Places to submit

Analog: Science Fiction and Fact

“When the weather outside is frightful, the perfect thing to do is curl up inside with some science fiction and let it transport you to warm alien lands.” — Analog: Science Fiction and Fact Analog: Science Fiction and Fact (ASF) is “considered the magazine where science fiction grew up.” When editor John W. Campbell took over in 1938, he brought to Astounding [original name] an unprecedented insistence on placing equal emphasis on both words of ‘science fiction.’ No longer satisfied with gadgetry and action per se, Campbell demanded that his writers try to think out how science and technology might really develop in the future, and, most importantly, how those changes would affect the lives of human beings.” Campbell chose the name “Analog” in part because he thought of each story as an “analog simulation” of a possible future, and in part because of the close analogy he saw between the imagined…

Prompts

Spooktacular or . . . ??? Prompt #199

Join the festivities. Click on Halloween Blog Hop. Scroll down, click on a blogger’s name and you will be transported into a new dimension. WRITING PROMPT: Spooktacular or Spectacular or Meh . . . What was Halloween like for you as a child? Did you go trick-or-treating? Costumes: Homemade or store bought? Bag to hold goodies: Pillowcase, plastic bag, plastic pumpkin, or ??? You can also write from your fictional character’s point of view. Writing Prompt: Describe your childhood Halloween. OR: Describe a perfect All Hallow’s Eve.    

Guest Bloggers

The perfect evil character by Francis H. Powell

In this guest blog post, Powell discusses the perfect evil character. Readers love an evil character, literature is strewn with them. I would say an interesting evil character is often multi-faceted, never straight forward, they themselves are often in a way, victims. Who can forget the Stephen King character Jack Torrance, who has slipped into insanity, a danger to his wife and child as well as other people who cross his path. He is interesting in that he himself has been victim, having watched his father, who he adored, abuse his mother. There is this baggage, along with the fact that the hotel where he and his family reside over a bleak winter is slowly taking control of him. Evil characters are full of character flaws, Jack Torrance, for example, has a major problem with alcohol. There are a whole range of character flaws a writer can imagine. Many evil…

Book Reviews

Toxic Mom Toolkit by Rayne Wolfe

Rayne Wolfe’s voice is strong, courageous and honest throughout her book, Toxic Mom Toolkit. She writes about her birth mother and adoptive mother — both toxic. Rayne writes about her childhood with clarity and writes about her toxic moms with compassion. Toxic Mom Toolkit travels Rayne’s journey from abusive childhood to learning the necessity of distancing herself from these toxic women. Rayne tells her story without whining, without self-pity, without a poor-me attitude. Toxic Mom Toolkit clearly illustrates what a toxic mother is. Thankfully, she had a wonderful step-mother who showed Rayne unconditional love and kindness, illustrating good mothering. If you don’t have a toxic person in your life: Hooray. You might want to read Rayne’s book for both entertainment and education, in case someone toxic comes along. It could happen, you never know. If you think you have a toxic person in your life, read this book. It will help…

Places to submit

Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction

The editors of Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction invite you to “submit writing that is lyrical, self-interrogative, meditative, and reflective, as well as expository, analytical, exploratory, or whimsical. They encourage submissions across the full spectrum of the genre. The journal encourages a writer-to-reader conversation, one that explores the markers and boundaries of literary/creative nonfiction.” Personal essay subjects can be about nature, environmental, travel, memoir, and more. General submission dates: August 15 – November 30. Fourth Genre Steinberg Essay Prize submission dates:: January 1-March 31 Click here for guidelines.  

Prompts

An apology. . . Prompt #197

Who do you want — or need — to apologize to? Or maybe it’s a “thing” you need — or want — to apologize about. Write an apology note, something you never need to send nor give to anyone. Write it for yourself, to cleanse your palate, to lift the burden from your shoulders, to start from a new beginning. Prompt: Write a note of apology.    

Guest Bloggers

Guest Blogger Pat Tyler: About writing, a writer, and freewrite workshops

Guest Blogger Pat Tyler: About writing, a writer, and freewriting workshops For me, writing is like a shot in the arm. When I write alone, my mind becomes infused with new ideas. When I write with others, I’m included in a circle of writers who inspire me, enlighten me, challenge me, beckon me to take up the gauntlet, put on the gloves, step away from the ropes, dance my strategic dance of words, and punch my critic until he stays down at the count of ten, knocked out by my knuckle-punch of powerful, gutsy words. In recent years I became interested in publishing, but I soon learned that it’s not publishing that makes a writer – it’s writing that makes a writer. It may sound over-simplified, but I know this for sure: it’s the physical act of placing pen to paper and refusing to remove it until blood seeps from…

Places to submit

Fourteen Hills Press ready for your submission

  Since its inception in 1994, Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review contributes to a vibrant literary tradition on the West Coast centered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its commitment to presenting a diversity of experimental and progressive work by emerging and cross-genre writers, as well as by award-winning and established authors, has earned it a reputation for literary excellence. Being independent means its aesthetic is dynamic and fluid, ever changing to meet the needs of the culture and the historical moment as the staff perceive them. As an international literary magazine, Fourteen Hills has developed a reading audience that goes beyond the San Francisco Bay Area to the international community. Staffed exclusively by graduate students in the creative writing program at San Francisco State University with the oversight of a faculty advisor, Fourteen Hills publishes original poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, and cross-genre work created by writers in the US and abroad. It also welcomes and prints representative contributions from…