Short Story Contest - “Old Mold New Milieu"

There’s still time to submit your winning short story to TRI Studio LLC for our current writing contest, “Old Mold New Milieu.” The deadline is June 30th. Winners will be published in The Fiction Flyer, our free ezine for writers with 1,000 subscribers. There are modest cash prizes, but you likely will survive without the ten dollars. More interesting, winning stories (and their authors) will receive the benefits of much promotion.

Okay, you can survive without the exposure, too, but wouldn’t it be nice? And your story only needs to be 1,000 words or less. You can write that much before lunch! AND you get to showcase a couple characters in your own books or stories, which of course begs readers to investigate further, which is why links to winners’ books and stories will be included. Details for the contest are here:

http://tri-studio.com/contestguidelines.html

We have some interesting judges, too, which include the well-known and mutli-published author and artist of youth fiction, Kevin Collier, his wife, Kristen Collier, author of critically acclaimed Christian literature, and Carolyn Howard-Johnson, promotional guru and multi-award winning author of numerous novels, books of poetry, and the best-selling how-to Frugal Book series on book promotion.

We hope you’ll take a look and decide to join in the fun!

Kathe and Ray Gogolewski
Editors/The Fiction Flyer
TRI Studio LLC www.tri-studio.com
http://tri-studio.com/contestguidelines.html

2008 Finding the Right Words Flash Fiction Contest

1st Prize: $60 plus publication
2nd Prize: $30 plus publication
Theme: Open
Genre: Fiction
Length: 500 words or fewer
Deadline: July 21, 2009 (postmark)
Entry Fee: $2.00 per story

THE RULES

- Write a self-contained short story in 500 words or fewer. No predetermined
theme this year, so let your imaginations run wild!
- Be original. Be concise. Be spelled correctly.
- Send your story in plain text in the body of an e-mail to
contests@inkspotter .com contests@inkspotter .com> (subject line =
"Annual Contest Submission") or to the address above. Do not indent
paragraphs. Leave one line space between each paragraph.
- All stories MUST have a title.
- Be sure to include your full name and e-mail address. If your story wins,
we'll contact you for your preferred method of payment.
- Enter as often as you like, but payment must be received for each entry.
- You retain copyright of your story.
- All entries will be acknowledged if an e-mail address is included.
- By entering the contest, you agree to have your name and email address
added to the subscriber list for InkSpotter News, our monthly ezine. Contest
news and winning stories appear in the newsletter. (Our subscriber list will
never be shared with or sold to a third party.)

NOTE: Please, do not submit fan fiction.

FULL DETAILS at http://inkspotter. com/contests. htm

Surrealism Anthology

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS - New Surreal Anthology

Submitted by: DANNY GONZALES

I am putting together an anthology of horror called "The Ultimate Surreal". I have been published in Rare, an anthology of horror, on gothic.net as well as many other anthologies. I am looking for surreal horror fiction grounded in reality which ever so softly slips into the surreal. I don’t want splatterpunk, over the top grossout horror. I am looking for more psychologically surreal stuff, it can have alien fetuses in it as long as those alien fetuses are integral to the plot.

Think of David Cronenberg meets David Lynch with a dab of Tim Burton. I am looking for artists, fiction writers and perhaps even poetry if it is truly surreal. I like ambiguity, where the reader can be left to determine if the narrator was insane or not and I am a big fan of everyday horror, the way a simple day at the office can turn freaky scary. Psychological horror is preferred over gory horror, cussing and sex is okay as long as it has a point. 500-1500 words. Deadline is: Oct 31st, 2009 but if you want to send something over to let me know you are
interested early like a rough draft I would be happy to look it over and let you know if it is what I am looking for.

You can submit it to me at dangrn77@hotmail.com: put Surrealism Anthology in the subject posting. It can have a horror context or sci-fi or even dark fantasy as long as it operates on the same level of the surrealist's manifesto which is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealist_Manifesto "two distant realities brought together to create a new, uncanny union" Consider the weird vibe of the film “Eraserhead” which gives us ordinary circumstances, a seemingly familiar world then slowly begins to tear away every thread of sanity we have and exposes the grim horror within. Show me your inner surrealist!

Star Dreck Anthology

Before we go any further, this is SATIRE*. This is PARODY*. This is SPOOFING*. These things are fully protected under American copyright law, with the benefit of Supreme Court decisions. That being said... I saw the new Star Trek movie, and I was depressed. It was quite a paradox, because I actually had a blast watching this engaging, exciting, exhilarating, fun film. But as I let it all sink in the rest of the day, I realized I actually hated it. I won't belabor why here; either you agree with me or you don't. If you do, then this anthology is for you. Paramount Pictures, in its endless quest for piles of money, have finally completed the utter destruction of Star Trek, a process at which I feel Rick Berman and Brannon Braga had already worked very hard for several years to achieve anyhow. As any Trekkie who has writing skills, my ego tells me I could have done a better job than Berman, Braga, and J.J. Abrams. My sixth sense tells me that talented Trekkies all over the world could do better writing SATIRES* and PARODIES* and SPOOFS*. So, I want to give them the chance. This will be a three-volume (maybe four-volume) series of anthologies with stories that SATIRIZE and PARODY Star Trek. Star Dreck: This will be a collection of SATIRES* and PARODIES* and SPOOFS* of Star Trek (the original series). Star Dreck: The Next Degeneration: This will be a collection of SATIRES* and PARODIES* and SPOOFS* of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Dreck: Overcross: This will be a collection of SATIRES* and PARODIES* and SPOOFS* of any Star Trek, along with another television show or movie. Star Dreck: The Frontier Finale: This will be an anthology that MIGHT happen. If it does, it will contain SATIRES* and PARODIES* and SPOOFS* of Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise. This volume will happen if there are enough submissions for it. I want SATIRE* and PARODY* and SPOOFING*. Write these like the literary equivalents of the spoofs you see in MAD Magazine, or hat you used to see in CRACKED (before it died and was reborn as a pile of online crap, sadly). To this end, you have to spoof things and me from getting sued. Rename the characters: Captain Kork, Mister Sprock, Chief Engineer Montgomery Ward, Helmsman Solo. Captain John-Luke Pickaxe, Commander Raker, Counselor Menage-a-Troi, the android Info. You get the idea. It's the Enterprize, and fazer guns, and zapton torpedoes. Whatever you want to do, do it. I absolutely encourage a few things: SATIRE* and PARODY* and SPOOFING*. These cannot be fan-fiction Trek stories, or Paramount will sue me blind. Paramount probably will sue me blind anyway, but that's okay. Humor. Make it funny! Poke fun at all things Trek, including the way this cultural icon has been whored out by Paramount, beaten nearly to death, and changed to the point that the loyal fans who made its success a reality are completely ignored (because we don't matter, right?). Stories. Yep, even amidst humorous SATIRE* and laughable PARODY* and gut-busting SPOOFS*, I still want real stories (which you'll learn about on the next page). Star Dreck III: Overcross. This one is special. Do the same things as the others, but include a crossover with another TV show or movie. Land the Enterprize in a galaxy, far, far away, with Luck Skyskipper and Duchess Layme, and give the Volcanian Mr. Schlock experience with the Forceful (maybe he has amazing midichlorian levels!). Maybe the Boobyprize goes back in time and gets tangled up with Pong... James Pong, Double-Oh-Negative, who likes it shooken, not starred. Or maybe the SG-01 team go through the StarPortal to a parallel universe where Mr. Splott has a goatee! And what about the Exitprise trying to save a world... and they're assisted by Superduperman? (In fact, this idea was inspired by a book from the 1980s called The Doctor and the Enterprise, a book where Doctor Who's TARDIS lands on the Enterprise. The characters were ambiguous (The Captain, The Science Officer, The Physician... along with The Doctor), but we all knew what it was. And it was funny! If you can find a copy on Amazon or eBay, I highly recommend it.) Whatever TV show/movie you cross this over with, you'll stand a better chance of selling it if it's a show/movie I'm familiar with, so before writing, if you want to know my thoughts, drop me a line. For all titles: I absolutely reserve the right to change any names, terminology, etc., to avoid getting me sued, but of course I'll work with you on that. Fan fiction. Don't send me any of this. I don't care if you think you've written the best Star Trek short story ever written. If it isn't a SATIRE* or a PARODY* or a SPOOF*, don't even think of sending it. If you do, you'll be blacklisted from any and all future publications I release. I know that sounds really hard-ass, but copyright is a very serious matter. I'm not a pirate. I won't ever be a pirate. And I won't give the time of day to people who submit fan fiction and expect me to publish it. Send it to whoever is licensed to publish Star Trek fiction. Stories from 3,000 to 12,000 words; however, I am unlikely to accept long stories unless they are very, very good. Long stories mean multiple shorter stories won't make the cut. So, make sure the longer it is, the better it is. Ideally, I'd like to see stories in the 3,000-7,000-word range. Deadline for submissions is October 31, 2009. I'll be staggering the releases of these in early 2010. Interested? Click here to learn more

Two Anthologies: Vacationland and Speculationland

This will be a pair of sister publications devoted to all that is Maine:

Vacationland will feature mainstream/literary stories.

Speculationland will feature SF, fantasy, or horror, having some sort of speculative element.

I'm doing two volumes because people who prefer mainstream fiction aren't likely to appreciate spec fiction, and spec-fic readers won't likely be too excited about mainstream fiction.

Stories must take place in Maine, or at the very least be a central part of the story (say, a character from Maine living in California or on Mars and wishing he were home). Stories should absolutely reflect what Maine is all about in some way--either through historical exposition, or focusing on things that typify Maine: lobster, County potatoes, Bar Harbor, Mt. Katahdin, or whatever.

The subject matter is entirely up to you, so long as you observe what I consider a story to be (which you'll read about on the next page). I mention this here because, in doing a mainstream-fiction anthology, I know I'll be inundated with piles of "stories" that are little more than slices of life. I don't want scenes; I don't want pieces of a character's day; I want stories that accomplish something and arrive somewhere, with characters who grow and change in some way.

Despite my background in speculative fiction, I have written some mainstream stuff. But I haven't worked on an all-mainstream anthology, so this will be a learning experience for me. For writers, know that what appeals to me are stories with bite, with grab, with visuals, with ideas that make me say "Wow!" That's what I like about sci-fi and fantasy and horror, which can bring a certain edge that mainstream stuff cannot. As such, it will be your job to create really vivid characters--make me feel so sucked into your story that I must finish it, even if there aren't spaceships or dragons or werewolves there to bring that sense of wonder to the tale.

I will give a strong preference for Maine authors. Non-Maine authors should be originally from Maine, frequent Maine, or have some other powerful Maine connection. When it comes down to choosing between two excellent stories, the Maine authors will always have the edge.


I don't want stories by people who obviously have no idea of what the flavor of Maine is. I also don't want 500 submissions that take place entirely in Bar Harbor or along the coast or in Portland's Old Port. There is much more to Maine than those things, despite what the tourists think. There are mountains and hiking trails, whitewater rivers, fields of potatoes and blueberries, the Golden Road, the expanse of Baxter State Park. And there's a load of history everywhere you go. So what I don't want is a pile of stories about lobster feasts and clambakes--strive to be as original as you can imagine. Envision what the masses are likely to write about, and then choose something you don't think anyone will write about.

Stories from 3,000 to 9,000 words; however, I am unlikely to accept long stories unless they are very, very good. Long stories mean multiple shorter stories won't make the cut. So, make sure the longer it is, the better it is. Ideally, I'd like to see stories in the 4,000-6,000-word range.

Deadline for submissions is November 30, 2009. My goal is publication in early 2010, with a secondary goal to have copies available for the summer tourist traffic.

Interested?
Click here to learn more.

Queer Gothic Anthology

Open call for submissions for a *Queer Gothic Anthology* to be published by
*QueeredFiction* where genre is queered. Deadline is 31st August 2009. We're
looking for gothic tales of horror and romance. Your submission should be a
short story between 3,000 and 10,000 words. We are seeking fiction with
positive images of queer characters. We’re not looking for clichés. We do
not want reprints. We are seeking first world rights for this anthology
which will be published as an eBook and in Print format. Full guidelines
here .

Submissions open: *1st June 2009 to 31st August 2009*

As a queer publisher, QueeredFiction would like to have an emphasis on the
queer community as a whole, rather than by segments. So ideally the perfect
submission would have 'queer characters' in the forefront and in the
background ... just mainly prominent!

*Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of
literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. *
*[...]*
*Prominent features of Gothic fiction include terror (both psychological and
physical), mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses and Gothic
architecture, castles, darkness, death, decay, doubles, madness, secrets and
hereditary curses.The stock characters of Gothic fiction include tyrants,
villains, bandits, maniacs, Byronic heroes, persecuted maidens, femmes
fatales, madwomen, magicians, vampires, werewolves, monsters, demons,
revenants, ghosts, perambulating skeletons, the Wandering Jew and the Devil
himself.