Archive for July, 2023
This is one of those “this is being mostly written two days ago, but I needed the public library computer system to complete the action” posts, as, yes, usually involving a contract that’s beyond the cave computer’s retro-capacity to sign all by itself. Ah, the wonders of FAX!
In this case, the email came Saturday afternoon, July 29, from BLACK INFINITY editor Tom English: Hi James . . . Hope you’re doing well. Here’s the contract for “The Bala Worm” in BLACK INFINITY 10: Creature Features. Please sign and return at your earliest convenience. I hope to have the book out in late August. Thanks again for a great creature story.
The story, “The Bala Worm” (see May 12), sent on a second try to answer this call: The theme of BLACK INFINITY 10 will be CREATURE FEATURES. Think 1950s or ‘60s SF movies. I need stories with monsters, beasts, insects, man-eating plants, etc. — some type of “creature.” The thing is, “The Bala Worm” is about a dragon and normally I think of dragon stories as being a sub-genre all to themselves, whereas ’50s-’60s “creature features” — well, even giant lizards, radioactive bad breath and all, ought at least have the decency to be from Japan and preferably by-products of nuclear testing.
But then consider: as Coca Cola New is to Coke Classic, even Godzilla has as an ancestor traditional Chinese and Japanese dragons. And England and Wales have their own dragons too. Or in any event, “The Bala Worm” — huge at 7300-words as past stories of mine in BLACK INFINITY go, originally published in 2008 in Ricasso Press’s BLACK DRAGON, WHITE DRAGON (as well as reprinted in THE TEARS OF ISIS, cf. center column) — turned out to be just what Tom had been looking for to fill out the issue’s planned menagerie.
Or anyhow (now comes the part for Monday, today) the contract, completed, has been returned to BLACK INFINITY as of about noon.
So it isn’t the money, but a combination of name — THE STYGIAN LEPUS — and a very new magazine, electronic with print edition to follow, and just a bit exotic perhaps as an Australian publication. No harm in perhaps gaining a few new readers.
And anyway the story I sent Wednesday, July 26, would be a reprint and is very short, at only about 700 words and originally published in the first DARK MOON DIGEST YOUNG ADULT HORROR in 2013. A perhaps . . . unusual . . . story called “The Cyclops,” about a baby born with cyclopia, with only one eye among other problems, but almost preternaturally intelligent. And how he begins to learn what he is through other family members’ reactions.
The kind of thing that’s not all that artistic in terms of fine literature, but that I think maybe — and I’m not that sure — might be kind of important.
So anyway DARK MOON DIGEST had seemed to agree, and today, Sunday the 30th, THE STYGIAN LEPUS seems to think so too: We’re delighted to let you know “The Cyclops“ has been selected for publication in the July 2023 edition.
Please complete the contract here . . . and we’ll let you know when the online edition is live, and when the print edition is available to purchase.
So signed and sent — their motto: “our bunny leans to the dark side” which may add a little excitement as well. More to come when known.
On a pleasant, though still possibly overly-warm summer afternoon, Bloomington Writers Guild members were offered a double treat. The first was the Guild’s annual summer picnic, getting back into its normal time-and-place rotation, a kaleidoscope of fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw (that just on my first plate), cheeses, sweets, berries, three kinds of tea, lemonade, and more. Then, some of us leaving a little early to get there by 3 p.m., “Last Sunday Poetry Reading and Open Mic” at Morgenstern Books (cf. June 25, et al.).
Before what seemed a record crowd, the poetry featured two Asian Americans, the first local member and Appalachian born and raised, “AppalAsian” educator and poet Lisa Kwong, reading entries from her 2022 BECOMING APPALASIAN, as well as a second book in production, tentatively titled APPALASIAN BAPTISM, including her 2019 Sundress Publications Poetry Broadside Contest winner, “Searching for Wonton Soup,” and other nominees for various awards and prizes. Following her, IU English faculty member, non-fiction writer, poet, and translator of fiction from various Indian languages into English, Mahasweta Baxipatra, with work in multiple publications including LAST STANZA POETRY JOURNAL, MUSE INDIA, and CREATIVE FORUM: JOURNAL OF LITERARY AND CRITICAL WRITINGS, presented a cornucopia of short poems on such themes as frustrated expectations, thoughts, facets of history, art, memory, and poetry itself.
But then there were two “Open Mic” sessions as well, one at the picnic where I read a short piece from a recent “Third Sunday Write” based on the prompt “What would you have in your picnic basket? Maybe share a recipe or two. Who would you share it with? Where are you?” which, I not having such a basket myself, might best be titled THE VAMPIRESS’S PICNIC (and keeping, thus, with the occasion, for which to read for yourself see June 3). And the second the poetry Open Mic session with 23 listeners still attending(!), where I was second of about ten with two poems, both on subjects suggested/inspired by a non-local friend, speculative poet and Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Society (SFPA) activist Marge Simon, “Musical Summer” (a challenge-poem, to include the words “Vermin,” “Theremin,” “Decision,” and “Vitamin” in twenty or fewer lines) and, based on an illustration and title also by Marge, “Emile’s Ghosts.”
This also from Thursday — the news seems to cluster, sometimes, at the ends of months — from Editor Dibyasree Nandy (see July 5): We are extremely excited to share THE RIVER IN US ALL, with the world. Please find attached a print replica of the anthology, which we hope you enjoy as much as we enjoyed putting the book together.
And also the blurb (this from Lulu’s site): Dive into an ethereal world of rivers and stories with THE RIVER IN US ALL., a spellbinding modern fiction anthology published by CultureCult and edited by the acclaimed poet and author, Dibyasree Nandy.
This anthology brings together 29 captivating short stories from 27 talented authors around the globe.
Discover tales that effortlessly transport readers across the ebb and flow of time, resonating with the unstoppable current of life itself. These beautifully crafted stories range from heartwarming to haunting, taking readers on a captivating journey through the interconnected threads of humanity. From veteran writers to emerging voices, these authors have contributed their literary prowess to create a one-of-a-kind anthology that celebrates the powerful symbiosis between our existence and the timeless flow of rivers.
This also was one, I had noted, that didn’t have much money in it for the authors, but was (just as THE RABBIT HOLE, below) directing a portion of sales to charity, in this case to go towards the care of street animals in Kolkata. And in any event, was open to at least some reprints. But also was willing to pay to put out a classy product, as the blurb continues: The exquisitely illustrated book features ink artworks that add another dimension to the book, their flowing brushstrokes mirroring the very essence of the rivers within us.
That is to say, a book one might be proud to appear in — as well as, with an Asian publisher, possibly might be distributed into some extra out of the mainstream places.
So my part in the lineup — third, in fact, on the contents page, a prime position where, hopefully having hooked the reader with the first one or two stories, an editor will now place one of his/her biggies in hopes of beguiling said reader to stay — is one of the book’s longer tales, “Miasma,” originally published as a story-chapter in my mosaic novel TOMBS: A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH. A tale of a far-future dying Earth, and a voyage down an ultra-polluted, poisonous river to the sea.
So, completing the blurb: Immerse yourself in a unique literary adventure, celebrating the profound connection we all share with rivers—the life force that flows within us all. But with one caveat also, that (from Thursday’s letter, again) [p]resently, the illustrated paperback is only available on Lulu. The anthology, in both paperback and ebook forms, shall be available in more outlets online in the next few weeks, whose notifications shall be given on our social media pages. So complete distribution may take some time (indeed, I’m not sure the actual paperback is even on Lulu quite yet, at least as of my check earlier Thursday).
But for ebook fans, I think it may already be available in Kindle at least, on Amazon’s site; so for more information (including, one hopes, when it might be there in print as well), possible ordering, one may check here.*
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*And a final addition, as of today (Friday p.m.) it’s listed on Amazon in print as well, for which press here!
But . . . needing to check suggested changes on the public library’s newer computer, yesterday’s proof sheet from Editor Tom Wolosz had to wait to go back until today, Thursday. The story: “Marcie and Her Sisters” (cf. May 31), originally published in 2015 in BlackWyrm Publishing’s movie-related anthology REEL DARK.
And not very many changes were there anyway — only three in all, and these all only small ones on the story’s first and second pages. Introductory hints in a way. But subtle too (the story’s a weird bit, with lots of stream-of-consciousness styling), or at least so were my comments on two. In any event, nothing was major, my own takes mainly having to do with foreshadowing. And shades of emphasis.
Or, in short, I think the publisher, The Writers Co-op, is doing a bang up job so far. And, as I told Editor Wolosz too, I’m really, really looking forward for the book, THE RABBIT HOLE vol. VI (a charity anthology too, to help the Against Malaria Foundation), to be released.
The prompts actually came Sunday, July 16 — about as early in a month that a third Sunday can be — but also not that far from mid-way from a lateish May (see June 3, et al.) and an August that, on time, still wouldn’t come till the 20th. But then add to that I’m five days late too.
So — on to the chase — herewith my take on the Bloomington Writers Guild’s Facebook page Summer Sunday Write challenge (allinonebreath now):
“Summer” prompt #4 (plus a trace of #2)
BIRDBATH
“A crow flaps by the window, and there is a whiff of of tulips and narcissus in the air.” The last line of Amy Lowell’s “Bath,” but not one she took herself. After all she survived to write the poem.
A crow.
A bath.
A hot summer’s day.
A scent of flowers, peaceful and pleasant, but. . .
A crow!
And hot, sweltering sun permeates the air. Crows don’t sweat like we humans, thus feeling heat much more. And baths contain water.
Cool, soothing water.
A crow. . .
A flap of wings, frenzied — the window is open. A pound and a half of feathers and muscle. This is a large crow! Of beak and claws, sharp — talons we might call them. Piercing through narcissus, tulip scents, suddenly a smell of blood! Screams echoed off tile walls!
Crows, too, are meat-eaters — this one is anyway.
And the bath, cooling. . . .
Until, finally, cawing, a “caw” sounding like a burp, our crow friend — heavily — takes again to the air.
The bath, excepting a few bubbles, now still; the water a flowery pink. The sky still blue and white, save for one black speck.
A crow freshly-washed, and full.
Technically the word actually came late Thursday, the 13th, but I didn’t open it until today. The publication, THE SIRENS CALL, for a special issue for Halloween. Or from the Headless Horse’s mouth (that is, as ridden by the Headless Horseman):
In our world, every day is Halloween and we can’t get enough of it!
This issue has a sub-theme of Halloween. We’re also open to pieces celebrating Samhain, Punkie Night, All Soul’s Day, El Día de los Muertos, Guy Fawkes Night, Mischief Night, Hungry Ghost Festival, Pomona and Obon; you get the idea… Celebrate the dead, and what happens when the veil thins, and you’ll make us happy little horror campers! A small caveat to the restrictions on this call: please do not elevate or defame religion vigorously in your submission unless it’s vital to the storyline. We aren’t looking to celebrate religion, we’re looking to celebrate ghosts, ghouls, and all that can go wrong when the oogie-boogies come out to play.
So, if oogie-boogies, why not vampiresses — or, to be more specific, those based on New Orleanian urban legends, that is starring Aimée and the “Casket Girls”? Or even more specifically there is one, a reprint first published in WEIRDBOOK for “mid 2021” (see June 16 2019 — yes, it took that long to finally come out!) that even co-stars Death — what better for Halloween? — the title: “Death and the Vampire.” So off it went, Sunday. . . .
Yes, death travels swiftly when it’s of a mind to. From 9th to 13th (but not opened until today, the 14th, Bastille Day — and complete with an edited proof sheet attached which, a library computer needed to mark it up, won’t go back to THE SIRENS clutches until tomorrow): We’re delighted to let you know that we are accepting, Death and the Vampire, (with one time publication rights) for this issue.
And that is that.
My return, that is, having had a scheduling conflict last month and missing the June Bloomington Writers Guild’s First Wednesday Spoken Word (cf. May 3, et al.). But this month I was back! And I shared in an especially enjoyable July 5 session at Backspace Gallery downtown.
And that’s even including the sudden rainstorm that trapped us inside for an extra fifteen or so minutes after.
But back to the event, the musical interludes featured guitarist Jason Fickel who introduced us to several distinct styles — e.g. slide guitar, steel guitar, blues. . . — bracketing poet Terry Sloan with sometimes science-based, philosophical, witty, often satirical pieces (as an example, one crowd-favorite titled “On the Failed Attempt of Evil Knieval to Leap the Yawning Chasm of Non-Existence”), accompanied by projected collage/illustrations by Jon Vickers (perhaps best known locally as founding director of the IU Cinema), and followed by writer, director, and audio producer Brian Price with excerpts from two recent books (“of short fiction, monologues, and poetry,” to quote the blurb), THE WRONG SIDE OF THE RIVER AND OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST (2022) and THE OLD CART WRANGLER, THE NEW SILENCE, AND OTHER NOTIONS (2020).
Then, after a break, came the “Open Mic” section with four walk-on readers of which I was second, continuing my five-part “Casket Suite” tale sequence on the New Orleanian filles à les caissettes who brought vampirism to the New World. Tonight’s was part three, “Reflections,” in which the glamor girl of the group, Lo, explains why the superstition that vampires can’t see themselves in mirrors is, of necessity, false.
Well, first of all it’s for charity so, for the writer, the take is not great. Quoting the guidelines: Majority of the sales proceeds from all CultureCult publications go towards the care and welfare of street animals in Kolkata, India. But, hey, that means alley cats too, does it not? Or in other words, maybe, “the Goth Cat Triana made me do it?”
Also they were either very picky, or not many authors answered the call. They didn’t really want reprints, for instance — [w]e consider reprints but generally do not publish them unless they are absolutely exceptional. And, while my own submission went in on time, they did extend their deadline at least once. And for all that, though, they expect to publish — if they keep their schedule — with lightning swiftness: CultureCult Press invites fiction submissions for publication in its anthology of stories about Rivers THE RIVER IN US ALL (Expected release: July 2023). The extended final date for submission is May 31, 2023.
Be that as it may. As they continue: Rivers are beautiful things. They can harbour sinister legends, gift beautiful stories and feed us at night with a generous supply of fishes too! At their worst, they can be monstrous and wash away both life and property!
PLEASE NOTE that this is an anthology with a THEME. ONLY those fictions that feature a river in a prominent capacity, shall be considered for publication. Stories of all genres are invited. . . . Short Story: (between 1500-8000 words) Send no more than TWO short stories per submission.Flash Fiction: (between 50-1500 words) Send no more than THREE flash fictions per submission.
Manuscripts should directly be sent to CCAnthologyRiver@gmail.com
So. I thought I might send a reprint anyway, one from my novel-in-stories TOMBS: A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH (Elder Signs Press, 2017), “Miasma.” One which, re. the cover art depicted above with non-final submission date, does concern a woman who who went down a river — or rather her brother’s quest thus to find her — but in rather a different way than that shown.
Or does she?
In any event, the word came today: We are pleased to inform you that “Miasma” has been selected by the anthology’s editor for publication in THE RIVER IN US ALL. So we’ll find out together: can they keep that schedule and bring the book out before August?
jamesdorrwriter 