Quotes on my Mind - Living a Life being devoured

"Is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?” 

― Friedrich Nietzsche

I likely read Nietzsche far too young. I likely read a lot of things far too young. His work though has always stuck with me.

This is something I find myself often explorer in my writing. What do you do when you encounter monsters? Fighting can mean becoming a monster yourself. Not fighting back can mean pieces of yourself being ripped out in tiny chunks.

In Howl, which I swear will be fully finished one of these days, this is something I deal with in Liz. She goes through both of these in different ways. Becoming the monster her father wanted her to be. Letting denying her wolf quietly devour her.

I've lived life letting myself be quietly devoured. It's more horrifying than any monster that I could ever dream up. Letting yourself become a monster, even to fight one, can be horrifying as well. I think we've all had those moments when we can't meet our own eyes in the mirror. It's a fight sometimes of being who we want to be and who we have to be.

In the end, I firmly believe that true horror lives inside our heads. It's something that I'm working on right now for a poetry submission. 

Webcomic Love - Gunnerkrigg Court

So this comic has me on the edge of my seat right now. You're going to love Gunnerkrigg Court.

Gunnerkrigg Court is a school, but it's also a whole lot more. The comic opens with student Antimony Carver, AKA Annie, starts going there. With each chapter, Annie finds out more and more about the mysterious court and forest next to it.

The comic is a work of science fantasy, and the genres are blended really well. There is imaginative technology, including robot cows, and well-crafted creatures from mythology. One of which is Coyote. He's also available in this adorable plush.

Currently, there are 67 chapters, so while it's still being written there is plenty to read so far.

The first few chapters really focused a lot on Annie, her bestie Kat, and the demon Renard. The comic has grown to a large list of characters and creatures. There's also some LGBTQ representation, which I like. The plot is interesting and engaging. The rules of the forest and the court keep becoming more clear, and the mystery of the comic will keep you coming back.

You can help support this comic here.

Submission Call - COCKROACH CONSERVATORY VOL. 1

Deadline: June 5, 2018

About:

I am Lord Commander Patagonia. I have strong desires to read fiction in the spirit of working zealots to comfort and terrorize those who dare love me.

After the long recreational equipment war that lasted five hikes of up and down stock prices, I have come out on top to crush my enemies and I shall name them for they should be embarrassed to even fight me. Emperor Dick's Sporting Goods, Prime Ministress REI Co-Op, as well as Duke Academy. Their products are cheap and I am unconcerned with their followers' well being.

What would most please me is weird fiction encompassing themes of capitalism, cults, no zombie shit, religion, and the beginning of the end.

Please, restrain your throats from empty preaching. I am the most preacherful and I do not like competition. So your screed about what you believe in to be right is most unwelcome and will be met with fireballs from Ken doll-esque mound where your pitiful human form would substitute a dangling piece of nothingness.

What would please me more most is:

A story of no more than 3k words.

These genres are most welcome: horror, sci-fi, weird, bizarro.

Send your submissions to: RaceForTheRoaches@gmail.com

No multiple submissions.

Reprints: It is forbidden.

You will be paid pro-rates which are $0.06 per word.

Send up to 3 poems.

If one is accepted, you will be paid a flat rate of $10 per poem.

Submissions are open until June 5, 2018. It will be a blessed day. A day most holy.

We will try to get back to you within three months. Please do not query before that. We will drive you to a dentistry school to watch as two students extract a tooth that is firmly in place. You will be met with a dry sockets. We will all laugh.

If you think putting a cockroach into a story gives your trunk story a chance, you are severely mistaken. Severely mistaken. The mistake would be severe.

I've been sick

I'm having some health issues. My blog will be on hiatus until I get things under control. All scheduled posted have been pulled because I just can't keep up with them right now. I will hopefully have new on how long this will last this week.

Submission Call - Tales from the Crust: An Anthology of Pizza Horror

Deadline: June 1, 2018

Details about what they want:

We know we have a tendency to say, “Attention writers! Some new hotness!” but this is literally some new burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth hotness. Inspired mostly by David James Keaton’s struggle to find good pizza in California and pitching ideas to Max Booth when he’s hungry after working a 12-hour shift at the Overlook, get ready for…

TALES FROM THE CRUST: An Anthology of Pizza Horror

edited by Keaton and Booth and published by Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.

Originally Keaton was thinking of calling it PIZZA MY SKULL because there’s a pizza place around San Jose called Pizza My Heart, meaning “piece of my heart,” and so he thought a “piece of my skull” joke would be hilarious. Turns out that’s a lot of assumptions to make about a gag. Also, their pizza is gross. Luckily, George Cotronis brainstormed a much better title (though it might make people wonder if there’s a “Crustkeeper/Cryptkeeper” hosting the show). Speaking of Mr. Cotronis! Holy lord look at the cover art he’s come up with. WE WANT TO LIVE IN THIS WORLD…

This is exactly the vibe we’re going for here. Not so much the goofy Goosebumps thing you might imagine with a pizza horror story, but we’re taking it kind of seriously. Like we take our pizza seriously. The humor is inherent in the pizza theme already, so we’re playing this kind of straight. And if you think you’ve got what it takes, like a healthy love of the cheesy cuisine, send us your best work.

Now, you may be thinking: pizza horror taken seriously? What the good goddamn could I possibly write?

Good question! We don’t know. But we sure would like to read it.

That’s where you come in.

Write us a pizza story, and make it scary.

Story length: 1k – 5k

Payment: $0.03 per word

Multiple submissions: Yes

Simultaneous submissions: Yes

Reprints: Query first

Send submissions to pizzamyskull@gmail.com with “[STORY TITLE] – [AUTHOR NAME] – [WORD COUNT]” in the subject line.

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.

Q&A with Brenda Mohammed

Meet Brenda

Brenda Mohammed, Author of the mind-blowing science fiction series 'Zeeka Chronicles: Revenge of Zeeka,' has written eighteen books in multi-genres.

For more on Brenda, visit her on Amazon. 

Would you rather live in the ocean or on the moon?

The moon is too far away and is lonely and undeveloped. If I live on the moon, I would be the only woman or only person on the moon. Where would I live? Where would I shop? I am a shopaholic.

I would much rather live on the ocean on a cruise ship with my family, stopping off at various exciting ports as we cruise the ocean. My family and I have been on two cruises with Royal Caribbean Cruise ships and both were delightful. We were treated like royals and did not have to lift a finger.

On The Majesty of the Seas, my family and I celebrated, recharged, and re-discovered everything we love -. From the poolside movie screen and the cool serenity of Vitality Spa, to the charm of the Bahamas and Coco Cay. This was the ultimate getaway for the work-hard-play-hard mentality.

On Liberty of the Seas, we cruised to Mexico. There were Broadway shows, specialty restaurants, bars and lounges plus enough pools and activities to keep adults and kids entertained day and night.

I wrote about those two cruises in one of the books I published, Travel Memoirs with Pictures: Exploring the World.

Author of the science fiction futuristic thriller series 'Zeeka Chronicles: Revenge of Zeeka," Trinidad based Author Brenda Mohammed, a former bank manager, multi-genre author, and award-winning author, has written eighteen books.

Six fascinating memoirs

A five book science fiction series

Two children's books

Two Sci-fi horror Thrillers

One self-help book on How to Write for Success

Two short story collections

Her writing journey began after her bout with cancer. 

She wrote 'I am Cancer Free' and published it in June 2013 eight years after her near-death experience with cancer.

She wrote that book to tell people suffering from that disease that cancer does not have to be a death sentence.

I am Cancer Free was the winner of best non-fiction in the McGrath House Awards in 2016.

Two of her other books, My Life as a Banker and Zeeka Chronicles: Revenge of Zeeka, were award winners in Metamorph Publishing Summer Indie Book Awards 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Brenda traveled extensively on vacations and conferences for many years during her banking and Insurance careers, and even after retirement.

She donates books to schools and libraries. She loves to interact with her readers and other authors.