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!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Creative Writing News for Early February 2024

 

During a protracted rewrite of my science-fiction story, Holly Has a Hunch, I composed a thousand-word prologue that loosely inspired the AI image above. It was meant as backstory, to assist me in drawing the main story to a sound and logical conclusion. The "backstory" is entertaining, but I have yet to finish the main story.

Last week, I woke up having dreamed up a pretty solid Western story, worth developing for waking readers, though it naturally needed some revisions. While driving for hours and hours across The Republic of Korea this past weekend with my wife, I worked out the needed changes and finished composing the whole plot to my satisfaction. Now, I just need to write it.

I haven't written a lot, lately: one new poem, and one new drabble, both of which were submitted to exactly one publisher each, and both rejected. 

Conversely, two pieces both written more than a year ago have been accepted for publication by non-paying publishers. I'm glad for some news in a positive direction, however meager.

The latest acceptance is a reprint of my humorous poem, "On Her Deathbed, Aunty Rose", first published by Dastaan World Magazine. It will be published next on "Spillwords". I'll share a link when it becomes available.

General Creative Writing Updates - January 2024

Publishing news:

A crow-themed anthology by Fairywren Publishing, "Tree Full of Crows", will feature a reprint of my drabble, "Murder of Crows" (first published in Zoey Xolton's "Cauldrons & Curses"). I signed the contract, today. I've already had a look at the proof draft, and it looks excellent.

The 42 Stories Anthology, by Bam Writes, is set to finally be published later this year. It has taken several years (eventful ones for the editor) to compile this unique anthology of 1,764, 42-word stories in every genre plus on the craft of writing.

This long-delayed anthology, Nightmare With a Twist, by Penned in the City (and Barrio Blues Press) which includes my horror story, "Birthday Desserts", is projected to be published immediately following a final copy edit, next week.

 

 

 

 

 Submission News: 

• I haven't submitted much anywhere, recently, but before 2023 ended, I managed to submit two pieces: an updated draft of my science fiction story, "The Trophy" and my latest, science fiction poem, "Mercury is a Hellscape" to separate publishers. Only one response, so far. A form rejection.

Writing News:

• I wrote and submitted to Black Hare Press a Dark Moments drabble for the first time in over a year, I think.  The first draft was too reliant on clever dialogue to allow space for clever descriptions (100 words fills up fast), so I did a second draft. I'm more hopeful about it.

• I've been writing and pondering improved endings for two full-length stories, never published: Undying Peace and Holly Has a Hunch. For the past few days, mostly the latter, which features a novel concept for introducing a contemporary human to extraterrestrials outside our solar system. I've developed some sophisticated backstory and answers to the question, "What do (the aliens) want with (Holly)", but need to focus now on a tight plot so that the reader doesn't choke on exposition. No deadline, apart from my ambition to include this story in my own collection, before the year is out.

Readership news:

• A college professor friend shared with me that one of my horror stories (not sure which one) was on the reading syllabus for her creative writing class. I told her my comedy stories are even better, and sent her my most popular example, to consider sharing.

• A neighbor here in South Korea informed me that they located my book in the air base library, and subsequently ordered their own, hardcover copy, which they hope I will soon autograph for them.

• A writer friend made my day (a few weeks ago) by commenting on Facebook that her favorite story in the anthology, "Dragon Bone Soup", was my humorous fantasy short story, "Genuine Troll-Leather Luggage." Because it reminded her to "think outside the box," she said.