Exercise your ability with 50 word fiction.
Tag: Fiction
Source: 
OPEN NOW FOR SUBMISSIONS:
THE ANATOMY OF MONSTERS VOL. 2
Collected by Robert Teun
(Twitter: @RDTEUN)
$25.00 PLUS COPY
Min word count: 3,000 words.
Max word count: 10,000 words.
Send submissions to: theanatomyofmonsters@gmail.com
DEADLINE: OCT 31ST 2017
THE ANATOMY OF MONSTERS VOL. 2
We’re looking for new takes on old monsters!
What unholy pact did the very first vampire make to become what they are now?
How did Werewolves become slaves of the moon?
Who was the first Ghost in the world and how did they react?
The Mummy, The Hunchback, The Phantom Of The Opera, The Invisible Man, and even The Creature From The Black Lagoon…
How did they come to be?
How do they deal with their new nature?
And who suffers because of it?
This volume will be open to more folklore horror, Witches! Baba Yaga! And many, many more!
I prefer less splatter and more scare.
News will follow on these pages:
The Anatomy Of Monsters Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/TheAnatomyOfMonster/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: @RDTEUN
The Dark Half of the Year
Having recently joined the North Bristol Writers, I found out that, in late 2016, they published an anthology called The Dark Half of the Year.
From the creepiness of Garland’s The Ancestors and Dornan’s Dark Time, to the chilling This is Me by Henney, and just plain weirdness of Meyjes’ The Last Four in the Bar, The Dark Half … is a collection of stories that explores the vastness of the afterlife. It is also eclectic, with Newland’s tragic tale set during the Roman invasion of Britain and Sutton’s futuristic take on the ghost story, keeping the company of scolding grandmothers, vengeful in-laws, and righteous wraiths, alongside Harrison’s spin on Cornish folklore and, of course, the gruesome moral tale provided by Shinn. My favourite story of the anthology, Winternights by Herring, hauls ancient myth into a dystopian future whilst almost revelling in a vivid portrayal of bloodlust, truly making The Dark Half of the Year a celebration of the dead.
The Dark Half of the Year is available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Congratulations to The Nameless Writing Group’s newest member, Sam Grant, who has just published his latest novel, Galactic Mission.
“James Walters is a sales manager for an international conglomerate, based in the UK [who just happens to] encounter Empress Adriana from the Galactic Command Force … oh, and ruler of planet Earth and all planets circling the sun.”
It Has To Be Scary
The submissions call for which I’m crafting a story has a stipulation: Pieces have to be scary. Easy then? No, considering I haven’t been scared by a work of fiction yet.
Though, four authors have come close, so far: Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Clive Barker and Adam Nevill.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that Bradbury with his short story, The Emissary, and King’s novel, Misery, had managed to give me gooseflesh. This was achieved, perhaps, by their ability to immerse the reader in the story and the characters, in addition to perfect timing.
Barker’s short fiction anthology, The Books of Blood, heralded a new age of Horror for me. These stories were like listening to Iommi’s (et al) War Pigs for the first time; the text glutinous with dread.
With Nevill, it was the building of, and unrelenting, tension in the first part of The Ritual that may have been achieved through the main protagonist’s increasing isolation, as well as setting and pace.
All I have to do with this technical knowledge is apply it … within a 2,000 word frame.
Flying high with the news that Mythic: A Quarterly Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine will be acquiring my short story, Holding Hands, for its third issue.
An Exercise in Editing.
I completed the final edit of a story the other week; proud of a killer story. Yesterday, I saw a call for submissions that was perfect for it in all ways, it ticked every box, stroked all the editor’s needs, even I fitted the requirement. Everything matched, except for the word count: the story was 1500 words, the editor required 1200 max. (no, really, 1200 firm, I know because I asked). Originally, the piece was 2000 words, so I had been quite ruthless already, and could not imagine losing a further twenty percent.
I continued to check other markets while some needle-monkey inside my head told me that that first one was decent, and it was the right story. Treat it as an exercise, I thought. So I did, after making a copy of the first version.
That story is now 1198 words and has been mailed to the editor. I’m chuffed, thinking: I didn’t ruin it, it’s a tighter story. I guess that truth will be proved with an acceptance.
Another great little tale of romance for February is The Banshee’s Gift. Available via this page.
(image: Banshee ©Jana Heidersdorf)
Read my short story, What You Wish For. A perfect tale for Valentine’s Day. Available via here.
(image: The Absinthe Drinker and the Hostile Silence ©Pamela Wilson)
Eric Nash 