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Saturday, July 25, 2020

Expanding (9 deadlines soon; WWC 2020 next week; 40 rejections so far!)

There are at least 9 deadlines coming up on 7/31-8/2, so feel free to jump to the updated deadlines listed below. I started including a few more details, such as poetry, multiple subs, simultaneous subs. You should also check the conferences. Willamette Writers Conference is coming up very soon; you should register by Monday and jump into Eric Witchey's class. Highly recommended.

It's going fairly strong with my writing; I've written a few new short pieces and done some revision. Submitted a bunch. Now if I could just fit in some work on a novel. I've probably been holding back enough and need to wrap up and consider how to publish, perhaps starting with those agents I met at the conference years back...

Current Stats for Personal Goal of 100 Rejections in 2020 
Rejections: 40 (25 short, 14 flash, 1 poem) 
Pending: 19 (10 short, 5 flash, 1 poem)
Total 2020 Submissions: 59

The writing sprints went well this week, and I've just about finished the story for the Third Flatiron story call. I like how it loosely linked to another flash I sent into a contest earlier this month. Now to just sort out that ending and polish it up to send in for a few critiques, so I can get to other matters.

Thankfully, more members from the Super Secrets challenge group joined my shared critique folder, and we have been exchanging emails. I find this was one of the major changes that helped me after joining the Super Secrets challenge group: more exchanges with other motivated writers. Writing together with others who are just as motivated, exchanging critiques or brainstorming or discussing ideas, is incredibly inspirational.

Good news that I noticed: Apex Magazine is open for submissions, and their already successful Kickstarter is still going. Amazing Stories successfully funded their Kickstarter.

Missed: I just missed the submission window for Addition Magazine (1000-5000 words, 8¢/word, Genre: general, SF), so submit right away next time it opens.

Lists below. Do let me know if you have anything else I should add.


Conferences, Conventions, and Workshops to Sign Up For

Willamette Writers Conference 2020, July 30 - August 2, 7 AM - 8 PM Pacific Time, Online, $299/$349, Note: I wish I could go but work won't allow me to make time for this, definitely take a class from Eric Witchey if you can (it's called Character Fluency, and is 5-7 PM PST on 7/27/. 7/28. 7/29). There's still time to sign up! In fact, I may be able to fit Witchey's class in between work obligations.












8/1, Cemetery Gates Media Untitled Anthology, 3000-6000 words, 5¢/word, Genre: Horror, Theme: local lore or location-based oddities, Simultaneous OK

8/1-8/2, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, 1000-40000 words (shorter preferred), 6¢/word (reprints 2¢/word), Genre: F/SF, Poetry ($1/line, ~40 lines, reprints 50¢/word), Articles (2-6¢/word, reprints 1-4¢/word), Note: great feedback provided if requested in cover letter

8/1-8/7, Fantasy Magazine, ~7500 words, 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy/Dark Fantasy, Poetry ($40/poem, send up to 6)

8/15 (or until filled), No Police = Know Future, ~4000 words. 8¢/word. Theme: SF stories that give potential (and hopefully positive) futures that involve alternatives to modern day policing. 

8/15-30 (tentative), Cast of Wonders (Flash Fiction Contest), ~1500 words, 8¢/word, Genre: any YA, Note: good feedback provided last time I submitted, https://www.castofwonders.org/submissions/

8/23, Great River Review, Poetry (1-3 poems), $120, Note: BIPOC poets only, Note: must provide mini reading of your work

8/24-8/28, Fireside Summer 2021 Issue, ~3000 words, 12.5¢/word, Genre: Any (English or Spanish) 

8/30, Heartwreck: Romantic Disasters at Sea, 2000-5000 words, 2¢/word, Seeking personal essays and creative memoir about love gone wrong at sea

8/31, Strange Horizons (Mexico Issue), ~4000, 10¢/word, Genre: any speculative, Note: only for Indigenous people in Mexico, Mexican people, and people of Mexican origin

Submission Deadlines and Windows in September and Beyond

9/4, On the Premises Short Story Contest 36, 1000-5000 words, prize money (1st $220, 2nd $160, 3rd $120, HM $60), Theme: Smell, Genre: any except children’s and gross horror, https://onthepremises.com/current-contest/

9/22, Reckoning: 5th Issue, ~20,000 words, 8¢/word ($30/page for poems), Genre: SF/F/General, Theme: enivironmental justic, Simultaneous OK, Poetry OK (prefer multiple 3-5 poems <10 pages, but send only one if longer)

9/25, Incoming Magazine, Pitches for 20-page black and white comic, Genre: SF, £ 800/$1000, email story outline (text/storyboard) and a selection of concept art/past work to: magincoming@gmail.com

9/1-9/30 PodCastle, ~6000 words (3000-4500 best), 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy, Simultaneous OK, Reprints ($100 for >1500 words, $20 for flash)

7/1-9/30, WotF Q4, ~17000 words (aim for 3000-10,000), 8¢/word, prize money (1st $1000, 2nd $750, 3rd $500, annual grand $5000, plus Hollywood workshop; semi-finalists get feedback), Genre: F/SF, Note: contest for new writers w/o 4+ pro-level publications; the forum is very helpful, especially the Super Secrets thread; free workshop available on website

8/10-10/11 Dream Foundry Contest, Words ~10,000, prize (1st $1000, 2nd $500, 3rd $200), Note: contest for new writers (have published 4000 words or less, earned $320 or less from those words and never been nominated for a major award)

11/1 WEIRD CHRISTMAS Flash Fiction Contest - 3rd annual; SpecFic/sf/f/h/humor/weird (flash). Words: <350. Fee: $0. Prizes: 1st=$50; 2nd=$25 10+ HMs=$5; + pub & podcast. Reprints: query. Note: will accept narrative poetry, multiple entries okay. Judge: Craig "Kringle" Brewer. E-subs: EMAIL ONLY. Contact: Craig "Kringle" Brewer (QS). Results & PubDate:: 7 December 2020

10/15-11/2, PseudoPod (General Submissions), 1500-6000 words (4500 best), 8¢/word, Genre: any horror, Reprints OK 

9/15-11/15, Lamplight Magazine, ~7000 words, 3¢/word, Genre: Dark/Literary

1/4-11/15, In Darkness Delight Anthology (Corpus Press), 2500-7500 words, 3¢/word, Genre: Horror, SF (soft)

11/30: Cast of Wonders (General Submissions), ~6000 words (best 3000-4500 or flash <1000), 8¢/word, Genre: any YA, Note: good feedback provided last time I submitted

12/1 Worldbuilding Fantasy Anthology, 3500-7000 or 9000-15,000 words, flat payment (short $100; novella $200), Theme: Politics as Conflict. Genre: any Fantasy (PG-13)

11/30-12/4, Fireside (Autumn 2021 Issue), ~3000 words, 12.5¢/word, Genre: Any (English or Spanish) 

7/1/2020-2/28/2021, Upon a Once Time, 1000-3000 words, 8¢/word, Theme: Mashup of two fairytales, Genre: SF/Fantasy/Grimdark/New Weird/Dying Earth/genre-bending

7/1/2020-2/28/2021, The Wild Hunt: Stories of the Chase, 1000-3000 words, 8¢/word, Theme: Wild Hunt (folklore, myths, drama), Genre: SF/Fantasy/Grimdark/New Weird/Dying Earth/genre-bending





Hybrid Fiction, 500-5000 words (or serialized novellas), 6¢/word, Genre: speculative hybrid/cross-genre (blend of 2+ genres, such as dark fantasy, steampunk western, historical fantasy, weird western, crime fantasy, etc.)



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Monday, July 20, 2020

39 rejections and 11 pending, Wulf Moon workshop, and upcoming deadlines

Hello everyone. I hope life and your creative pursuits are going well. My goal of 100 rejections in 2020 is still underway. Not sure I'll make it, but we'll see. Current stats are 39 rejections (24 short stories; 14 flash, 1 poem) and 11 pending (9 short stories, 2 flash stories, 1 poems).

I took a wonderful online workshop from Wulf Moon over the weekend. I love that so much is available online now! Since I almost never travel to the USA. Moon went over all the essentials for a prize-winning story and provided plenty of motivation. Great class with practical handouts and exercises. 4 hours was not enough. Recommended. He's teaching it again in November: How to Write Winning Stories that Take the Gold! And he's also teaching a new class in October: The Secrets of a Howling Good Plot.

I am about to join a writing sprint with a fellow Super Secrets challenge member. We're aiming to write something fresh for the Third Flatiron story call. We'll either be using a writing prompt from Super Secrets or a prompt idea I have from the Clarion West workshop I attended.

That's all the news for now. I updated the deadlines list below. Please do let me know if there is anything missing from the list. I'm always looking for more places to submit (though I try to aim at 5 cents a word or above). Currently a speculative short story focus here, though I try to mention opportunities for poetry and may be gradually adding on more general/literary publications.

All the best with life and creativity!

R.J.K. Lee


Submission Deadlines Coming Up in July, August, and September 

7/1-7/31, Mysterion, ~9000 words, 8¢/word, Genre: speculative that engages with Christianity

7/1-8/1, Third Flatiron, 1500-3000 words, 8¢/word, Theme: Brain Games Stories to Astonish, Genre: SF/F/H/steampunk/cyberpunk/myth/satire

8/1-8/2, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, 1000-40000 words (shorter preferred), 6¢/word (reprints 2¢/word), Genre: F/SF, Poetry ($1/line, ~40 lines, reprints 50¢/word), Articles (2-6¢/word, reprints 1-4¢/word), Note: great feedback provided if requested in cover letter

8/1-8/7, Fantasy Magazine, ~7500 words, 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy/Dark Fantasy, Poetry ($40/poem, send up to 6)

8/15 (or until filled), No Police = Know Future, ~4000 words. 8¢/word. Theme: SF stories that give potential (and hopefully positive) futures that involve alternatives to modern day policing. 

8/15-30 (tentative), Cast of Wonders (Flash Fiction Contest), ~1500 words, 8¢/word, Genre: any YA, Note: good feedback provided last time I submitted, https://www.castofwonders.org/submissions/

8/24-8/28, Fireside Summer 2021 Issue, ~3000 words, 12.5¢/word, Genre: Any (English or Spanish) 

9/4, On the Premises Short Story Contest 36, 1000-5000 words, prize money (1st $220, 2nd $160, 3rd $120, HM $60), Theme: Smell, Genre: any except children’s and gross horror, https://onthepremises.com/current-contest/

9/1-9/30 PodCastle, ~6000 words (3000-4500 best), 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy, Simultaneous OK, Reprints ($100 for >1500 words, $20 for flash)

7/1-9/30, WotF Q4, ~17000 words (aim for 3000-10,000), 8¢/word, prize money (1st $1000, 2nd $750, 3rd $500, annual grand $5000, plus Hollywood workshop; semi-finalists get feedback), Genre: F/SF, Note: contest for new writers w/o 4+ pro-level publications; the forum is very helpful, especially the Super Secrets thread; free workshop available on website


Submission Deadlines and Windows in October and Beyond

8/10-10/11 Dream Foundry Contest, Words ~10,000, prize (1st $1000, 2nd $500, 3rd $200), Note: contest for new writers (have published 4000 words or less, earned $320 or less from those words and never been nominated for a major award)

11/1 WEIRD CHRISTMAS Flash Fiction Contest - 3rd annual; SpecFic/sf/f/h/humor/weird (flash). Words: <350. Fee: $0. Prizes: 1st=$50; 2nd=$25 10+ HMs=$5; + pub & podcast. Reprints: query. Note: will accept narrative poetry, multiple entries okay. Judge: Craig "Kringle" Brewer. E-subs: EMAIL ONLY. Contact: Craig "Kringle" Brewer (QS). Results & PubDate:: 7 December 2020

10/15-11/2, PseudoPod (General Submissions), 1500-6000 words (4500 best), 8¢/word, Genre: any horror, Reprints OK 

9/15-11/15, Lamplight Magazine, ~7000 words, 3¢/word, Genre: Dark/Literary

11/30: Cast of Wonders (General Submissions), ~6000 words (best 3000-4500 or flash <1000), 8¢/word, Genre: any YA, Note: good feedback provided last time I submitted

12/1 Worldbuilding Fantasy Anthology, 3500-7000 or 9000-15,000 words, flat payment (short $100; novella $200), Theme: Politics as Conflict. Genre: any Fantasy (PG-13)

11/30-12/4, Fireside (Autumn 2021 Issue), ~3000 words, 12.5¢/word, Genre: Any (English or Spanish) 

7/1/2020-2/28/2021, Upon a Once Time, 1000-3000 words, 8¢/word, Theme: Mashup of two fairytales, Genre: SF/Fantasy/Grimdark/New Weird/Dying Earth/genre-bending

7/1/2020-2/28/2021, The Wild Hunt: Stories of the Chase, 1000-3000 words, 8¢/word, Theme: Wild Hunt (folklore, myths, drama), Genre: SF/Fantasy/Grimdark/New Weird/Dying Earth/genre-bending



Publications Open for Submission (No Specified Deadline; Pay 1-4 Cents/Word)

Dark Moon Digest, 1500-7000 words, 3¢/word, Genre: Horror (complex, creepy, like Twilight Zone or Black Mirror


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Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Submissions Update & Upcoming Deadlines

Hey Everybody,

Upcoming submission windows are listed (and clickable!) at the bottom of this post.

I'll start with an update on my own submissions. I believe I made 12 submissions in June, two of them new stories finished in June, and the other submissions including six stories written previously and revised a bit before sending back out.

First, the Writers of the Future entry for the 3rd Quarter deadline is done and submitted. I have high hopes for this one. I won't say it's my favorite (that's still reserved for my second entry to WotF, first HM-winner, kick-ass Atena Maverick versus Signboard City, who will get more attention this summer as I return to some noveling on the side of my non-stop short story and flash production--it's time), but this story I submitted is the first one that received full feedback from a pro writer, Wulf Moon, the pack leader of the Super Secrets Challenge group on the Writers of the Future forum. He provided a ton of excellent feedback. The only other pro feedback I can think of is Eric Witchey's wonderful advice on my novel pitch in 2017 and some story feedback from Eugene Writers Anonymous somewhere in 2014-2017.

This piece was a joy to watch progress since it first started on a little napkin in the summer of 2014, upon which I decided to draw a little fantasy map just like I always used to do in journals in elementary school. That started the world which was soon built into a novel, "What We Must Give," in the Fall/Winter of 2014, a novel that went through many revisions 2014-2017. And then, after the darkness that tore into my life in 2018, I returned in 2019 and joined Wulf's Super Secret Challenge group on the Writers of the Future forum. In January 2020, when I read one of the prompts for the flash challenge, I knew it was time to dive back into that world. I wrote out this beautiful flash story that I may still try and publish separate from the other pieces.

After submitting that flash to a couple publications, I ended up expanding it into a short story in May. My writing partner and I exchanged multiple drafts as we prepared to submit our stories to Moon. It was tough for me as I had to cut out links to the novel and characters and scenes and even a full on plot line that may be moved to the follow-up short story. This story went through a complete re-write after my writing partner pointed out a way to get closer to the Heart's Desire of my MC. After all that, it went into the hands of Moon and, following his comments, I took the story to the revision board again, worked through many revisions with my writing partner for a few more weeks, up into the last day of the deadline, and by the end I feel like the emotion was raw and the world was laid bare. More to come with this world: a follow-up short story with the same characters and a few new ones, and then I'll take both stories and using them as guides in revising the novel itself.

As for the four stories I submitted by June 30th:
- for Cast of Wonders for their Banned Book Weeks theme of Lifelines, a 2000-word piece about an estranged father tanuki with an odd power he uses to reach his daughter
- for The Binge-Watching Cure III, a 1000-word piece about an inventor who creates devices for super villains but must refuse a delivery to handle some family trouble
- for F&SF, a 6900-word dark fantasy story about siblings who try to save a childhood friend from the cult their parents now lead (this has seen so many revisions since it grew from Eugene Writers Anonymous prompt to WotF HM-winner; one day it shall be published) 
- for Podcastle, a doppleganger tries takes over the identity of a Duchess to create world peace but runs into magic hat problems

I also made another 7 submissions in June:
- for Fireside, a new SF 2100-word short story written in June in which a human colony delegate tries to defend his alien-obsessed friend from the dangerous experiment the aliens executed on him
- submitted to four different publications after a rejection in May, this is a new 1000-word horror story written in May in which the fragility of life and relationships plague the MC when the cult leader asks if he's ready for the monthly barrel roll
- submitted to Augur and Dark Matter, a 5000-word SF time travel piece with a prison escape and family reunion (was an HM-winner with WotF)

Now for July. Bigger goals with less clear deadlines. I want to return to working on my novels. I think I'll go back to the Atena Maverick versus Signboard City one first (tentatively named "Hum"). So I'll start by looking at two very different versions, polish up the pitches for both versions, then ask my writing partner to help me decide which path to take. After that, start the revision process for that novel again.

Besides the noveling, I will continue the short story production and submission process. I'm still with Wulf Moon's Super Secrets Challenge group, so I'll be keeping up with that and preparing my Q4 submission for Writers of the Future. I'll also be taking a workshop with Wulf Moon later in July through Fyrecon's day of masterclass workshops, Fyrelite. Thankfully, it's online this year, so I can join them from Japan on July 18th. I'll also be taking some of the free workshops with Clarion West. I'm signed up for Arkady Martine's workshop, "Moving from the Novel to the Short Story--and Back Again". I also took one of the writing sprints with Tegan Moore, and it was great, so I will take more.

I'm super excited to hear the Lightspeed's sister magazine Fantasy Magazine is coming back! It just opened for submission and the first return issue is coming in November. Looking forward to that read. They just opened for submissions and I have an excellent 6900-word dark fantasy story to send their way. With that, the list we've all been waiting for. I'm just collecting these from what I've noticed on FB, Twitter, or wherever. I'm sure you can find this on your own, but I've found it helpful whenever people mention their publication and submission finds, so here you are. Ton more listed in this update. Will collect even more next time.

Submission Deadlines in July

DUE SOON: Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, 7/1-7/2 (1st and 2nd of every month), Words 1000-40,000 (shorter better). Pay 6 cents/word. Genre: SF and Fantasy (no horror),

DUE SOON: Fantasy Magazine, 7/1-7/7 (monthly window), Words ~7500, Pay 8 cents/word, Genre: Fantasy/Dark Fantasy

DUE SOON: Dreamforge, 7/1-7/15. Words 100-15,000 (under 5000 best). Pay 4-8 cents/word. Genre: SF and Fantasy (no horror). Theme: “Hope of the Big Idea,” meaning stories that call upon powerful new visions of how life could be shaped for the better either through technological or social change, or both. Seeking: More flash fiction between 500 and 1500 words. I’d like to feature more authors, especially talented beginners.

DUE SOON: Augur, 6/15-7/15. Words ~5000. Pay 8 cents/word. Submit up to 2 short stories per window, or 4 across genres and poetry of 5 pages or less with 5 poems or 10 pages total per window. Genre/Theme: Multiplicity of Futures (afrofuturism, soft scifi, scifi fabulism, Indigenous futurity, hopepunk, dystopia, utopia, post-apoc, solarpunk, scifi-realism, Canadian scifi, ecofiction, hopeful futures; trauma/oppression beside hope/better futures). Not interested in pandemic fiction or hard scifi, mostly want human/character-driven narratives. Always interested in dreamy realism, slipstream, fabulism, magical realism, literary speculative. Best submission defies categories; something too spec or not spec enough for other magazines.

Third Flatiron, 7/1-8/1, Words 1500-3000, Pay 8 cents/word, Theme: Brain Games: Stories to Astonish, Genre: SF/F/H/steampunk/cyberpunk/myth/satire

Mysterion, 7/1-7/31, Words ~9000, 8 cents/word, Genre: speculative that engages with Christianity


Submission Deadlines and Windows in August and Beyond

No Police = Know Future, 8/15 (or until filled). Words: ~4000. Pay: 8 cents/word. Theme: SF stories that give potential (and hopefully positive) futures that involve alternatives to modern day policing.

Upon a Once Time, 7/1/2020-2/28/2021, Words 1000-3000, Pay 8 cents/word, Theme: Mashup of two fairytales, Genre: SF/Fantasy/Grimdark/New Weird/Dying Earth/genre-bending

The Wild Hunt: Stories of the Chase, 7/1-2/28/2021, Words 1000-3000, Pay 8 cents/word, Theme: The Wild Hunt (folklore, myths, drama), Genre: SF/Fantasy/Grimdark/New Weird/Dying Earth/genre-bending


Publications Open for Submission (No Specified Deadline)

Asimov's, 1000-20,000, 8 cents/word, Genre: SF/F

Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ~15,000, 8 cents/word, Genre: literary adventure fantasy (no urban fantasy and nothing modern)

Clarkesworld Magazine, 1000-22,000, 10 cents/word, Genre: SF/F

Daily Science Fiction, 100-1500, 8 cents/word, Genre: SF/F/slipstream, will consider flash series

The Dark, 2000-6000, 6 cents/word, Genre: Horror/Dark Fantasy/Experimental

Dark Matter, Words: 1000-5000. Pay: 8 cents/word. Genre: science-fiction

Focus on the Family Clubhouse, 500-2000, 15 cents/word, Genre: SF/Fantasy/Humor/General, Age/Theme: 8-12 year old and Christian values

Hybrid Fiction, on hiatus until July(?), Words 500-5000, Pay 6 cents/word. Genre: all submissions must be speculative hybrid/cross-genre (any blend of 2+ genres such as dark fantasy, steampunk western, historical fantasy, weird western, crime fantasy, etc.)



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Thursday, June 18, 2020

Recent Learning and Upcoming Submission Deadlines

First, the learning! I am thinking about making an actual website after I took a 1-2 hour webinar with Mary Buckham in which she discussed Primal Branding. That is something I should really work on as I draw closer to a successful publication. Her webinar was well-organized and I'll probably take one from her again.

I also recently took a class with Jonathan Maberry called Writing Fight and Action Scenes. It was fantastic and I may talk about that more in another post. Very inspiring and I would recommend any talks or classes with him. It was about $25 for the Action Scenes class.

I've also attended some talks with Dave Farland and guests as part of his Apex Group, and that has been eye-opening indeed. Pairing that with the group and the classes, it has been worth the entry cost. I got some good inspiration from some Word Sprints there, too.

I have been keeping up with the Super Secrets Challenge Group, meeting the goals of one new flash every month based on Wulf Moon's KYD exercise and two new shorts stories every quarter. We've been going through some discussion and exercises on dialogue recently. You can check them out here: http://forum.writersofthefuture.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7600&start=2970


As for upcoming submissions, Writers of the Future prep first. Since I kept up with my goals, I received some fantastic feedback from Wulf Moon on the story that I'm planning to submit to Writers of the Future for the 3rd Quarter of 2020. It's due to be submitted by the end of June, so now I'm working through Moon's advice to bring the whole story up another level. I would be surprised if this one doesn't at least snag me another Honorable Mention, but I'm going to work hard to push it past even that.

In addition to the usual WotF stories, I'm revising and reviewing a few pieces to submit to several submission windows. I decided to list them below in case any other writers happen to check the blog and need a reminder to get to submitting. I'll add and update here or in future posts.


10 Upcoming Submission Windows and Publications

Fireside Fiction, deadline 6/19 at 6pm EST. Words: ~3000. Pay: 12.5 cents/word. Looking for: any genre; particularly seeking stories that engage with the transformational with body focus, the repurposing of technology, trauma and how it changes connection, and cyberpunk or cyberpunk-adjacent '15-minute into the future' dystopias. https://firesidefiction.com/submissions

Cast of Wonders, window 6/15-6/30. Words: ~6000. Pay: 8 cents/word. Theme: Lifelines for Banned Books Week (9/27-10/3); books that help us get through isolation. Books can be any one-way communication (box of letters, podcast, skywriting, anything recipient can’t easily reply to). Isolation can be physical or social (astronaut in spaceship alone, person in place where no speaks their language, someone in prison). Don’t have to have happy ending but must end on hopeful note. YA audience. 

Writers of the Future, deadline 6/30. Words 3000-17,000 (personally I recommend under 10k). See website for details. If you are a new writer with no more than three publications or so, definitely submit to this contest every quarter. https://www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/

The Binge Watching Cure III, deadline 7/1. Words: varies 100-25k. Pay: $100. Theme: sci-fi    http://bingewatchingcure.com/submissions/

Augur, window 6/15-7/15. Words ~5000. Pay 8 cents/word. Submit up to 2 short stories per window, or 4 across genres and poetry of 5 pages or less with 5 poems or 10 pages total per window. Genre/Theme: Multiplicity of Futures (afrofuturism, soft scifi, scifi fabulism, Indigenous futurity, hopepunk, dystopia, utopia, post-apoc, solarpunk, scifi-realism, Canadian scifi, ecofiction, hopeful futures; trauma/oppression beside hope/better futures). Not interested in pandemic fiction or hard scifi, mostly want human/character-driven narratives. Always interested in dreamy realism, slipstream, fabulism, magical realism, literary speculative. Best submission defies categories; something too spec or not spec enough for other magazines. http://www.augurmag.com/submissions/

Dreamforge, window: 7/1-7/15. Words 100-15,000 (under 5000 best). Pay 4-8 cents/word. Genre: SF and Fantasy (no horror). Theme: “Hope of the Big Idea,” meaning stories that call upon powerful new visions of how life could be shaped for the better either through technological or social change, or both. Seeking: More flash fiction between 500 and 1500 words. I’d like to feature more authors, especially talented beginners. https://dreamforgemagazine.com/call-for-submissions/

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, window: 7/1-7/2 (1st and 2nd of every month), Words: 1000 and up (shorter better). Pay: 6 cents/word. Genre: SF and Fantasy (no horror).   https://cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com/submissions/

Dark Matter, window: open since 6/1. Words: 1000-5000. Pay: 8 cents/word. Genre: science-fiction. https://darkmattermagazine.com/submission-guidelines/

Hybrid Fiction, window: on hiatus until July. Words: 500-5000. Pay: 6 cents/word.  Genre: all submissions must be speculative hybrid/cross-genre (any blend of 2+ genres such as dark fantasy, steampunk western, historical fantasy, weird western, crime fantasy, etc.).  https://www.hybridfiction.net/submissions

Amazing Stories Anthology: No Police = Know Future, deadline: 8/15 (or until filled). Words: ~4000. Pay: 8 cents/word. Theme: SF stories that give potential (and hopefully positive) futures that involve alternatives to modern day policing. https://submission.amazingstoriesmag.com/no-police/


That's all for now. I'll try to share lots more in July.

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Saturday, November 2, 2019

Current state of matters: work and writing

My paying work: I quit my full-time job and went freelance in Spring 2019. I've been seriously struggling to make ends meet but finally seem to have enough teaching and proofreading work to continue on as a freelancer. Most recently, I had a job teaching English and Math to junior high school students who will be studying abroad in Australia. I had a two-night stay at a hotel in Shinjuku for the job, and the work was enjoyable. I also have accepted a position as a voice actor for a travel guide start-up. I am still interested in minor acting roles and possibly DJing out again, but neither of those have panned out very well. Only one job each this year, and the DJing one didn't pay.

As for my writing, I've recently joined a group on the Writers of the Future forum, the Wulf Pack and joined Moon's Super Secret Bonus Challenge!, which is Wulf Moon's encouraging group of writers who are all aiming at winning the Writers of the Future contest while also producing enough quality work to submit to other paying markets as well. The leader of the group is a WotF winner and has published work elsewhere. He's full of wisdom and practical advice. The main challenge is to write two fresh stories every quarter and submit one to Writers of the Future and the other to the paying market (aiming at 5-10 cents a word). I'm also taking on the flash fiction challenge: write 1000-word stories in response to weekly prompts, then take some of them and cut them down to 500 words then 250 words, in order to find the most valuable treasure within. It should help me increase my efficiency and skills, and hopefully get even closer to producing pro level work.

I also just joined Deep Magic as a first reader. It should be interesting to read through the opening pages of their submissions and see if I can manage to spot any gems.

Regarding Writers of the Future, I submitted to every quarter in 2019. Q1, Q2, and Q3 were all rejections, but at least I was submitting. The result of Q4 is pending. I didn't submit in 2018 as I was trying to handle a massive issue in my life which required lots of time and was mentally and emotionally draining. Thankfully, that has since been solved as best it could be, and I am back to getting more writing time into my life. Now to prepare my submission for Q1 of 2020.

I marked myself down as participating in NaNoWriMo, which is from November 1st to November 30th. As I'm a NaNo rebel this year, I won't be doing novel work. I've been writing lots of flash fiction and short stories, making use of prompts provided by Wulf Moon, so I decided to focus on that. My plan is to produce and edit 50K of short stories, flash fiction, and a novelette, then submit one story to Writers of the Future by the end of December, and the rest submitted elsewhere from January. This will depend on what further motivation and assignments are given by the Wulf Pack as well.

Anyway, happy writing everyone. Hope you're well. I'll post an update again soon.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Been a while

Finally starting to get back to writing. Had big drama in life but managing to move forward now, which means getting a handle on what I care about. The wonderful Joni Labaqui at Writers of the Future tried to motivate me into submitting for their contest deadlines earlier this year (June and September), but I didn't get my head back in the game at that point. This November I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo to finish up a few projects from before (a novelette and three short stories - my profile here) then I'll submit the novelette to WotF by the end of December. Good luck to everyone else writing this November, and here's to keeping up motivation in the face of all our troubles.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Thoughtful sci-fi short story by Carrie Vaughn on chess and telepaths

I recommend giving Carrie Vaughn's "That Game We Played During the War".

It was a softly beautiful story. A thoughtful piece about playing chess with a telepath. The protagonist enters the land of her people's former enemies to go play chess with the captain she was once a prisoner of. The former enemies are telepathic, whereas she and her people are not. Makes for interesting interactions, which lead us through a gradual treatment of struggling to get over the darkness of war, and related elements connected to that. While the language in itself was not beautiful per se, the language was very clean and precise and helped the story itself, and the interactions between the characters, shine brilliantly.
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Sunday, March 13, 2016

Review of Machine by Jennifer Pelland

Here is my review as posted on Goodreads of Machine by Jennifer Pelland:

5/5 stars
bookshelves: sci-fi, relationships, robot-love, androids, psychological, favorites

Read from March 02 to 09, 2016

This is a highly recommended psychological ride with plenty of intelligent commentary on the world. It is an intense character study of a protagonist who must struggle through the raging political battleground of the body after choosing to put her mind inside an android body until a cure is found for her original body's rare disease, rather than waiting it out in stasis inside.

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Saturday, March 12, 2016

Specific Stories Being Put to the Test in March

I have been prodding and poking myself to focus on my short fiction for the past few months so as to get ready for March deadlines. Most mornings, I have gotten in 30-90 minutes of writing, so success! I've gotten in plenty at several other hours of the day, too (I swear, I'm becoming better and better at the art of sneaking in creative work that matters wherever and whenever - a must, even if a constant struggle - that's just how the game goes).

For submission this month, I have three stories finished but in need of a few more drafts before I'm satisfied. Also wanting a few additional readers who can provide diverse feedback (if anyone is interested, please let me know).
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Saturday, February 27, 2016

Getting your spiral on for deeper drafting

I present my latest adventure in the crafting of fiction. I call it "PacMan with grumpy facial hair", or more simply, "getting my spiral on". Worked sort of like the folders/collections/keywords of Scrivener. Obviously, Scrivener is preferred for full novels, but for chapters and short work, the spiral was effective.
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Friday, December 4, 2015

NaNoWriMo 2015 Success & December WotF Deadline

Now that NaNoWriMo is over and done with, time to return to the blog with a post regarding two matters: first a couple paragraphs reflecting on progress during November on the supernatural noir novel, Hum in the Highways, followed by a few paragraphs on plans for December, such as another short story for Writers of the Future by Dec. 31st.

First of all, progress during November was basically a success. I passed 50K and the novel is in relatively good shape, currently sitting at 52,412 words, with plenty more scene placeholders and transitions to fill in. I tried to fill in every section of the novel in equal proportion, and I found that a very motivating and useful approach for myself. The ending changed a great deal, for the better, and I will probably be cutting and refitting the current structure after finishing the complete draft (the goal for that is the end of January, due to other priorities in December).

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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Software and tools for planning a first draft: colored pencils, Scrivener, and more

Last week before NaNoWriMo begins. Everyone excited?

I wanted to run through some of my favorite tools for writing, in relation to planning for a first draft. Please share your favorites as well.

This year my planning has made the most use of Scrivener and Snowflake Pro, as well as the trusty ol' mix of pens, pencils, colored pencils, portable notebooks, lined paper and graph paper. I also enjoy using the timer of Write or Die 2, the word trackers from Svenja Gosen, and keeping notes and copies of documents on Google Drive and Evernote.

(1) Pens, Pencils, Portable Notebook, Lined and Graph Paper

This goes first, as it's the most important in my opinion. The screen is great and all but it can be draining. When I find myself gazing aimlessly, the screen can be part of the problem. So I stop, look away, take out pen and paper, and use that to write.

For my planning, I use a lot of graph paper to chart character and plot movements, and maps of locations, events, ideas, recurring elements, and so on. Colored pencils are great for this. I usually take 3-5 elements I'm interested in following in relation to a particular character or plot and chart them, before writing out summaries or further details that push my story into exciting territory.

I use lined paper and jot out the endless stream of ideas that is hard to record. If you're not getting a stream of ideas, try tapping into the areas of the story that excite you and explore those from different angles. Or try tapping into areas you don't think will excite you, and see if there's something you missed there - you never know. Tap in through freewriting, categorizing, visualizing while engaged in some physical activity, doodling, listing, interviewing, concrete poetry.

Another trick, take out several books you think might inspire you with the current project. Last night, I took out Winterson's Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, Alexievich's Voices From Chernobyl, Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters, Kiernan's Threshold, and Winterson's The Daylight Gate. Most of these are books in the 1st-person like the novel I'm about to start and with a theme or character background relevant to my current project. I then engrossed myself in a section from each. As I read, I marked passages I would need to revisit with sticky notes. I kept my handy black moleskin-style notebook nearby to jot out any ideas that came. And they came quickly. I had several pages of notes on character background, not copied from the books, but inspired by however the people in those books were discussing their problems. It can be one of the best ways to get inspiration. You just need to make sure you copy those notes to a relevant folder later on so that you can use those notes when needed. Or at the next opportunity, incorporate the notes directly into the file on whatever plot, place, character you were writing in relation to.

The portable notebook is a must. This allows me to continue writing, or at least gearing up to write, while out of the house, at work or wherever. If I could rid myself of the day job, I would, but it's important to not let a day job ruin what you really want to be working on, at least if you want to succeed, and by succeed, I mean continue writing deeper and to completion. So, take as many tiny breaks as you can to take note of useful ideas, to expand on planning, or to visualize scenes. Visualizing a scene is the perfect way to make your next writing session productive, and it's fine to do all the visualizing in your head without pen or paper, but I find it beneficial to take written on during or after visualization, as a lot can happen in life before you reach that writing session, and you don't want to lose that time spent visualizing.

(2) Scrivener. This is of course super popular, so I'll try to spare you too much praising. It allows me to keep everything together and easily found. It also makes it easy for me to line up my chapters and scenes with summaries and notes visible, then proceed to quickly reorganize them into a more suitable order. I usually spend a great deal of time planning with pen and pencil, lined paper and graph paper, jotting out notes on everything, making charts of the plot and character movements I forecast as most suitable to the story, making maps and free writes on world-building aspects. After that, I'll translate it all to Scrivener to make sure it's clear and easily found again.

So in my Scrivener this year, I have the manuscript folder with 4 Act folders divided into chapters based on character POVs, and each chapter folder is divided into 1-6 scene documents with quick descriptors and scene summaries. Below the manuscript folder, I have a daily targets folder with 30 documents set up with word goals for each day of November (currently it's 2000 per day on weekdays and 4000 per day on weekends - I'll start high and adjust it over the course of the month, if it's not working for me; if I miss a day, I'll make up for it by adjusting goals for future days, so no need to stress about it).

Next I have Characters and Places folders with one list of all of them for a quick look, then documents for each one with more detail. For my Places folder this year, I also included a signboards document, so that I can track the language used in a specific recurring element placed throughout the novel's story. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a separate Objects folder to track such things. You can of course use keywords, tags, and whatnot, in Scrivener, which I have and will continue to use, but overall I prefer making a single document devoted to a specific type of elements and listing them all together for quick access. I spend enough time with search engines, that I'd prefer to minimize the time applying search engines to my own stories.

Following that, I have the Plotting folder with documents specific to beats that must happen, themes/mysteries to dig into, scene summaries, one-sentence story line, one-paragraph summary, one-page short synopsis, and an old story summaries for those ideas I dropped but might reuse in some way. I also have folder for Ideas (brainstorming), Change Log (anything I need to remember to go back and change after finishing the current draft), Older Drafts/Scenes (this makes it much smoother when cutting - you don't have to feel bad about losing that scene you love when it's still sitting in this folder), Related Readings (mostly to list readings that inspire the voice of specific characters in the story), Related Music, Research, Other, Templates, and Publishing.

(3) Snowflake Pro. You don't need this software. You honestly don't need any software. But it is worth using the snowflake method to some extent. I dig the approach of starting simple and building on it until you have your unique cold and gritty, refreshing and wet snowflake. As for the actual software, the lecture notes and examples are nice, the character charts to the point, and the functionality tying scene lists to the other character and plotting steps is a welcome touch. Still, you can do it all within Scrivener, so read up on the method and see if there's anything you can incorporate into your current writing approach.

(4) Write or Die 2. I definitely use this a lot, though not for every writing session. It was a godsend when I was writing all my scene summaries. I use the timer in reward mode, so I hear tibetan bowls when I hit 500 words. It's nice to have a writing area focused only on the specific thing you are writing. It's also nice to have a way to quickly adjust the word count goal and time limit of writing sessions. Perfect for  fitting in daily sessions in a life that's packed too full of other responsibilities. I do recommend getting a clear idea of what you will be writing before you start. If you're doing a random journal or freewrite, fine, but otherwise, no. You can write at quality and speed with no issue as long as you know what you'll be writing before you start. Keep that in mind and this is one of the best pieces of writing software out there.

(5) Svenja Gosen's NaNoWriMo Word Tracker Spreadsheets.
I love the work put into these. They include excellent word count and progress functionality and sections for character details and plot points. I just use it for the word tracking, as the rest I stick in my own custom folders in Scrivener, but it's not bad having those other bits in there. Not to mention, notes and examples are included if you need any jogging of the brain on particular elements.
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Friday, October 23, 2015

Planned Novel for NaNoWriMo 2015

For NaNo this year, I'll be working on expanding one of my short stories into a novel, tentatively named Hum in the Highways. I've probably come up with my most promising outline for a story yet, so I'm rather excited to start the actual writing soon to see if it pans out. For now, I'm sharing the one-sentence storyline: an escaped convict battles lycanthropy with the aid of a manipulative cyborg poet.

The short story it's based on was a story I submitted to Writers of the Future at the end of September. The story was written in 2014 but set aside while I worked on other stuff - mostly the larger science-fiction novels that I'll be putting on hold. Then I expanded it into a full short story after joining the August writing prompt contest hosted by Eugene Writer's Anonymous. It was a high-tech fairy tale theme for that prompt, but my story insisted on remaining very noir in attitude and significantly post-apocalyptic in terms of tech.

It's definitely another case of me reveling in stories that cross-genres, which is no surprise since those are often the stories I enjoy as a reader. That being said, the story is being placed in the Horror/Supernatural genre as its touchstone. I certainly imagine most fans of this story will be fans of that particular genre. The main characters must repeatedly deal with a few horrific and supernatural elements in their attempts to be at peace with their mistakes and external pressures. Looking forward to sharing more in the future.

The other promising approach and change to writing I'm bringing to NaNo this time, is my writing schedule. I'm typically a night person, but that didn't seem to be entirely true anymore for whatever reasons (mostly likely culprits being having kids and starting a job at a kindergarten), so I decided to up and change my schedule. I now aim to get up at 4:30, start writing at 5 (or 5:30 at the very latest), and get in an hour to an hour half of writing every week day morning. My weekend mornings are similar: wake at 4:30, write from 5 or 5:30 until 9 or 10 am (aiming for about 3 hours). So far this schedule has been a great success and I seem to have a lot more energy than I did before. The word count goals for that schedule are 1500 words per day on weekdays, and 3000 words per day on weekends. And of course, challenges will come up, so I will remain flexible enough to carry on and adapt this as needs be.

That's all for now. Good luck to any other writers out there.

-RJKL

EDIT: sharing a few more details, in the form of a few Qs related to the storyline and a list of the major characters.

Storyline: An escaped convict battles lycanthropy with the aid of a manipulative cyborg poet.

Can they fend off the predators that lurk at the end of their careers? Can they avoid the agents that seek to shove them back in prison? Can they save their love from becoming a manipulative game between monsters?

Probably not.


Sum-up of Major Characters:

Atena Maverick is a leader who loves action and hates authority. She's also a hotel maid, a mechanic, a street fighter, and an ex-convict wanted for assault and murder. As she battles lycanthropy and the voices in her head, she's going to do everything in her power to prevent her relationship with Jewels from falling apart. That's the only good thing in her life after all.

Hervé Bijoux, known as Jewels to Atena, is a sexy, manipulative poet, who managed to crush cancer and stay alive thanks to the miracles of a new cyborg body. As a significant creative and social mover for the biggest corporation around, she does her best to balance caring for her bull-headed girlfriend and managing the on-demand rush of her career.

Madoc Rattigan, or Mute as his friends call him, is the sidekick, pervert, do-gooder, and general fuck-up. As an errand-boy and thief, he skates around the horrors of the city and the desert, barely a step away from another prison cell.

Ronald Weston is the manager of a center for juvenile delinquents and an insistent political power, who Atena despises and distrusts.

Cauthes Ganedin is a witch doctor for a gang roaming the barren deserts of the Highways, who Atena doesn't particularly like either.
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