Brain, Child and Microfiction: Duck, Duck, Goose!

Good Monday morning! I have a paying market to share, newly listed on my Paying Markets page.  (Click on the tab above, under the header, or click here: WRITERS - Paying Markets.)  It is Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, and they publish personal essays and news articles, as well as parodies and short fiction.  Although new to me, this publication has been alive and well since 1999.  Click HERE for the writers' guidelines.

Grandma's Goulash graciously hosts Succinctly Yours, the wonderful meme for those of us addicted to microfiction. The trick is to write a story in 140 characters or less using the photo below as inspiration. To add to the challenge is the word of the week, "lavender."  My stories are below.

“Hey Bo, you wanna play duck, duck, goose? Do ya? Huh?” 

“It’ll be cook, cook goose if you don’t shush! Them hunters ain’t deaf, ya know!” 

(138 characters)

* * * * * * * * * * 

“Is that lavender, Ms. Lucy? You smell delicious, if you don’t mind me saying!”  Ed winked.

"Better you than Farmer Jim," Lucy quipped. 

 (135 characters)

Are these guys ducks or geese? I'm clueless regarding waterfowl, y'all.  The one on the right has a long neck, so I went with geese. I guess I'll find out when I link to Grandma's Goulash to read the other microfiction stories---always a great way to begin the week!

Enjoy your Monday!
Lisa

Paying Markets and a Little Monkey Business

Ready for a little monkey business? Swing over to Monkey Puzzle Press to read about their annual Flash Fiction Contest.  First prize wins $300, second $150, and third $50.  Only $5.00 to enter, and you have until August 15, 2011 to polish your best piece of flash fiction. Visit the Monkey Puzzle site for more information including downloads of past issues so you can read what piques their interest.

I have added two markets to my "Paying Markets" page of links (see above). Check out Mysteries Magazine, which pays for true stories about anything "odd, unsolved and intriguing."  Prefer to write genre fiction?  GhostLight Magazine accepts horror, dark science fiction and dark fantasy.

Why is it that edits are never more apparent than after submission? I recently sent off a short story knowing something was askew. Despite multiple edits, the source of the problem eluded me. Since I had to meet deadline, I called it done and mailed it.  A subsequent review delivered a Homer Simpson moment, as in, "Doh! So that's the problem!" The fix is in, but not in time to change the version already in the mail.

Drat. That whole "set it aside to review with fresh eyes later" rule isn't just a suggestion.

Which brings me back to the Monkey Puzzle Flash Fiction contest. Since the deadline for entry isn't until August, that allows plenty of time to write, edit, and set aside before editing again. So don't monkey around! Get to work on your brilliant flash fiction so it will be perfect before you send it out! 

Doh!

Setting stuff aside as we speak -
Lisa

Clip art courtesy of Webweaver.com.

Paying Markets and Microfiction Monday

Clip art courtesy of hasslefreeclipart.com.

Greetings on this wintry Monday morning!

For my writer friends: Something to warm the creative nooks and crannies of a writer's heart is a publication market that pays in real dollars because, let's face it, earning even a paltry monetary sum for your work along with a publication credit beats zero dollars any day, wintry or not.

To that end, I added a page (see above) titled: WRITERS - Paying Markets. This is a short list of markets that pay real dollars for your writerly work. I will add markets as I find them, and if you know of one that should be included please tell me. What you will not find here are the huge national magazines/publications that accept only queries from agents or require you to have multiple clips from other ginormous national magazines. The Paying Markets page offers viable markets with links to submission pages. I hope you find it helpful.

Now on to Microfiction Monday! Yay! If you've visited before then you know I love this meme, hosted by Susan at Stony River. Visit Susan's blog and click to the other participants; the stories are many and varied, and there are always a lot of fun reads. Here are my two offerings, each 140 characters or less:

Misty morning rises from the water, 

silent as death. 

Our fears drift upon each infinitesimal drop, 

sequestered 

in the shadowy sea of sky.  

* * * * * * * *

“Why call it swimmin’ wit da fishes? Cuz he ain’t. 

Not in dem cement boots.” Said Irv.   

Leo shrugged. “It’s apoxymoron: a term dat stuck.”

Enjoy your Monday!


Til next time -
Lisa

How About a Two-fer?

Clip art courtesy of Webweaver

Don't you just love a Two-fer---two treats for the price of one? As it happens, your click to my blog has afforded you the coveted Two-fer.  Below are links to a pair of happy places:

1.  Cathy C's Hall of Fame is offering a wonderful contest, free to enter.  One lucky NEW follower to Cathy's blog will win a $20.00 gift card from Barnes and Noble.  But here's the part I really love: Let Cathy know I sent you and if you win, so will I!  Now that's what I call a real Two-fer.

2.  Love the ooky and the spooky? Link to Darkside Digital, a publisher of all things horror. This caught my interest because of the wide word count range in which they are interested (from 2,000-40,000, original horror fiction only).  Here's part of the official blurb from their website:

Darkside Digital is now accepting submissions. We have teamed up with Delirium Books to offer both digital and print contracts to authors who submit work from 15K words to 40K words. For submissions less than 15K we will consider them for only a Darkside Digital release as an e-book.

Did I mention this is a paying market? 25% royalties off the cover price paid quarterly via Paypal by their parent company Horror Mall, who also pay the Paypal fees. If you love to write about things that go bump in the night, this may be the place for you!

So there you have it, buttercup, your Wednesday Two-fer.  First, zip on over to Cathy's blog to enter her nifty contest, and then visit Darkside Digital to read their complete submission guidelines and submit your best scary stuff. Good luck in both places!

Til next time -
Lisa