Wonder and glory! I got HORROR LIBRARY, VOLUME 8 books over the weekend!! Prepping to send out for Contributors, Reviewers, and Direct Preorders!

Thanks to Dark Moon Books!

https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-8-Eric-Guignard/dp/194949151X/

July, 2023 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

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

Monstrous Magazine (ed. James Aquilone)
https://monstrousbooks.com/submissions
Payment: 6 cents a word ($125 flat per comic)
Story Length: 1,000–2,000 words
Deadline: July 27, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Comics, prose fiction, and articles; we do like monsters, pulp, and classic horror films. Focus should be on fast-paced entertaining stories.


Diabolical Plots ezine (ed. David Steffen)
https://www.diabolicalplots.com/guidelines/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 3,500 or less
Deadline: Open between July 17– July 31, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response Time: One month after end of submission window
Description: Speculative fiction–science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Everything should have a speculative element–that includes horror. Feel free to mix in other genres at will–a fantasy mystery or a science fiction romance.


FANTASY Flash-Fiction for LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE (ed. by John Joseph Adams)
https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/lightspeed
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,500 words
Deadline: July 1–July 7, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: Generally two weeks or less.
Description: All types of fantasy are welcome—high fantasy, contemporary urban tales, surrealism, magical realism, science fantasy, folktales and anything and everything in between. Fantasy is entertainment for the intelligent genre reader — send us stories of the fantastic that make us think, and tell us what it is to be human while amazing us with your mastery of language and story elements. No subject should be considered off-limits, and we encourage writers to take chances with their fiction and push the envelope.


Solarpunk Magazine
https://solarpunkmagazine.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 500–7,500 words
Deadline: Open between January 1–January 14, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Stories that strive for a utopian ideal, that are set in futures where communities are optimistically struggling to solve or adapt to climate change, to create or maintain a world in which humanity, technology, and nature coexist in harmony rather than in conflict, etc. Also open to poetry and non-fiction.


Mysterion (ezine)
http://www.mysteriononline.com/p/submission-guidelines.html
Payment: 8 cents a word (4 cents for reprints)
Story Length: up to 9,000 words
Deadline: Open between July 1–July 31, 2023
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Four months
Description: Christian-themed speculative stories and artwork—science fiction, fantasy, horror—with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology; science fiction and fantasy, good ghost stories, etc.; there's great fiction material hidden in the mysteries of Christian theology—cherubim, leviathan, nephilim, visions, prophecy, and more.


Apparition Lit—Flash Fiction
https://apparitionlit.com/submissions/
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,000 words
Deadline: July 1–July 14, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: by the 15th day of the following month after submissions close
Description: Month of July Theme = REALITY SHOW MADNESS. We’re looking for flash with a heavy addition of the speculative. Stories should be inspired by the genre/show type, but not fan fiction: Speculative stories in the vein of Eurovision/Singing and Talent Competitions.


Asimov’s Science Fiction (magazine)
http://www.asimovs.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–20,000 words (generally less than 7,500 words)
Deadline: Intermittently open
Reprints?: No
Response: Five weeks
Description: Character-oriented Science Fiction stories that is serious, thoughtful, yet accessible (occasional humor), including borderline fantasy, slipstream, and surreal fiction (and some poetry).


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

Interzone Magazine (TTA Press)
https://interzone.press/submissions/
Payment: 1.5 euros a word
Story Length: 2,000–17,500 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: usually within 5 weeks
Description: Fantastika fiction: non-themed, general audience, science fiction, fantasy, and horror.


Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet (Small Beers Press)
https://smallbeerpress.com/about/submission-guidelines/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 6,000 words
Deadline: ongoing/ intermittent
Reprints?: No
Response: within 6 months
Description: NOTE: PAPER SUBMISSIONS ONLY (no email): Non-themed literary speculative fiction (no gore, sword and sorcery, or erotica), as well as non-fiction, poetry, and black and white art.

HORROR LIBRARY, VOLUME 8: PREORDERS UP, AND ANNOUNCING LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS!

The newest volume of HORROR LIBRARY is now available for pre-orders, and I couldn’t be more proud!!

This series has been ongoing since 2006, and I think this new volume #8 might be the best yet (with apologies to 2015’s “Best Of volume)!

More on the series here: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/horror_library.html

Now, announcing this year’s contributors and Table of Contents!!

Introduction to +Horror Library+ Volume 8 by Eric J. Guignard
“Rides” by Eric Del Carlo
“Only the Stones Will Hear You Scream” by R.A. Busby
“Poor Mad Isaac” by Don Raymond
“Mr. Hunicutt” by Bentley Little
“Lise Meitner Speaks to the Living” by Octavia Cade
“Lines” by Lauren O’Donoghue
“Blockchain” by Dexter McLeod
“On the Corduroy Road” by Bryson Richard
“Under the Pale Mother Moon” by Garick Cooke
“Solace” by Anna Ziegelhof
“Saving the World” by Eric Nash
“The Old Tip Road” by C.M. Saunders
“Lullaby” by Lorne Dixon
“Story of Her Life” by Tom Johnstone
“H Is for the Hunt” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Mazu—Goddess of the Sea” by Ai Jiang
“Hymns in the Dark” by Gordon Grice
“Holler Bridge” by J.L. Hoy
“The Rest Cure” by Shenoa Carroll-Bradd
“Zipper Back” by Thersa Matsuura
“Fishers of ___” by Frances Ogamba
“The Blind” by James Owens
“Unwind” by Christopher O’Halloran
“Girlskin” by Clara Madrigano
“A Dormant Concern” by Charles Wilkinson
“Clay” by Colin Leonard
“Broodmare” by Jo Kaplan
“In Fear as Dark as Coal” by Ron Perovich
“The Yearning Pool” by Thomas P. Balazs
“We Can’t Let Go” by Sheldon Higdon
“Fell Mill” by Charlie Hughes
+Horror Library+ Presents: Special Guest-Artist’s Gallery of Jana Heidersdorf


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About:

The +Horror Library+ anthologies are internationally praised as a groundbreaking source of contemporary horror short fiction stories—relevant to the moment and stunning in impact—from leading authors of the macabre and darkly imaginative.

Filled with Fears and Fantasy. Death and Dark Dreams. Monsters and Mayhem. Literary Vision and Wonder. Each volume of the +Horror Library+ series is packed with heart-pounding thrills and creepy contemplations as to what truly lurks among the shadows of the world(s) we live in.

Read Volume 8 in this ongoing anthology series, and then continue with the other volumes.

Shamble no longer through the banal humdrum of normalcy, but ENTER THE HORROR LIBRARY!

Volume 8 contains 31 all-original stories, including:

•   In Saving the World," a family feeds their captive devil the sorrows of neighbors.

•   In “We Can't Let Go," a welfare check by a child services worker proves that not all in life is as expected.

•   In “Only the Stones Will Hear You Scream," a man meets his nightmares while caving through narrow underground passages.

•   In “Broodmare," a teen girl yearns to be as free as her beloved horse while waiting to give birth to the savior-figure of her tribe.

•   . . . and more!

**Also including a special guest-artist's gallery of Jana Heidersdorf!


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Book Data

Title: +Horror Library+ Volume 8 (alternate: Horror Library, Volume 8)

Editor: Eric J. Guignard

Price: $16.95 for print and $5.99 for electronic

Publisher: Dark Moon Books (Los Angeles, CA)

Publisher Web: www.darkmoonbooks.com

Format: Available in Trade Paperback and Electronic Media

Number of pages: 338 pgs at 6” x 9” trim (109,000 words)

13-digit ISBN (paperback): 978-1-949491-51-7

13-digit ISBN (e-book): 978-1-949491-52-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022930185

Date of publication: July 25, 2023

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Praise for the +Horror Library+:

“Excellent stories of the highest caliber.” —Dread Central

“Uniformly well-crafted and original.” —Rue Morgue Magazine

“Impactful tales that throw the rules of both reality and genre fiction out the window.” —Fearnet (Chiller TV)


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Direct Preorder Book Links:

Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_8.html

Amazon (paperback): https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-8-Eric-Guignard/dp/194949151X/

Amazon (ebook): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9J6MP73/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135967283-horror-library-volume-8

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/horror-library-volume-8-eric-j-guignard/1143375008

IndieBound (paperback): https://bookshop.org/p/books/horror-library-volume-8-eric-j-guignard/20011217?ean=9781949491517

Kobo (ebook): https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/horror-library-volume-8

Bookshop (paperback): https://bookshop.org/p/books/horror-library-volume-8-eric-j-guignard/20011217

#ericjguignard #ericguignard #Booksofericjguignard #darkmoonbooks #bookstagram #horror #darkfantasy #darkfiction #anthology #horrorstories #horrorshortstories #shortstories #series #HorrorLibrary #theHorrorLibrary

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 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 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

SIGNING BOOKS:
Mass Author Signing
Friday, June 16, 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT

Admiral Room, Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square

AS AN ATTENDEE:
HWA Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast
Saturday, June 17, 8:00am - 12:00pm EDT

Hall of Fame Room, Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square

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

###

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

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:

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 Maruyama, Francesca Myman, Krista, and Jennifer R. Povey

(Photo by Kate Maruyama)

Myself with Kate Maruyama, Krista, 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:

• Mark Coker (founder of Smashwords)
• Nicola Griffith
• Charlie Jane Anders (second time meeting)
• Ray Nayler
• Jennifer R. Povey
• Miyuki Jane Pinckard
• Francesca Myman
• …and many others whose faces I remember but not the names!

###

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

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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

 

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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