ABOUT TIME YOU SHOWED UP!

Greetings, scumbags! I've been remarkably quiet on here as of late, and for that I apologise. Now shut up and read my words you bastards.

As as often the case with me, I tend to pile a lot of my energy into several creative ventures at once, causing one or two to slide into the background a bit. But, I guess it's not really at any sort of expense since the stuff I do focus on turns out effing awesome. This is the point where I plug my band again, and then ask you to consider supporting us by purchasing our CD. We're called Handsome Bastards and don't really sound like anyone else, and I feel confident in saying that because my musical taste is both impeccable and all-encompassing. You can pick up a copy of the TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM ep here for A VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY. We use this money to fund orphanages in Africa. Fund them buying their cocaine, that is. What, you didn't know that's how those places operate? You haven't lived, my friend.

I've also been doing stuff with my arts education collective, Tinpot. Please take a moment to check out our Facebook page and 'like' us! If you don't, I'll know you secretly hate children.

And back to the business in hand, namely WRITING. I've got three main things to work on at the moment; a sort-of sci-fi script (which is being polished), a short story in which a very surreal and grotesque apocalypse comes to Scunthorpe (yes, I finally get a chance to decimate my hometown), and a short story about a sinister funfair.

The script is for a friend, that I may or may not be at liberty to discuss openly. I probably am, but I'd like to create some air of mystery.

The apocalypse story is for THIS BOOK which I was invited to write for. I'm always very honoured and thankful when this happens, and especially so when the other authors involved are reeeaaalllllly cool people *crawly crawly bum lick*.

The funfair story is for THIS SUBMISSION CALL. I don't think I've plugged Evil Jester Press yet, which is borderline criminal of me. It's run by Charles Day, a lovely chap I've met online (not like that, you perverts) who writes beguilingly innocent horror (I mean, in the style, not that it all ends up being a baddie in a monster mask like in Scooby Doo or anything). I'm chuffed to bits this venture's got off the ground running, and hope it continues. I certainly don't think it hurts having people like my editing chum Bill Tucker onboard to help compile anthos ;) Not that I'm assuming my story will be easily picked up for this particular anthology! Although I hope so, because it's already moving along at a cracking pace and has a very strange reason for the sinister stuff that happens. There's also a lot of real darkness involved (like the insinuation of rape, and the bleakness of living in a town that's inexorably dying from lack of jobs) that I think adds something extra to proceedings. I had success with a circus horror story already [ buy this to find out what it's like ;) ] so if lightning can strike twice in this particular sub-genre, I'll be pretty chuffed.

I think that's the main stuff for now. KEEP TUNED FOR MORE SEXCITING UPDATES????

SEXCITING TIMES!

If I ever go into the erotic publishing business that'll be the name of my flagship zine.

Anyway, I recently discovered that you can read old issues of TIME online! *HERE* Reading some of the ones from 1940 are really interesting, though I'm mindful as to just how much of it is propaganda...

Why 1940? Because I'm working on a new Jonny Cave story! Don't all get up at once. The buzzword this time around is 'death'. Lots and lots of death. And madness. So it'll be quite a cheery tale, I'm sure you'll agree. I'm also trying to implement quite a strong religious angle to it, mainly 'the power of belief' rather than any naff preachy guff.

Also polishing a sub for Michael Lea's BETA CITY anthology - subs are still open for this if anyone fancies taking a crack at it. My story's about a cop who tangles with (what he thinks is) a new supervillain...but it's not! OOOO!

What else? I'm slowly but surely working on a logo for a friend's roller derby team, editing stories for the Glitch antho, and reading subs for the 50ft Book antho, not to mention trying to find furniture for my new flat :S so it's all go for now, but most certainly...SEXCITING TIMES!

THE DEADLINE...APPROACHETHETHETETHHH!!!!

Two deadlines coming up, chumps, so get your stories in! GO ON THEN!

ATTACK OF THE 50 FT BOOK

THROUGH THE WORMHOLE

Deadlines: 1st March! CRIKEY!

ATTACK OF THE 50FT BOOK!

THE LIBRARY OF FANTASY PRESENTS:

DAMN STRAIGHT!

From Godzilla to Stay Puft, Cthulhu to the Iron Giant, giant monsters have been portrayed as everything from saviours of mankind to the ultimate destructors, and even tragic, misunderstood figures. Now we're asking YOU to send us your best giant monster stories!

Reference points: Godzilla / King Kong / Lovecraft / Deep Rising / Night of the Crabs / Steve Niles' Giant Monster/ Kingdom of the Ants / The Relic / You get the idea...

Giant robots are more than welcome, but remember this is coming out under the Fantasy imprint so your best bet is to avoid using spaceships/aliens/distant planets. Sword n Sorcery/High Fantasy is of course also welcome, but try to avoid obvious staples of those genres.

WORD COUNT:
A firm 3K - 7K

PAYMENT:
1cent p/word + 1 contributor copy

DEADLINE:
1st March 2011 (so plenty of time to submit something )

FORMAT:
Times New Roman or Courier 12pt font, please.
One press of the TAB to indent a new paragraph.
Double-spaced.
Italics should be italics NOT underlined, please.
NO headers or footers except on first page [include an approx. word count along with your name/address/email].

Please, please don't use any fancy formatting as it drives me absolutely nuts (eg extra space between paragraphs, coloured “attention-grabbing” fonts, etc).

OTHER STUFF:
NO multiple subs.
NO reprints.
Simultaneous submissions are a-okay with me, provided you do me the courtesy of telling me if it gets accepted elsewhere.

Send all submissions to fiftyfootbook[at]gmail[dot]com and I’ll send you a needlessly exuberant ‘Story received!!!’ email. If you don’t get one within 4 days of submitting, please query. Please ATTACH submissions as a .doc or .rtf file to your email. DO NOT SEND ME YOUR STORY IN ANY OTHER FORMAT. Not docx or pdf or any other crazy crap. Thank you!

Please don’t query as to the status of your story until after the deadline, because if there’s one thing guaranteed to crumble my biscuits it’s impatient little monkeys Having said that, I’m going to try and read the subs as they come in for this one so I might well send rejections out before the 1st of March. If you sub and don’t hear anything before the deadline assume you’re shortlisted, but don’t get all cocky

Anyone who doesn’t follow these guidelines will have their story dumped in toxic waste and turned into a giant rejection monster, which will then stomp all other publishers you send stuff to, thereby eliminating your chances of a happy life.

Good luck!!!

Wayne Goodchild
Editor

nb. And as is fast becoming my custom…Bonus Editor Points to anyone who decimates Scunthorpe in their story

HOW FAR CAN TOO FAR GO?

Submissions are now open for THROUGH THE WORMHOLE: BILL AND WAYNE'S FAR OUT SPACE TALES, to be published by the Library of Science Fiction...

Editors : Myself & Bill Tucker

We want your most gnarly, whacked-out and downright mondo science fiction stories. We want you to really cut loose and give us scenarios we've never seen before.

We don't want to see any obvious staples like 'people answer a distress call to find a spaceship drifting empty through space...or is it?!' or 'a new friendly alien race turn out to be evil' or anything like that. Be fresh, be creative, be utterly mental.

We're also not after bizarro - but you are encouraged to take your story as far as it can go before it actually becomes that genre (i.e. surreal, but still grounded in reality).

Other than that, the usual genres are welcome, and stories can be set anywhere or anywhen, provided it's fundamentally science fiction.

Word limit: a very firm 4K - 7K words

Payment: 1 cent p/word + 1 contributor copy

NO reprints
NO multiple submissions

Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please do us the courtesy of letting us know if your story gets accepted elsewhere.

Format:

Put name/by-line, approx word count, postal address and email address at the top of the first page.

NO headers on any other pages, please.

Indent by 1 press of the TAB key to start a new paragraph.

NO fancy formatting. Sometimes people have their writing software set up so it adds extra space between lines and/or paragraphs. Please remove anything like this, as it's really annoying. Thank you!

Other than this, usual Shunn manuscript rules apply.

Send submissions to wormholeantho[at]gmail[dot]com

Deadline is March 1st 2011 so plenty of time to work on something!

Further details and discussion can be found on the Library forum! http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/2010/10/20/through-the-worm-hole-submissions-open

I IS IN SUM BOOKS! UN MADEING SUM TO!

Got my contributor copies of ZOMBIE ZOOLOGY and LETTERS FROM THE DEAD this week! Looking forward to reading them over the weekend, once I've finished reading submissions for No More Heroes (and moving house).

Becoming an actual editor has really opened my eyes, least of all to how the process works. In the instance of No More Heroes, Bill and I came up with the core idea together and went from there, with Bill handling all the communication with Dr Pus (who runs the Library of the Living Dead and associated imprints). Last week, I got the idea for A Glitch in the Continuum and contacted Doc myself, and he said "alter the deadline and make this the word limit", but otherwise to "go for it!".

We've got set word limits for the finished books to work to, as well, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it makes the submission process easier but on the other, you can end up with some ace stories that just won't fit, and there are stories you prefer slightly more that do make it in.

I'm really looking forward to compiling the various anthologies I'm involved in, and I think it's going to be yet another thing that makes me a better writer. Learn from others' mistakes, as it were.

On that note, it's surprising just how many subs I've read that are littered with typos. I know it's easy to miss repetitive words, or even missing words because your brain corrects it automatically, but I'd urge anyone submitting any where to take as long as possible before doing so, even if you leave the story for a week then come back to it with fresh eyes. I've lost count of the amount of times I've sent something off, then thought "Oh shit, I should have done this, or added this, or etc". Even my Zombie Zoology story, I will admit, has three instances that relate back to something that isn't actually true. Thankfully they don't break the story, and likely won't even be picked up on by others, but I know they're there, and it winds me up because I missed them. There's also a really stupid typo (they'd instead of there'd, I think it is), but thankfully again, there's only the one in the whole story.

Hmmm. Thought of a new 'tag' - musings. I'll start tagging any blog posts with sort-of advice in with it. Yes, that'll do.

A GLITCH IN THE CONTINUUM

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once" - John Archibald Wheeler

The Library of Science Fiction and Fantasy presents:

A GLITCH IN THE CONTINUUM

I'm looking for stories concerning time-travel and alternate realities/dimensions (stories can involve both or either of these things), in which something goes wrong, or an expected fault occurs, that plays an important part in the plot.

Usual genres accepted (horror, sci-fi, urban/dark fantasy, etc), cross-genre stuff particularly welcomed. I'm not after obvious stories, like having the Nazis win WWII, or JFK doesn't get shot, none of that sort of thing. I'm also not interested in what I would consider 'hard sci-fi', ie where the story gets bogged down in technical terms for complex scientific procedures.

Word limit: A very firm 5000 – 9000.
Deadline: 15th October 2010, so plenty of time to get your thinking caps on.
Payment: 1 cent per word + 1 contributor copy

No reprints.
No multiple submissions.
Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let me know if your story gets accepted elsewhere.

Please follow standard manuscript format, as detailed HERE. I prefer submissions in Times New Roman 12 point, but I won't berate you if you send it in Courier.

Send as a .doc or .rtf attachment to glitchantho@gmail.com with 'STORY – Your Name' in the subject heading of the email.

Please also make sure to mention the story's word count, together with a brief outline of it, in the email. You can also include your bio and/or any publishing history, but don't go nuts and list every single thing you've ever done and don't worry if you're previously unpublished.

I'll send you a 'story received!' email, but if you don't get one within 4 days please query.

Any submissions that don't follow these guidelines will be used as rubbish to fuel my flux capacitor, and I will travel back in time and slap your mother for giving birth to such a dunderheaded child.

I think that's everything. Any questions etc, ask away or PM me!

Wayne Goodchild

The Library of Science Fiction & Fantasy lives online here: http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/forum/category/library-of-science-fiction-fantasy/

YEAH, YOU'D LIKE THAT WOULDN'T YOU?

Whoops been a bit lax lately, but for good reason!

I'm now helping my chum Bill Tucker edit DOOMOLOGY for Library of Science Fiction and Fantasy - I've got loads and loads of stories to read through to find the best examples of apocalyptic fiction for the finished book. And I heart apocalyptic fiction so it's not like hard work at all!

Also still taking submissions for NO MORE HEROES!!!! http://nomoreheroesanthology.blogspot.com/

Currently working on a few stories to sub, primarily for Dead Bait 2 by Severed Press, and Clockwork Chaos by Library of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Dead Bait 1 received a lot of good reviews and had some ace writers in it, so I'm hoping my story is decent enough for the second one - it's influenced by Lovecraft's Colour out of Space, in that it deals with a family on a farm who start to sucumb to something 'alien', which in turn may or may not be unstoppable in its spread...ooooo! The Clockwork Chaos story is my first proper stab at 'steam-punk', and follows a group of "criminals" as they uncover a diabolical plot that stretches all the way to...the monarchy! It also features steam-punk versions of things I haven't really seen in setam-punk stories so I hope that helps it stand out.

I also recently watched SEX DRIVE, a surprisingly amusing teen sex comedy. I don't know what's wrong with me but I'm starting to really enjoy these sort of films. However, I did also rewatch Robocop and the simply incredible b-movie INFESTATION. I don't think I've reviewed this, so I'll do so soooooooooooon!

And to finish: here's the artwork to two books I'm in that will be available to buy sooooooooooooooon!



TA TA!

DUHRN DUHRN DUHRN...DUHRN DUHRN DUHRN...

Panoramic view of an island.

DUHRN DUHRN DUHRN

Storm clouds coalesce in the sky.

DUHRN DUHRN DUHRN

2 cops on a boat approach a small dock.

DUHRN DUHRN DUHRN

Welcome to SHUTTER ISLAND.

The strident, vaguely discordant strings compel and urge events along as a detective, Teddy, and his partner, I Can't Remember His Name, investigate the disappearance of a woman from a locked cell. Was she a prisoner? Yes and no: she's a mental patient in the loony bin on the island.

SHUTTER ISLAND is brilliant, and a 10/10 film if ever there was one. It is also a very deliberate pulp fiction piece, with a supernatural hint to proceedings (in the same way that John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 feels like a zombie film) that demands your attention. Who's telling the truth? What are some people hiding? Where did that broad go? Teddy suffers from vivid dreams and nightmares about his beloved wife who died in an apartment fire - what does her murderer, a deformed arsonist, have to do with the main case? The film asks a lot of questions, but satisifyingly, you get answers to all of them.

PLINK...PLONK PLONK...PLINK

The score is equally wonderful, with snatches of wonky piano punctuating moments of eerie calm, and classical music soundtracking other flashbacks to World War 2, all of which helps heighten the tension and suspense.

The word 'run' gets wet and in a lovely visual pun streaks down the paper it's written on.

Water flows down a red door in an unnerving trick-of-the-light that resembles blood.

The dungeons in the mental hospital hide dangerous men, but are they as dangerous as those on the other side of the bars?

I can't recommend this film enough. I love it!

------------------------------------------------

In other news: I'm helping my chum Bill Tucker edit another anthology. Here're the details:

The Library of Science Fiction & Fantasy Press presents -
Doomology : The Dawning Of Disasters

The submission period is now open and will close as the book fills. An advanced deadline date will be announced here when established. DEADLINE IS APRIL 30th

Seeking original stories about disasters/apocalyptic events. Stories can be from a global scale to a small localized event. They can be about the beginning, middle, end/aftermath or all three aspects of an event.

The types of disasters could be man-made events/accidents, natural events, biological (plague/viral, animal attacks), scientific (nuclear, technological, computers/AI), or other creative scenarios. Think of a combination of disaster films and apocalyptic fiction. Could be anything from surviving a sinking ship, attack of mutated bugs, giant killer rabbits, nuclear threats, computers turning off world wide, or erupting volcanoes.

Not seeking zombie stories in any form.

Please use standard manuscript formatRTF AttachmentCourier font size 12
No page numbers/headersUse italics – do not underline
Word Count is a strict 6k min. to 10k. (if longer please pm me). Seeking detailed fleshed out stories. Please include your name, address, phone, number and email on the title page with the word count.

Send submissions to DoomAntho@gmail.com

Payment is 1 cent per word and 1 contributor copy.

And don't forget we're still after subs for No More Heroes!

Further details/discussion of these anthos can be found here: http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/forum/category/library-of-science-fiction-fantasy/