror and whether or not it's really a genre or something more pervasive. Her article may just have you rethinking how  you define "horror."

Northville Review call for submissions: YouTube

In addition to my April A to Z blogging challenge, I'd like to share the following from Northville Review:

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/jNQXAC9IVRwFirst video uploaded to YouTube: April 23, 2005

YouTube: The planet’s third most visited website, where the averageuser spends 15 minutes per day, every day. Where memes live, andnaivete dies. And, at last...the subject of The Northville Review’sSummer 2012 issue!

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:
-- Look for “Summer 2012” on our Submishmash page. It’s toward the bottom.-- Send us a story, a poem, an essay that is somehow related to anembeddable YouTube video.-- “Somehow related to” is deliberately very open-ended. If youretrofit a video to something you’ve already completed, that’s betweenyou and your deity.-- “Embeddable YouTube video” is not open-ended. Click “Share” andthen “Embed” to make sure the video is embeddable. Submissions withoutthis will be rejected.-- Include a link to the YouTube video and a bio in your cover letter.-- Work selected for publication will run underneath the correspondingembedded video.-- PLEASE NOTE: If your submission is accepted and your video goesdead on YouTube before the publication date, so does your work. Choosewisely. Tip: It’s probably not a good idea to send anything relatedto Prince.

DEADLINE: June 30. This is NOT a top secret project. Feel free tospread the word.

QUESTIONS? northvillereview@gmail.com or whatever social media works for you.

Market Monday

Looking for places to submit short fiction? Particularly if you're working in the vein of fantasy, science fiction, horror and that unclassifiable "weird fiction" realm? Then check out the following markets and calls for submissions.

Mirror Dance (nonpaying market) is a free online magazine of fantasy in all its sub-genres, including magic realism, urban fantasy or contemporary fantasy, sword & sorcery, fantasy-of-manners, and stories with mythological or folkloric themes. They're looking for poetry ASAP to fill their next issue, but are set on fiction. They write:

All the fiction slots for our Winter 2011 all-flash issue are full, but we are still looking for poetry, especially narrative poems and pieces that blur the lines between poetry and prose. All non-theme submissions will be considered for Spring 2012. Please mention in your cover letter for which issue you’d like us to consider your story or poem, if you have a preference.

Mslexia publishes only female writers. They're seeking submissions for Issue 53 on the theme "In the year 2212…" Deadline: 28 November. They write:

Two hundred years hence, will we be teleporting or living in caves? In peaceful eco-cities or war-scarred refugee colonies on a distant planet? Cast your imaginative spotlight into the future and tell us what you see. Please send up to 4 poems (of up to 40 lines each) or up to 2 short stories (of up to 2,200 words each).

Dagan Books: Bibliotheca Fantastica Anthology seeks submissions for a themed anthology sent between December 15 and March 31. Stories up to 10,000 words--I'm excited that they're willing to look at longer shorts(!) What they want:

Stories having to do with lost, rare, weird, or imaginary books, or any aspect of book history or book culture, past, present, future, or uchronic. Any genre. Although the fantastical is not essential per se, stories should evoke a sense of the fantastic, the unknown, the weird, wonder, terror, mystery, pulp, and/or adventure, etc.

Wicked East Press: Witch's Brew ($5 flat rate payment) seeking stories of witches by December 31 for anthology. (They do lots of anthologies, check out this page to see what those themes are.) Ideally in the 3,500- 7,000 word range. What they're looking for:

Creepy, crawly stories that celebrate the various aspects of witch’s and their livelihoods. Most all genres acceptable, as long as the story fits the anthology theme. This is a collection of stories to be enjoyed by everyone, please keep excessive cussing and sex out unless integral to your character.

Rapunzel based fiction contest

Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine is running a Rapunzel themed contest starting tomorrow, April 1, and ending April 8.  The story or poem must be under 2,000 words but can be any variation of "the maiden in the tower" tale type.

The contest coincides with the release of the first issue of the second volume of Enchanted Conversation: the Rumpelstiltskin themed issue which featured my epistolary short story "Garbage-to-Gold Spindle--On Sale Now!"

And in case you're like my mother and think that "on sale now" means you can go buy the issue, don't reach for your wallet just yet. The issue is free! But my story is about a mail order company -- and yes, they're running some sales.

Short story published today!

Appearing today in Enchanted Conversation's Rumpelstiltskin issue, is my short story!

Titled "Garbage-to-Gold Spindle! On Sale Now!" the story is a humorous bout of correspondence from a mail order catalog to one Mr. Stiltskin.  At only 1,800 words, it makes for a quick read.

Actually, brevity is the name of the game for this issue of Enchanted Conversations.  None of the ten pieces published in the issue are longer than 2,000 words.

Reading over the issue, I have to say that I was impressed with the poetry (which I approached with unnecessary skepticism as I've often seen folk lore meet poetry in unflattering ways).  Particularly impressive was the quiet and soulful poem "Other End of the Tale" by Gerri Leen.    I was also impressed by another quiet and thoughtful tale, the opening short story "Little Rattle Belly" by Mae Empson.  There's even a nonfiction essay on spinning and the history of linen toward the end of the issue, "Straw Into Gold," written by Elizabeth Creith. Also enchanting was the final story of the magazine, "The Duchess's Boy," by Louise Quenneville, wherein a gnomish duchess wisely states, "I know about making bargains with humans, and they are not to be trusted to keep their end of the agreement.

Grab-bag

Iconic face of Rosie the Riveter poster died recently. I really wish I'd known this story, ya know, before she passed away.  She was a Michigan factory worker and seeing as her service is being held in Lansing, I'm betting she lived in Michigan all her life.

Odyssey Workshop has a new podcast up online from editor David Hartwell's 2010 Odyssey Workshop lecture on titles, titling, and using pseudonyms (Podcast #43). It was great because I find that a lot of writers worry about how to title or when to use a pseudonym and it seems like something the knowledgeable people in the industry don't want to talk about--perhaps it is more tedious than other aspects, but here we have a guy who's been an editor in the SF/F industry for over 40 years and he's willing to talk seriously about the small stuff.

The Kenyon Review Writers Workshop is now open to applications. As is the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop (early admission deadline: Jan. 31; regular deadline: Apr. 8). Both are great workshops.

One of my Odyssey workshop classmates (or Odfellows, as the alums are called), put out a novella (40,000 words) for Kindle titled Nocturne: Son of the Night.  I haven't read the whole thing, but my understanding from the first chapter is that it's a high fantasy vampire world.  40k is an awkward length to sell to a publisher -- it's about half as long as a novel and a about 20k too long for all but a couple magazines to deal with (though as I understand it, it might be the kind of thing BlackGate would serialize).  You can read the first chapter on Smashwords or buy at amazon.com.  And maybe even buy at Samshwords if you need non-Kindle formating.

I got my cats a "cat bed" so that they would stop sleeping on top of my cloth suitcase. They seem to have mixed feeling about the bed, so I doused it in cat nip and now Rosie's all about it. Ash is currently sleeping in the old box lid on my desk. I guess they'll never be happy until they have the ultimate house for cats.

Kristen Lamb has had a great series of posts of the last week about dealing with "Crappy Excuse Trolls and Procrastination Pixies." The posts are long, but it's worth scrolling back to her Dec. 31 entry to catch the entire week's notions of how to behave better beyond the New Year's Resolution.  This awesome picture is from her blog as well.  It's a "Rare Photo of Actual Procrastination Pixie Disguised as a Hamster Cage that Needs Cleaning Instead of Doing Edits on Novel."   Love it.

Over at Third Coast, Nathan Norton posts his thoughts on Resolving to Remain Resolute with Regards to Writing Resolutions.  Nathan's post, as always, is insanely witty.

Speaking of which, my New Year's Resolutions are sorta holding. I've already finished reading one novel--another freebie download from eHarlequin. What can I say? I'm a sucker for free books that you can read quickly. And the writing 500 words a day goal? ... well I have written everyday, which is a start. Haven't really broken the 500 mark every day though and that's worthy of a demerit.

In the spirit of all of the writing is what I love posts I've read and *ahem* written myself, I bring you this from The Onion:

I guess you could say I have always had a love affair with the written word. The simple, solitary act of contemplating the white expanse of the blank page, and then putting pen to paper and seeing where the words take me, is my one constant solace in an otherwise turbulent world. Yes, I must admit it: I am only truly happy when I'm writing.


Or if I'm having dinner with family and friends, or a new and interesting acquaintance I happened to meet that week and hit it off with. I'm pretty happy then, too.


But for me, it always comes back to the writing: the discipline, the stamina required, the unrelenting determination to give voice to my innermost thoughts, thoughts that illuminate the cracks and crevices of the human condition. That is my only satisfaction. That and watching a really good movie on late-night TV, like Suddenly, Last Summer. That's a great feeling, especially when you haven't seen the film in some years, and you discover anew just what it was that you loved about it in the first place. I also enjoy canoeing and windsurfing when I get a free weekend down at the beach.


And Frisbee. I love Frisbee. (read more)

The more I read about the publishing business the more I think ahead. This is good, right? Maybe. It's hard to tell when your tell your friend, "hey I'm thinking about this and this, what's your advice?" and her advice is to stop thinking so far ahead and write the damn book. Then there's things like this very interesting guest post about author branding on Sierra Godfrey's blog. And the post says yes! think about it now!

I know, I know. Those of you out there who are plugging away at writing your book or maybe just sticking your toe in the writing waters are probably thinking...look, I just need to get this book written, find an agent, get a book deal, etc. etc. and then I'll worry about a public image. I've got time for that. Publishing is a slow business.


You're right. The book should be priority number one and publishing IS slow. I got my book deal a few months ago and my book won't hit the shelves until 2012. But let me tell you, when all the good stuff starts happening, it can happen fast. And you'll be thrust from "writer" to "Author" with a capital A in a moment's time.


That's great news. You won't really feel any different (though you'll be excited) and writing will still be just as difficult (believe me.) But the change means your blog, website, twitter, facebook, etc., you know all those things you've been doing to build your platform/presence, are now your brand.


So if you've spent your time on your blog bashing books you don't like, cursing like a sailor, or only posting pictures of cats in doll outfits (or even *gasp* not blogging/tweeting/pick your poison at all), you may have to do a major overhaul or start from scratch. You don't want this stress when you're going to be facing the new stress of being contracted, editing and writing against a deadline, and figuring out all it means to be a paid author. So why not get your brand in place NOW?

And then I'm like, aha! gotcha Roni Loren, I comprehend now. (read more of her guest post).

Lastly, I am in love with Lightspeed magazine!  All SF, all online (although they have other formatting options if you're interested).  They have a really intriguing layout/look--both clean and enticing.  And they're publishing a range of writers, lesser known folk and then, last month, Ursala Le Guin.  Though I could tell it was a Le Guin story because I finished it and went huh?

Story published in SWINK today!

"The Apology" was published today by SWINK online magazine as part of it's Dead Letter Office.

Finally, the piece I wrote and performed as part of my senior thesis project has found a home.  (Read now)

New Fiction!

Blogger (and frequent commenter to Speak Coffee) Wrtsmith has a short story (flash fiction? flash-ish?) coming out today, "The White" with Every Day Fiction!

From his blog, Blue Serge Suit:

This is a site I’ve been reading every day for the better part of a year, and have for the most part enjoyed almost every story I’ve read. They send you a short short story every day to your inbox. I highly recommend the site. To give you a nice introduction, check out this piece that was published on Mother’s day, titled Saving Darth Vader. You cat lovers should have a special connection to this one.

Call for submissions

Me: running around getting ready

Meanwhile:

THE NORTHVILLE REVIEW IS NOW READING SUBMISSIONS FOR OUR JULY ISSUE. THEME: CELEBRITY!
Celebrities are many things to many people. They can be fascinating in their lack of inhibition, and intriguing in their reserve. They inspire, they disgust, they amuse, they annoy. Sometimes, their antics bring us together when many other things pull us apart. The Northville Review wants to explore all of these dimensions in our July issue. In order to do so, we need your work! (Read more)

I'm rather looking forward to this not-as-serious-as-usual big summer issue. I love the stupidity of people when it comes to celebrity. And I think more stories should be written to ham up that celebrity-awkwardness.

Around the Web

I may or may not have mentioned on this blog that I'm also working on the Third Coast magazine blog. I am very excited to have our latest feature up and running (at last!): literary guest bloggers!

Our first guest blogger is Erin Fitzgerald who writes the blog "Rarely Likable" and edits the Northville Review. She's written a lovely post for Third Coast about how (and where) to jump in to the world of literary magazines. It's chockablock with links to databases, sites and services for writers looking to learn and publish -- some of which I'd never heard of! (Very thorough.) Below Erin's guest blog entry is also a review of her short fiction.

I'm in contact with other writers/bloggers about future entries but, by all means, let me know if you have a nomination or suggestion.

The other nice thing that is going on over on the Third Coast blog is a series of monthly post by one of our fiction interns Nathan Norton. He's writing about some of the pitfalls of writing that he sees while reading slush and how writers can avoid them.

Friday Readings

This week my interesting internet finds lean more toward the blogging side than the short story side, but don't let that stop you from checking out the first item on the list "Dear Doris."

A story in answers: Dear Doris by Adam Davies from FiveChapters.com. The form made me start reading but the story has stuck with me for the past week. I find myself thinking about it as I fall asleep where my half-conscious mind tries to fill in the gaps between the answers because it believes, really believes that this piece of fiction was an interview with a real person.

Wylie-Merrick Literary Agency has a really nice tutorial on point of view from the writer's perspective not the agent's. Point of view is one of those things that's simple but not simple at all. This blog post does a good job of starting that discussion and, even though it's a long post, it goes no where near finishing that discussion.

Forgotten Bookmarks is a blog put together by a rare book seller who finds all sorts of things stuffed inside the books he buys (and I think other people send him pictures too). It's a really interesting FOUND art type project.

Pimp My Novel delivers the 10 Commandments of Blogging (for authors) and linked to this news tidbit: CBS has greenlighted a pilot of "Open Books" a comedy that revolves around a book editor and her industry friends. There's the fear that books might make boring TV, but the project is being driven by Gail Lerner who worked on "Will & Grace" and "Ugly Betty" so it should be funny, right? Or maybe it'll show how the book industry is just another face of MODE.

Is this a joke?

I was trolling online magazines looking for places to do my next round of submissions -- lately I've been finding a lot of nicely formatted magazines calling for submissions to their inaugural issue, is this the fruit of the Obama-hope-phenomena? -- when I found this magazine: Artifice.

Okay, great, another well formatted start up. But then I saw their wishlist. Is this really what they want? Is it a joke? A poetic expression mocking the notion of magazines even attempting to explain what they want?

I'm not certain.

Part of me wants to write a piece called "A Basic Guide to Science" or
stories or poems that involve folding or cutting the paper on which they are printed, because those sound like really intriguing challenges. And I probably will write such things ... and probably won't submit them. I really don't want to the the one idiot that didn't get the joke.

Worth Reading - Finds from the Online Lit Mag Scene and Beyond

Things I like and things I've seen all for free on the internet.

Short stories:

From anderbo.com: Samuel Patterson Stoddard's "The Common Cuckoo." I got to see this story started in workshop. I liked it then and I liked it now.

From Rumble Underground's Winter 2009 issue and winner of their short story contest: "The Thing with Feathers" by Evan Guilford-Blake. Heartbreaking.

Blog posts:

From agent Jessica Faust on the BookEnds blog: writing what you love and loving what you write, "Be True to You."

From Margosita on Trusting the Process while embarking on the MFA thesis project. You never hear the MFA process as a "hand holding" adventure -- surely if they promoted it that way few people would sign up -- but along with the educational aspects of an academic study of writing and the process of writing the MFA thesis project provides many helpful (possibly necessary) tool for completion of the first novel: a deadline, a support group, a mentor, a critic, an editor and someone who doesn't think you're weird when you freak out about the project.