Friday, May 26, 2023

I'll be at StokerCon 2023 next month in Pittsburgh, PA

Looking forward to Horror Writers Association’s STOKERCON 2023 next month in Pittsburgh, PA (June 15–18)! I’m coming in a day early on Wednesday and beginning the laborious process of picking how best to fill my days from of an immense availability of programming being offered, including workshops, panels, readings, the Film Festival, concurrent day-cons for Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference and for Librarian’s Day, and so much more!

My committed schedule so far includes:

AS PANEL MODERATOR:
Different Paths into Darkness
Saturday, June 17, 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Eric J. Guignard • Jaye Wells • Darcy Coates • Benjamin Farthing • Jessica Luke García • Zoje Stage

AS A PANELIST:
HWA Mentorship Panel
Friday, June 16, 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
JG Faherty • Linda D. Addison • Patrick Barb • Eric J. Guignard • Rena Mason • Sarah Read • Tim Waggoner

AS A PANELIST:
"I well remembered the words of my father": Fathers and Fatherhood In Horror
Saturday, June 17, 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Bridget Keown • Eric J. Guignard • John Edward Lawson • Mark Matthews • Scott Johnson • Wrath James White

AS AN ATTENDEE:
Terror from the Vault: Exploring the Horror Studies Collection
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Reading Room, 320 Hillman Library, 3rd Floor with Ben Rubin
Wednesday, June 14, 2023, 4:00pm - 6:00pm EST

AS AN ATTENDEE:
the BRAM STOKER AWARDS’ Cocktails and Awards Presentation
Saturday, June 17, 6:00pm - 9:45pm EDT

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And the remainder of my time, sitting in on panels, attending readings, room parties, and overall hobnobbing.

Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones!

www.stokercon2023.com




Sunday, May 21, 2023

NICK by Michael Farris Smith

For those who cherish the beauty and gravity of written prose, you need to check out immediately NICK by Michael Farris Smith (2021), the prequel to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY.

I’m about 1/3 through it, and this book is mesmerizing, a complex harmony between self-searching, of desire and regret, and shadows of what once were or could have been.

Besides the Gatsby correlation, it strikes me further as a cross between Nelson Algren’s A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE and William Faulkner’s AS I LAY DYING, and it’s one of my best reading experiences so far of the year.

See herein, an extracted passage from young Nick Carraway as he lies alone in the World War I-ravaged trenches of Europe:




Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Returning from SFWA’s 58th Nebula Awards Convention in Anaheim, CA


Got back late Sunday night from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA)’s 58th Nebula Awards. I’ve been a SFWA member since 2014, but this was my first time attending the Nebulas Convention. It travels to a different venue each year, but since it was in the neighboring city of Anaheim this time around, I had to check it out and be part of the event, and I’m so happy I did—It was a great first experience!

The attendance was a little smaller than I’d expected (only about 200 people in-person, although there were more attendees virtually) and held at the Sheraton Park near to Disneyland.

I only knew a few people going in—
Kate Maruyama and Peter Blaisdell who I both see often, and KC Grifant and Arley Sorg, whom I’d met once each before, but have also corresponded with (and good to see again famed Scott Edelman!).


Myself with 
Mark Coker and KC Grifant

Myself with Kate Maruyama, Krista, and Jennifer R. Povey

(Photo by Kate Maruyama)


Myself with Kate MaruyamaFrancesca MymanKrista, and Jennifer R. Povey

(Photo by Kate Maruyama)


Myself with Kate MaruyamaKrista, and KC Grifant

(Photo by Kate Maruyama)


Best of all was meeting friends for the first time whom I’ve only ever communicated with online: Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito, Ai Jiang, and Anna Ziegelhof.

I was sorry to have missed meeting S. Qiouyi Lu who came by one night, and I only learned later that Laura Anne Gilman was in attendance, whom I would have loved to have met.

But I was also very pleased to meet many other attending writers, some of whom I only shared a few words of introduction, while others I chatted with for a long time:

###

While at the convention, I spoke on two panels:

For The Love of Short Fiction 2022

by: Arley Sorg, Eric J. Guignard, Peter Behravesh, Jane Pinckard, and LP Kindred

 

(Photo by Phong Quan @pqwrites)


Seeking a Writer for the End of the World

by: K. R. Monin, Eric J. Guignard, R.W.W. Greene, and John Murphy


###

And I attended a number of other panels, but only took pics of two:

 
How to Reach an Audience with a Niche Genre

by: Jasmine Gower, Zabé Ellor, Sarah Branson, and M. S. Ewing

 


Branding and Marketing: Finding That Return on Investment

by: L.S. Johnson, Jonathan Brazee, and Cerece Rennie Murphy

 


###

Nice, memorable awards show, hosted by designer and actress Cheryl Platz.




Congratulations to the Winners and Finalists, listed here: https://nebulas.sfwa.org/58th-nebula-awards-finalists/



(Photo by SFWA)

Anyway, now marked on my to-do list is to attend the Nebulas again in the future!

Carry on, Airship Nebula!

#Nebulas2023

 

Monday, April 3, 2023

April, 2023 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For April, 2023
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)


Reckoning Vol. 8
https://reckoning.press/submit
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: up to 20,000 words
Deadline: September 22, 2023
Reprints?: Query first
Response: 1 to 4 months
Description: Creative writing about environmental justice and social activism. Diverse fiction stories (and poetry) including a speculative element: Searingly personal, visceral, idiosyncratic understanding of the world and the people in it as it has been, as it is, as it will be, as it could be.


Flash Fiction Online
https://ffo.submittable.com/submit
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 500 to 1,000 words
Deadline:
Open from the 1st to 21st of each month (or until reaching the cap of 425 submissions) (only)
Reprints?: Yes (payment at 2 cents/ word)
Response: Within eight weeks
Description: A very short but complete story of flash fiction. Strong, interesting characters, in genres of dark sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, crime, horror, and even literary
.


The DARK (monthly online e-magazine)
http://thedarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: Currently open, but intermittent
Reprints?: Yes
Response: between 1 day to 1 week
Description: Unique Horror and Dark Fantasy (No graphic/ violent content); fiction that may fall out of “regular” categories (Tons of great authors publish here).


Calliope Interactive
https://calliopeinteractive.com/open-call
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 100–4,000 words
Deadline: Month XX, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: estimated within 2 months
Description: Unthemed genre fiction; anything to do with high fantasy, operatic sci-fi, heart-stopping action, that’s our jam.


Orion’s Belt (online magazine)
https://www.orions-belt.net/submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,200 words
Deadline: September 1, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: generally within one week
Description: Bold, experimental literary science fiction and fantasy stories that blur the line between “genre” fiction and literary fiction.


Little Blue Marble
https://littlebluemarble.ca/submission-guidelines
Payment: 11 cents a word (Canadian; translates to about US 8 cents/word)
Story Length: up to 2,000 words (reprints allowed up to 5,000 words at <1 cent/ word)
Deadline: Intermittent (currently set to close “in Summer, 2023”)
Reprints?: No
Response: up to 12 weeks
Description: Speculative fiction that examines humanity’s possible futures living with anthropogenic climate change. We prefer fiction with a hopeful outlook, but the occasional dystopia might fit too.


***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”

Pressfuls
https://pressfuls.com/about
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–3,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: 6 weeks
Description: Original horror, Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Crime/Mystery short stories.


Experimental Files: A Tribute to the Work of Gemma Files
https://www.aliensunpress.com/
Payment:
$50 flat
Story Length: 3,000–6,000 words
Deadline: June 1, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Weird Fiction; Complex tales; rewritten mythology; unique and clever Horror stories involving cursed or dangerous films, etc.

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

March, 2023 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

 March, 2023
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
at Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)


Gallery of Curiosities (fiction anthology print and podcast)
https://gallerycurious.com/p/submissions-1599834174/
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,500 words
Deadline: April 15, 2023
Reprints?: Yes (paid at 1 cent a word)
Response: One week for initial short list acceptance, then about 1 month thereafter
Description: Short stories relating to the curious and often dark corners of retropunk fiction. Stories that entertain. We want to be taken on an adventure in a time that never was, be it steampunk, gaslamp, weird tales, dark fantasy, dreadpunk, vintage horror, new weird, mad science, fantastic cities (please!), monsters, impossible machines, odd, clockworks, alt-history adventures, surprises, weird westerns, and things that shouldn’t work.


Fantasy Magazine
https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/fantasy/guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: Up to 7,500 words (preferred less than 5,000)
Deadline: Open from March 1–March 7, 2022 (open to BIPOC authors year-round)
Reprints?: No
Response: within 3 months
Description: Exceptional original fantasy and dark fantasy stories (including horror).


Apex Magazine
http://www.apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,500 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: One month
Description: Exceptionally well-written Science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all its sub-genres.
NOTE: ALSO Open to Flash Fiction contest,
March 7–March 31, 2023. Stories up to 1,000 words based on a theme to be announced on March 7.


The Deadlands
https://thedeadlands.com/guidelines/
Payment: 10 cents a word (1 cent for reprints)
Story Length: up to 5,000 words (preferably 3,000–4,000 words)
Deadline: Intermittent (currently open; unknown when they will close)
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Two weeks
Description: Speculative fiction stories about death, or what death may involve. EX: A ghost in a shadowed wood. An afterlife discovered through a rusted door. An abandoned house in the middle of a haunted field. A skeletal figure moving with intent toward something unseen. Death personified; stories from a worldwide perspective, different cultures, different approaches to death.


Orion’s Belt (online magazine)
https://www.orions-belt.net/submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,200 words
Deadline: Intermittent. Opens March 1, 2023, and unknown when they will close.
Reprints?: No
Response: generally within one week
Description: Bold, experimental literary science fiction and fantasy stories that blur the line between “genre” fiction and literary fiction.


Beneath Ceaseless Skies
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: Up to 15,000 words
Deadline: None at present. Closes intermittently
Reprints?: No
Response: Two to seven weeks
Description: “Literary adventure fantasy”: stories with a secondary-world setting and some traditional or classic fantasy feel, but written with a literary approach. We want stories set in what Tolkien called a “secondary world”: some other world that is different from our own primary world in some way. It could be different in terms of zoology (non-human creatures), ecology (climate), or physical laws (the presence of magic). It could be set on Earth but an Earth different from our primary world in terms of time (the historical past) or history (alternate history). It could have a “pre-tech” level of technology, or steampunk technology, or magic as technology, or anything else that’s not advanced or modern technology. However, the setting should contain some element that is in some way fantastical.




***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”

SNAFU: Punk’d
https://www.cohesionpress.com/snafu-submissions
Payment: Australian 5 cents a word (abt. 3-1/2 cents a word US)
Story Length: 2,000
7,500 words
Deadline:
March 31, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: estimate 3
4 months
Description: Action-based horror/specific within conflict in a past, present, or future filled with the aspects that make your story a ‘punk’ sub-genre tale (i.e. subculture is about anti-authoritarianism, anti-big corporate, and personal freedom.)



Weird Horror (Undertow Publications)
https://undertowpublications.com/weird-horror-magazine
Payment: 1.5 cents a word
Story Length: 500–6,000 words
Deadline: March 1, 2023–March 31, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Original (non-themed) horror and weird fiction short stories.

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Interview of me in the latest issue of NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE!

Interview of me in the latest issue of prominent horror staple, NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE!

Thanks so much to Nightmare Mag and interviewer Lisa Morton. 

https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/interview-eric-j-guignard/

 



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