blue
I'm not corrupted by the amulet or anything but people who might try to touch or steal it from me definitely have to die. just as a moral thing
so I’m looking at short story publishers (fantasy)
- Tor, cream of the crop. 25 cents a word. Stories can be read for free (YES). Slowish response time at ~3 months. Prefer under 12k, absolute maximum is 17.5k. Don’t bother if it’s not highly professional quality. SFWA qualifying.
- Crossed Genres. 6 cents a word. Different theme each month (this month’s is “failure”). Submissions must combine either sci-fi or fantasy with the theme. Response time 1 month. 1k-6k, no exceptions. SFWA qualifying.
- Long Hidden, anthology from CG. 6 cents a word. 2k-8k, no exceptions. Must take place before 1935. Protagonist(s) must be under 18 and marginalized in their time and place. Must be sci-fi/fantasy/horror. Deadline 30 April. Response by 1 October.
- Queers Destroy Science Fiction. Sci-fi only right now, author must identify as queer (gay, lesbian, bi, ace, pan, trans, genderfluid, etc, just not cishet). 7.5k max. Deadline 15 February. Responses by 1 March. You can submit one flash fiction and one short story at the same time. (My network blocks the Lightspeed site for some reason, so I can’t get all the submission details. >_>) Probably SFWA qualifying?
- Women in Practical Armor. 6 cents a word. 2k-5k. Must be about 1) a female warrior who 2) is already empowered and 3) wears sensible armour. Deadline 1 April. Response within three months.
- Fiction Vortex. $10 per story, with $20 and $30 for editor’s and readers’ choice stories (hoping to improve). Speculative fiction only. Imaginative but non-florid stories. 7.5k maximum, preference for 5k and under. (I kind of want to support them on general principle.)
- Urban Fantasy Magazine. 6 cents a word. 8k max, under 4k preferred. Must be urban fantasy (aka, the modern world, doesn’t need to be a literal city).
- Nightmare. 6 cents a word. 1.5-7.5k, preference for under 5k. Horror and dark fantasy. Response time up to two weeks. SFWA and HWA qualifying.
- Apex Magazine. 6 cents a word. 7.5k max, no exceptions. Dark sci-fi/fantasy/horror. SFWA qualifying.
- Asimov’s Science Fiction. 8-10 cents a word. 20k max, 1k minimum. Sci-fi; borderline fantasy is ok, but not S&S. Prefer character focused. Response time 5 weeks; query at 3 months. SFWA qualifying, ofc.
- Buzzy Mag. 10 cents a word. 10k max. Should be acceptable for anyone 15+. Response time 6-8 weeks. SFWA qualifying.
- Strange Horizons. 8 cents a word. Speculative fiction. 10k max, prefers under 5k. Response time 40 days. Particularly interested in diverse perspectives, nuanced approahces to political issues, and hypertexts. SFWA qualifying.
- Fantasy and Science Fiction. 7-12 cents a word. Speculative fiction, preference for character focus, would like more science-fiction or humour. 25k maximum. Prefers Courier. Response time 15 days.
- Scigentasy. 3 cents a word. .5-5k. Science-fiction and fantasy, progressive/feminist emphasis. Fantastic Stories of the Imagination. 15 cents a word. 3k maximum. Any sci-fi/fantasy, they like a literary bent. (psst, steinbecks!) They also like to see both traditional and experimental approaches. Response time two weeks.
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 6 cents a word. 10k maximum. Fantasy in secondary worlds only (it can be Earth, but drastically different—alternate history or whatever). Character focus, prefer styles that are lush yet clear, limited first or third person narration. Response time usually 2-4 weeks, can be 5-7 weeks. SFWA qualifying.
- Clarkesworld. 10 cents a word up to 4000, 7 afterwards. 1-8k, preferred is 4k. Science-fiction and fantasy. Needs to be well-written and convenient to read on-screen. Appreciates rigour. No talking cats. Response time 2 days. SFWA qualifying.
- Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. 6 cents a word. Any length. Science-fiction and fantasy (along with fantastic horror). Good world-building and characterization. Clear straightforward prose. Response time three months. Yes, OSC is editor-in-chief. SFWA qualifying.
- Interzone. Sub-pro rates if anything (but highly respected). 10k max. Short cover letter. Science-fiction and fantasy.
Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech republic. by Marek Kijevský
Agoraphobia - Brendon Burton
@inkskinned on tumblr/ “intimacy” by angelica alzona / “the leavetaking; poems: 1913-1956” by bertolt brecht / “helena” by my chemical romance / by daniel horowitz / “liberty” by paul eluard / “hard feelings” by lorde / “sunlight” by hozier / @sunsbleeding on tumblr
𝑊𝑅𝐼𝑇𝐸𝐵𝐿𝑅 𝐼𝑁𝑇𝑅𝑂𝐷𝑈𝐶𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁
hello again, everyone! i’m august b., and i made this blog a few months ago, but i’m ready to introduce myself as a ~proper writeblr~ now and start posting more organized content about my projects! i use they/them, read an unholy amount of ya novels, and constantly have ink on my hands despite taking nowhere near the amounts of notes i should. i mostly write an unholy mix of horror, coming-of-age, love poetry, and literary fiction, but different pieces of me basically want to write everything besides high fantasy.
𝐼𝑁 𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅𝐺𝑅𝐸𝐸𝑁 𝐷𝑈𝑆𝐾
status: drafting | genre: coming of age, horror | word count: 21k
formerly: guilt and gay in greece on trains. this is the project y’all will be hearing about ~the least~. i’m about a third of the way through my first draft of this at the moment, and it’s definitely the wip i’m most emotionally invested in. i won’t be posting about this because it’s important to me that very few parts of it see the light until i’m satisfied with it, and also i posted some character intros and stuff on my old blog, @noteaboy, so i’m bored of creating writeblr-type content for it. anyway, it’s gonna have to be enough for you guys to know it’s really brilliant and i’m having a lot of fun with it!
𝐶𝑅𝐴𝑁𝐸 𝑆𝑈𝑀𝑀𝐸𝑅
status: brainstorming | genre: coming of age, literary fiction, idk-what-to-call-it-but-it’s-a-sad-small-town-and-everyone’s- pretty-tired | word count: nothing so far babeyy
in a town where everyone is named after a bird, one child turns into a bird every generation. but why does this generation’s bird-child have to be crane, blue’s former best friend and, probably, the boy they’re still a little bit in love with? slow-paced and atmospheric, this story follows blue over the summer at the end of which crane will turn, surprisingly, into a crane. told through a series of vignettes, sketches, and mostly-short chapters from varying perspectives, this story walks the line between verse and prose, growing up, mourning, and staying in love.
𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐵𝐸𝑆𝑇 𝑆𝐻𝐴𝐷𝐸 𝑂𝐹 𝑃𝐼𝑁𝐾 […]
status: drafting | genre: coming of age, poetry | word count: 3k
70′s summer sapphics and swimming pools. formally called the best shade of pink is a light shade of red, this is a novella in verse. this story reads as if written by neave, a thirteen year old girl who is mostly would rather be on her own, outside of the company of her creative writing teacher, dr. azul. that is, until she meets julia. julia is frankly electric, a bit self-centered, a constant live wire, and beautiful. a story about david bowie, swimming pools, and trying to define yourself in a hard-to-get world.
𝑖'𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑛𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒, 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 @𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑐𝑙𝑢b‘𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑠!
anyway, nice to meet you and thanks for reading! i’d love if you could rb + boost + if you’d like to be added to the taglists for any of the above, please dm me or send me an ask :)
also since I was looking for Dorfl quotes anyway here’s possibly my actual favorite discworld lines that exist, and also Feet of Clay is such a good book
This is also my favorite example of the Pratchett pivot from funny to profound. Anywhere else transitioning from “amusingly pedantic golem” to “statement on universal rights” (and back) would give you whiplash, but Pratchett transitions with “Vimes shot him a glance like sunlight” (another wonderful line) and it fucking works.
Enemies to "I accidentally came across you while you were vulnerable and scared and I'm not a total asshole so I tried to help you" to "accidental mutual uncovering of softer sides and vulnerabilities" to "I can't be mean to you anymore, not out of pity but because it would feel weird betraying that brief truce we had" to "Fine I'll make an effort to be nice to you now I guess" to "actually now that we're not actively hating each other you're not so bad I guess" to "i think we're friends but I'm not going to say that because I'm afraid you're not gonna feel the same way" to "oh you also think we're friends? Great" to lovers
Summoner is more of a cat person
ON BATHING YOUR LOVER
Ilya Kaminsky, “While the Child Sleeps Sonya Undresses” / Joni Mitchell, All I Want / John Edmonds, “Men Like Us,” New York Times Style Magazine / u/expensivetill9 on Reddit / Mitski, I Will / Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe / David Hockney, Domestic Scene / Elizabeth Bishop, “The Shampoo” / Homer, The Odyssey
a dialogue between the unloved and the loving
neil hilborn // miranda july // @orpheuslament // aaron o’hanlon // natalie wee “least of all” // @fridayiminlovemp3 // maria petrovykh “love me. i am pitch black” // “the seven husbands of evelyn hugo” // sylvia plath “johnny panic & the bible of dreams” // sue zhao // virginia woolf from a letter to katherine mansfield // trista mateer
Leslie Cheung & Tony Leung in “Happy Together”
if i was a vampire i would hang up a bunch of pictures in my house but for some reason inexplicably one wall of pictures would have them all hung sideways and then whenever the rando i’ve lured into my Vampire House looks at them they’ll instinctively tilt their head to one side to look at the pictures thus leaving their neck wide open for Vampire Shenanigans to ensue. step one of making this plan happen is becoming a vampire. if you’re a vampire i’ll totally let you have my very good idea but in exchange you gotta make me a vampire also, no take backsies
Everything
by Mary Oliver
I want to make poems that say right out, plainly what I mean, that don’t go looking for the laces of elaboration, puffed sleeves. I want to keep close and use often words like heavy, heart, joy, soon, and to cherish the question mark and her bold sister
the dash. I want to write with quiet hands. I want to write while crossing the fields that are fresh with daisies and everlasting and the ordinary grass. I want to make poems while thinking of the bread of heaven and the cup of astonishment; let them be
songs in which nothing is neglected, not a hope, not a promise. I want to make poems that look into the earth and the heavens and see the unseeable. I want them to honor both the heart of faith, and the light of the world; the gladness that says, without any words, everything.