Your Wednesday Limerick: Liz Bennett Limerick

Liz. Bennett, a poor English beauty,
Despised Mr. Darcy as snooty.
These opinions unfair,
Were improved. Now they share
Extra sugar whenever they brew tea.

REAP: Horror Micro-Fiction Anthology by Black Hare Press Announced

A new flash-fiction story to be published--possibly two.

In a Facebook group exclusive to contributors to indie publisher, Black Hare Press, the admin announced a writing contest inviting writer-members to comment with an original microfiction story (200 words or fewer) inspired by an image prompt depicting a zombie touching a field of brains, with the selected winner to receive a custom T-shirt.

After a week, winners were announced, and I learned that my story, "Meatless Unlife Aftertaste Diet" had placed in the Top Five (third). The BHP editors further announced that they had decided to compile all the entries into an anthology.

So yay! My work will be another anthology!

The same, latter announcement mentioned that space remained for about ten additional stories and that anyone could submit, whether or not they had already previously submitted. And so, over the next few days, I brainstormed a second story. 

Then, last night, unclear on the submission instructions (and frankly, in a rush to get to bed, already late), I posted this finished story also as a comment. Today, I kept browsing for any replies or feedback until finally, this afternoon, I read a note from a group admin/editor advising that I was supposed to have emailed any new submissions to darkdrabbles@blackharepress.com, per instructions on a separate post. So, I deleted my text and followed these proper instructions.

The proper instructions require omitting identifying information from the submission document and providing it exclusively within the submission email. This protocol allows volunteer readers to judge anonymized submissions impartially. Having posted the text and title online, it may even be disqualified before it can be rejected. We'll see. 

[Update: my second story, “The Mimicry Mutation “ has also been accepted.]

Whatever happens, it's a victory to have finished and submitted yet another story. I hope this is an indication that my writing pace is recovering.

P.S. The first image was shared with contributors by BHP for promotional use; the second was generated by Bing Image Creator (AI).

My First Western, A Flash Fiction Contest Entry

I just finished my first classic Western story (not counting poems, "The Ballad of VanKeith". "Jack and Jim") in time to submit it to "SADDLEBAG DISPATCHES MAGAZINE" for a flash fiction contest, eligible for their "Mustang Award".

Irrespective of whether I land in the top three submissions (each of which becomes eligible for publication in the magazine), I'm thrilled to have finished a new story after struggling lately over longer forms. It's also the first new thing I've submitted in quite a while.

As time permits (I'll be traveling soon) I can now return to completing a much longer Western story I had begun writing before setting it aside for the sake of this competition. 

 

Poem, "On Her Deathbed, Aunty Rose" Published on Spillwords

My humorous poem, "On Her Deathbed, Aunty Rose" will be reprinted on Spillwords, effective February 26, 2024, at this link: https://spillwords.com/on-her-deathbed-aunty-rose/

(Image above generated by AI)

RAVENS to be Reprinted in "A Tree Full of Crows"

My love poem, "Ravens", styled as a screenplay depicting a romance between two ravens, was first published in the now-defunct, Dastaan World Magazine, back in 2018. After a very respectful discussion, Editor Mandy Chandler has accepted it unchanged for publication in the imminent* anthology, "A Tree Full of Crows", by Fairy Wren Publishing.

*update: it became available on Kindle as of April 3, 2024: https://www.amazon.com/Tree-Full-Crows-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0CZHJSJP3

I stipulate "unchanged" because she had asked for, and naturally preferred, works that were about or at least included crows. Both works I had to offer were about ravens, not crows. However, unlike the poem, above, my drabble, "An Unkindness of Ravens", originally published in Bloodsong Books' "Curses and Cauldrons" anthology, could easily be tweaked. Instances of "Raven" were easily swapped with "Crow", and the drabble was renamed "A Murder of Crows".

I'm proud of both works. This will be an anthology worth reading and owning.

"Princess Barbie and the Troll Baby" to Appear in Lockdown Fantasy #6

Forget Snow White. Forget Sleeping Beauty. The most beautiful princess in the world who ever lived was Princess Barbie.

My comic horror fairy tale, "Princess Barbie and the Troll Baby" will appear in this free anthology by Black Hare Press.  See link below:

This news was first announced here in 2020, while the pandemic was in full bloom and before other projects and priorities bumped it to the wayside. The original contract had long since elapsed before BHP finally returned its attention to the series in the Fall of 2022. If there are no cancellations and the momentum continues, my works are expected to appear in 12 of the 30 total books planned for this series.

COMING 26TH MARCH!

https://books2read.com/lockdown-fantasy-6

FEATURING:

Differing Points of View by Susan Cornford

Henkie's Fiddle by Vonnie Winslow Crist

Porcelain Perfection by Kimberly Rei

Princess Barbie and the Troll Baby by Shawn M. Klimek

Shrieks in the Snow, Shrieks in the Night by Patrick Winters

The Grand Game by Christopher T. Dabrowski

The Kelpie by Paul Benkendorfer

The Solstice Road Trip by Meera Dandekar

The Sphinx and the Pegacorn by L.T. Emery

Their World is Ending by Sam Amenn

Waiting For Heaven by Ximena Escobar

Weep by D.M. Burdett

Nineteen Five-Star Global Ratings for Hungry Thing

If you want to do something really nice for an indie author, besides buying their book, review their book. 

During the year following its publication in late December 2019, sixteen kind-hearted readers (chiefly fellow indie authors) left five-star reviews for Hungry Thing.  During 2020, it gained one more review; and another in 2021, totalling 18 five-star ratings including 15 reviews. Thanks to poor marketing and, perhaps the fact that it is not available as an e-book, there it has more or less languished, until today.

Today, February 15th, 2024, it received its 19th 5-star rating.

• #1,688 in Epic Poetry (Books)
• #9,268 in Magical Realism
• #18,889 in Dark Fantasy

I have some idea of who may have left the rating. A few weeks back, a neighbor of mine shared that he'd spotted the book at our local library, and had already ordered his own copy from Amazon. He then asked whether I would be willing to autograph it, once it arrived. Naturally, I agreed. Since we are neighbors, I did him one better: I dropped off an autographed copy from my private supply.

This morning, he passed me on his way to work and stopped to enthuse that he'd enjoyed the book, that he'd already read it three times because it was "very deep", and that he'd even left an Amazon review. Wow!

I looked hopefully for the review but found a rating instead. ...

UPDATE: The review showed up after a short delay! 

To all of you who have ever left ratings or reviews for an indie author, thank you! Five stars!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐