Submission Call - Apparition Lit May Flash Fiction Contest

About: Apparition Lit seeks original, unpublished speculative fiction and poetry. Each quarter we open for submissions that meet a chosen theme. Speculative fiction is weird, almost unclassifiable. It’s fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and literary. We want strange, misshapen stories with enough emotional heft to break a heart, with prose that’s as clear and delicious as broth.

Reading Period: May 1 -15

Theme: The lilies on the table

Guideline Summary:

• ONLY accepts stories 1000 words and under
• Flat rate of $5.00 USD to the winning flash
• Purchasing the right to publish the winning story online
• Winner will be notified and their story published on the 20th of the month
• Rejections will not be sent for the contest

How to Submit:

1. Format the story using the Shunn manuscript
2. Please retain all proper formatting marks. Keep font italicized and bolded. We’re not in the typewriter age anymore.
3. Please only use Times New Roman or Arial font in your document
4. Save as an RTF file and attach to an email
5. In the text of the email, provide a brief cover letter that only includes your name, the title of the flash, word count, and any relevant publications
6. Edit the subject line so it reads: FLASH SUBMISSION: Title of Your Story
7. Email your formatted email and flash manuscript to: submissions@apparitionlit.com
8. Add Apparition Lit to your Safe Senders list so you can receive our auto-response emails

Be sure to check their full guidelines before submitting.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with this contest. I'm just sharing calls for submissions that I find. I do submit work to the publications I feature in this section, so my work might appear there. This has nothing to do with which calls for submissions will appear on my blog. If you have a submission call you'd like me to feature on my blog, please send me the information.

Q&A with Ammar Habib

Meet Ammar Habib

Ammar Habib is an award winning & bestselling author who presently resides in his hometown of Lake Jackson, Texas. Writing has always been a passion of Ammar’s. He enjoys crafting stories that are not only entertaining, but also have something useful to say to the reader.

If you could be one superhero, which

superhero would you be?

That’s a tough question! My first instinct is Batman. But then I realized that I wouldn’t survive long as him because no human can really go a few months before the injuries would take their toll (that’s just the nerd me coming out). I’d have to go with my childhood favorite, Wolverine—the version from the comics, not the movies. In the comics, Wolverine does not only possess claws and a healing factor, but he’s also a brilliant tactician, can rival Captain America with his hand-to-hand combat skills, has instincts that rival Spiderman’s spider sense, and has vast resources and connections throughout the world. So I think being him will be the best of a lot of worlds! The only thing I wouldn’t want is the emotional baggage of living forever!

 Novels by Ammar

Ana Rocha: Shadows of Justice

Dark Guardian

Dark Guardian: A New Dawn

Dark Guardian: Legends

Memories Of My Future

For more about Ammar check out his website and his Amazon page. Ammar is also the Editor-in-Chief of Thriller Magazine. Be sure to check out the post on this publication. 

Note from Raina:
Please take the time to stop by my author page and vote in my poll.

Webcomic Love - Twokinds

I've been reading Twokinds for years, and it's one of my favorite webcomics. The comic itself started in 2003, so while still being written, there is enough of this comic for a serious binge read. 

Twokinds is a fantasy comic that takes place in a magical world. What really makes this comic for me though is the tensions between the worlds three major races: humans, Keidran, and Basitins. The main cast is made up of a mix of these three races. In the About section of the comic the artist defines the races as follows:

Humans are your standard primate-based, bipedal, sentient animals. They are technologically superior to the other two races, due to their high intelligence and natural curiosity.

Keidran are canine- and feline-based, bipedal, sentient animals. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, which include: Tigers, Large Cats, Dogs, Wolves, and Foxes. They are a short-lived but intense race; guided by powerful base instincts. They are highly territorial and usually short-tempered. However, they are relatively easy to subdue and dominate individually, and thus make ideal slaves for Humans. This has been a point of contention for centuries between the two races.

Basitins are a little-known race of bipedal, long-eared, brown-furred, sentient animals. Unlike the other two races, the Basitins live off the mainland on a distant island-continent. Due to their isolation, they are often forgotten by the other two races and left to their own devices. They are a warrior race, with a society solely consisting of soldiers. They behave in a hive-like manner, following orders of superiors without question. They are usually even-tempered and disciplined.

It's clear a lot of world-building has gone into this comic, and it shows. The comic and world itself were inspired by the artist's own experiences of racial discrimination. I think this is what gives the comic depth. It's the reason this one has remained a favorite read for me for so long.

The plot itself is interesting as well. It starts off with a human character named Trace Legacy. When the reader first meets Trace, he's lost his memories. He's also alone except for a Tiger Keidran named Flora. The story centers on their relationship, the adventures they get swept up in, and the recovery of Trace's memories. As likable and sweet as Trace is when the comic starts up, it becomes very clear as he regains some of his memories that used to not be a good person, and he has a really dark past. This makes for a very dynamic main character. Flora is also adorable, and you can't help but love her. The rest of the cast though is just as engaging with well-developed backstories as well.

If you fall in love with this comic, you can check out the comic's Facebook and Twitter. For more work by the artist or to support his work, you can check out his Patreon.

Note from Raina:
Please take the time to stop by my author page and vote in my poll.

Bonus post - Happy birthday Tre!

Today is our dog's second birthday. His full name is Asinus Trahus Rhodes. It means hauling ass in Latin. He might be short, but he's fast. And yes, you can even follow him on Facebook. 

About two years ago we lost our furbaby Asinus Maximus, AKA Assie. Our family was heartbroken. I still cry when I think about how unfairly he was taken from us.

We talked about getting another dog. We decided that a breed that would be short and not too big would be best. Or as I described it then "A short puppy who went AWOO." Originally, we passed on our boy because we were worried he'd be too small. His mom is a 10-pound chihuahua and dachshund mix. Then Tre basically doubled in size in two weeks, and his mom's owner contacted us again.

Tre with his mom.

At just two months, he was now the size of his mom and much bigger than his other siblings. He was also still rapidly growing. At two, he's now about 40 pounds, and I don't know how he came from a dog so small.

He knew he was part of the family the moment we brought him home. He went right to the kennel we'd set up for him and sat down and smiled.

He loves playing Pokemon Go. In fact, you can't say Pokemon around him without him barking and wanting to go. 

And he LOVES car rides. 

He also loves to "hunt" his toy badger, and he'll ask to watch badger videos on Youtube. 

He loves the kids, and he got to share seeing snow for the first time with them. 

He's a part of the family. Happy Birthday, Tre!

Note from Raina:
Please take the time to stop by my author page and vote in my poll. 

Submission Call - Midnight Before Christmas

About: There's no doubt that the Holidays are the most magical time of year, but that doesn't mean dark happenings aren't lurking beneath your Christmas tree as well.
These books will be available on kindle, hardcover, paperback, and audiobook format. The title page of each story will be illustrated. We are looking for holiday related horror, dark sci-fi, dark speculative fiction, neo-noire, and cyberpunk stories. We like stories with Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza themes. Alternatively, they can simply take place during the holidays (like how Die Hard isn't really about Christmas) or even just involve wintery or snowy settings. Please read the general submissions for more details.

Deadline: May 1st

Guidelines Summary:

Word Count : 1000-10,000 words. This is not a hard word count. If you think you have a story that fits what we're looking for, but is a little long or a little short, send it our way.

Payment: We are offering 2 cents per word up to 10K words. You are free to send us longer stories, but we cap payments at $200 per story for this project.

Rights: We are not asking for ownership of your story. Just the right to print it.

Reprints: Yes, we accept reprints. Beggars can't be choosers and we understand we're a fledgling brand. If your work appears elsewhere, please make sure you double check with the other publication to make sure your story is eligible to print.

Multiple Submissions: Yes.

Send submissions to: submissions@midnighthourmedia.comPut Christmas Submission in the subject line.

A word of advice: If you plan on sending us a Krampus story, please make sure it's a great one! We'll only have room for one in our collection and we're anticipating a lot of submissions so send something original!

Be sure to check their full guidelines before submitting.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with this publication. I'm just sharing calls for submissions that I find. I do submit work to the publications I feature in this section, so my work might appear there. This has nothing to do with which calls for submissions will appear on my blog. If you have a submission call you'd like me to feature on my blog, please send me the information.

Note from Raina:
Please take the time to stop by my author page and vote in my poll.

Q&A with Johnnie Bernhard

Meet Johnnie Bernhard

Johnnie is originally from Houston, Texas, where she graduated from University of Houston in 1984. She is a traditionally published author courtesy of Texas Review Press, Texas A&M and the Texas Book Consortium.

You’ve been given an elephant. You can’t give it away or sell it. What would you do with the elephant?

If I were given an elephant, I would create a bright pink riding blanket with gold tassels for Emma, the elephant.  She would be my transportation to and from work, the grocery store, and other places of business.  I would advocate for a unique parking spot for her that contained grass and the shade of an enormous oak tree.  I would visit her during the workday with candied peanuts and sparkling mineral water as treats.  Emma and I would be welcomed and celebrated where ever we went as an example of pollution-free transportation and the perfect friendship between an author and an elephant. 

 

A former English teacher and journalist, Johnnie Bernhard is passionate about reading and writing. Her work(s) have appeared in the following publications: University of Michigan Graduate Studies Publications, Heart of Ann Arbor Magazine, Houston Style Magazine, World Oil Magazine, The Suburban Reporter of Houston, The Mississippi Press, University of South Florida Area Health Education Magazine, the international Word Among Us, Southern Writers Magazine, The Texas Review, Southern Literary Review, and the Cowbird-NPR production on small town America. Her entry, “The Last Mayberry,” received over 7,500 views, nationally and internationally.

A Good Girl was short listed in the 2015 William Faulkner-William Wisdom International Creative Writing Competition, as well as featured novel for panel discussion at the 2017 Mississippi and Louisiana Book Festivals. It was represented by Texas Review Press at the 2017 Texas Book Festival. A Good Girl is a finalist in the 2017 national Kindle Book Award for literary fiction, a nominee for the 2018 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, a 2018 nominee for the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Fiction Award, and shortlisted for the 2017 Lone Star Literary Review, Bloggers’ Choice Award in best Literary Fiction.

Johnnie’s second novel, How We Came to Be is set for publication in spring 2018. It is a finalist in the 2017 International Faulkner-Wisdom Competition. Southern Writers Magazine named the novel a “Must Read” for 2018.

Johnnie supports young writers as a judge for the annual Center for the Book of Texas, Letters about Literature Competition.

Folks can find Johnnie on Facebook and her website. 

Note from Raina:
Please take the time to stop by my author page and vote in my poll. 

Bonus Post - Anarchist Love Story

I met Barry on a dating website in October 2009. It was a good first date, and I really liked him. That scared the shit out of me, so I told him I didn't see it going anywhere and returned to my apartment with the bottle of JD he bought me instead of flowers. We continued to IM. In April, I complained about any annoying guy who went crazy on me demanding to know if I was cheating on him, after one date, when I was at a woman's Bible retreat. Barry's response was that I should let him take me out again since I was apparently free. I knew right then I liked him. I'd known since that first message. But I was a very stubborn person and he didn't fit everything on the list of a 100 things I was looking for in a partner. It was a stupid list. One of those things though was that he didn't have children when I had two. We kept IMing here and there. Then he asked to take me to the mud races for my birthday in may.

I was very drunk and took a lot of pictures.

He knew I was drunk. 

They were very weird pictures. 

He then made the mistake of telling the weird drunk girl that she was weird. I decided he was an ass, and I didn't want to date him. I regretted that the very next day, but that would also mean admitting I was wrong. So I didn't.

I started dating some random dude, who also didn't fit my list. That too I knew was a mistake rather quickly. The issue was the dude worked offshore. I didn't want to break up with him over the phone. It felt too mean.

So there I was stuck "dating" a guy I didn't like for a month and refusing to admit I liked the guy that I was mad at for no good reason. Then a friend went snooping on my computer wanting to know who this cute guy Barry was and if she could date him.

Umm no. She could not. But then admitting that would have been way too easy. So at her request, I told him about her. I also then promptly told her there was no way she was dating him. She also decided that she didn't like him after looking at his FB page. lol.

Then he brought up having concert tickets and needing a date, and since I had a boyfriend that I didn't like, I couldn't go. He asked for my friend's number.

And that was what did it. I broke up with the guy I didn't like (on the phone, but I said I was sorry a whole lot), and I went to the concert with Barry. We started dating exclusively that week.

Our First photo together.

The kids thought he was the coolest. He became dad rather quickly.

It was a BB gun. 

He took me back to the same mud races where he'd called me weird in 2011.

From my journal on April 2, 2011. The day after my husband asked me to marry him. Yes, he asked me to marry him an April Fool's Day.

Barry asked me to marry him last night. I said yes, after asking him if he was joking several times. He asked me in tiny tent, while he was cuddled up behind me. It reminded me of when he first told me he loved me. It was perfect. For us. I don't have a ring yet. Today Barry took a hay blossom and tied it into a ring. When I saw what he was doing I objected. His reply "You're a damn hippie. You should like this shit." People who don't know us won't understand why I laughed. He got down on one knee to give me my hay blossom ring. It was perfect. For us. In the end that's all that matters. I wish I could go back in time to when he brought me here last year. Just so I could catch my drunken self (Probably on one of my many stumbling trip to the "bathroom.") and say that the man that would piss her off on the drive home by calling her weird, would be her fiance' in less than a year. My Tomcat. :) It'd be worth the cost of a flux capacitor to see my face. I was such a dummy that day. But ya know what? That day is a perfect story. For us.

Tiny tent. Yes, it was SMALL!

My first ring.

Our engagement was long. I wanted to make sure we'd be a family, and I wanted to at least finish my current degree. We were a family though already. 

We just hadn't made it official yet. We wanted the kids to know how important they are to us because our love story has always involved more than just us. So they were best man and maid of honor at our wedding.

And now it's been four years....

This hasn't been the easiest year for our family for a number of reasons, so our celebration was just a short bike ride on the Big Puppy (aka my husband's motorcycle) for fancy burgers.

The fancy burgers.

And our story continues....

Note: Please take a moment to stop by my author page and vote in my poll.

Webcomic Love - The Night Belongs to Us

Now, this might sound strange since I'm talking about a webcomic about werewolves and vampires, but The Night Belongs to Us by L.R. Hale is so cute.

Okay, maybe cute isn't the right word for describing a comic about the furry and undead that can be bloody and NSFW sometimes, but there is something whimsical about the style of this comic. That's what originally drew me to this one. For me, it's the little things. The comic also has a really cute cat. His name is Macintosh, and if you don't like him, you might be dead inside.

The story so far is relatively simple and easy to follow, but it's also very intriguing. It's just the story of two girls named Hank and Ada. Hank just happens to now be a werewolf, and Ada is a vampire. Ada is Hanks guide to the new strange world she has found herself in. The artist creates an interesting world with its own set of rules that exist in the shadows of the normal world. This helps to add depth to the characters, and they don't feel so cookie-cutter, which I feel happens a lot in this genre.

There's also plenty of complication with the big bad who turned Hank into a werewolf and mysterious people related to Ada's past. The story is also likely to get even more complicated as it continues as Hank develops a crush on Ada. They're also adorable together, so I love watching that relationship play out.

For more information on this comic, you can check out the artist on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. To support this comic check out the artist on Patreon. 

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with this webcomic in any way. I'm just a fan sharing a comic that I love. If there's a comic you think I should check out, feel free to let me know! 

Submission Call - Thriller Magazine

About: Welcome to Thriller Magazine! We are a new literary magazine that aims to bring together new and established voices in the thriller/suspense genre. Our mission is to help foster and promote a variety of authors.

Starting in July, we will publish a biannual issue every six months. We are currently working on putting together our inaugural online issue.

Guidelines: We are currently open to submissions for our inaugural online issue until May 15, 2018! Our publication centers around thrillers (whether it be action thrillers, horror thrillers, crime thrillers, etc). As long as your work somehow connects to the thriller genre, feel free to submit it.

• We accept short stories (up to 8,000 words), flash fiction, artwork, and book reviews of thriller novels
• We DO ACCEPT previously published work as long as it’s not under contract with a different publication
• Being a new journal, we cannot provide monetary compensation at this time
• We only ask for one-time printing rights if we accept your work
• Simultaneous submissions are more than welcome! However, please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere

Here are a few tips for submissions:

• Please include a short author bio no longer than 75 words
• You may include your story as a Microsoft Word attachment
• One note regarding submissions is that fully edited work has a much higher chance of acceptance

We aim to respond to submission as soon as we can. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. We look forward to reading your work!

Please email your submissions to magazinethriller@gmail.com.

NOTE: By submitting your work, you are also giving us permission to add you to our newsletter. We use our newsletter to send updates on the status of submissions and upcoming issues. Of course, you are free to unsubscribe at any time.

Please feel free to connect with us on Twitter as well.

The editor-in-chief of Thriller Magazine is Ammar Habib.

Ammar Habib is a bestselling and award-winning author based out of Texas. Ammar enjoys crafting stories that are not only entertaining, but will also stay with the reader for a long time. He holds several years of experience as an editor, both in the capacities as editing for magazines/journals and in the capacity of a freelance editor. Outside of his short stories, his published novels include The Dark Guardian Trilogy, Memories Of My Future, & Ana Rocha: Shadows of Justice.

Ammar can be personally reached at ahabibwr@yahoo.com.

Ammar will also be featured on Pet The Furry Walls on April 27th. Be sure to check it out!

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with this publication. I'm just sharing calls for submissions that I find. I do submit work to the publications I feature in this section, so my work might appear there. This has nothing to do with which calls for submissions will appear on my blog. If you have a submission call you'd like me to feature on my blog, please send me the information.

Q&A with Chantell Renee

Happy Friday 13th! 

Meet Chantell Renee

Chantell Renee is the author of the Shifter Series. A trilogy about Vivian Dacian, a girl orphaned by the age of three now coming of age to discover her very large Romani family in South Texas; where she discovers, she’s not really a human at all.

If you had to be trapped in a horror movie, which one would it be?

The Horror movie I’d love to have been trapped in would have been The Craft. It was a fun flick, but I feel like those girls were a bit too Glamor Magic happy. Real magic, is balanced. There is no good or evil in it, though one can take too much and upset the balance which will cause awful things to happen. The past year and a half, I’ve been researching Witchcraft for the next series I plan on releasing. There are so many things about our daily lives that came straight from the Pagans. Like Easter Eggs. Except they were spelled eggs put out during Ostara by the Pagans and two weeks later, the children of non-Pagans were sent out to find them to keep the magic from happening. True story.

Anyway, back to the movie, I know Sarah and I could’ve taken the entire movie to another level and gotten a part two for sure! If you recall, Sarah was a natural witch, born from a line of them. This is something Hollywood glossed over with knee high leggings and low cut tops on teenagers. Of course we all know why that happened now, huh. Nancy would still be queen crazy, but I think the crazier they are, the easier to beat. Really, when someone is absorbing that much bad, it’s a matter of time before they implode. As a real practitioner, you learn what you DO comes back to you three times. Yep, three times. Of course Hollywood wouldn’t make it that bad, however, that would only work to my advantage too! Sarah and I could simply strip the others of their power, and move on to create a proper coven, hence part two.

This makes me want to do some fan fiction now! Okay, maybe not just yet. Hope you enjoyed my rant, follow me on social media and see what I come up with next! 

Chantell enjoys writing for a large range of genres, from Horror to Romance, with a shadow of darkness in every story. She’s been published by four different small presses, and her own small press, Limitless Ink. In the past two years, she’s appeared at multiple conventions as well as Barnes & Noble stores throughout Houston. She has also sat on panels for Barnes & Nobles, and recently for the Bayou City Book Festival and Comicpalooza 2017 and just announced 2018.

You can keep up with this author at Chantellrenee.com, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Webcomic Love - The Sea in You

I have a confession. I love mermaids. Maybe that's why I had a crush on Ariel as a kid?

There might not be a singing redheaded mermaid in this comic, but The Sea in You is a gorgeous read. 

The story follows Corinth and her friendship with a mermaid. I know, it sounds really simple. This is a relatively new comic. I'm not sure what adventures the plot has in store, but you can already see the workings of an interesting story just in the first few pages. Sadly, since the comic is relatively new, there aren't a ton of pages. I normally don't follow comics until there are enough pages for a good binge-read. I really liked the artwork on this one though, so I'm being very patient.

If you fall in love with this one too, be sure to check out more by the artist, including her Patreon.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with this webcomic in any way. I'm just a fan sharing a comic that I love. If there's a comic you think I should check out, feel free to let me know!