Nudity is Only Skin-Deep

Now that it's up on their page, I can officially announce it now. My poem "Angakkuq" is a finalist for the Aurora Awards. This is my first time as a finalist there. I've been sitting on this knowledge for over a week. I'm so excited I could barf.

In other news, my interview with Moonlit Getaway went live today, too.

I'm still in Banff, still writing daily. I don't know that I'll finish the first draft of my novella while I'm here, but it is possible. I'm making headway.

My personal essay The Ghosts of Forests Past has been reprinted in ALOCASIA.

My poem Nuliajuk and the Birds has been published by Strange Horizons.

My flash fiction "The Qalupalik" will soon be viewable at Flash Fiction Online. You can purchase a copy of the magazine here.

My short story "All That Came From Our Lips Were Lilies" has been accepted by Hedone Books and will be published in the Silk and Foxglove - A BIPOC Erotic Eco-Horror Anthology edited by Z. K. Abraham. I'm unsure of the publication date.

I'm gonna share a bunch of my writing resources with you. These are things I check frequently, and have helped me with my publications.

The Submission Grinder: I find this one a little tricky to use, but it's very helpful for looking up magazines by pay rate, genre, etc.

Submittable: Invaluable resource. I track my submissions here. Membership is free, and you can find all sorts of calls for submissions, contests, fellowships, and more. The downside is there is no way to search for paying magazines only, and there are no ways to filter out magazines you don't want to see.

Chill Subs: A lot of people swear by this resource, and the folks running it seem like good people doing this as a passion project. They also have a mailing list which includes special calls for submissions as well as writing workshops.

Authortunities: You can sign up for the mailing list to get a curated list of magazines/anthologies seeking submissions. The free version is all you need. The paid version shows a bit more stuff from the next month, but that will show up in the next free email. Friendly community, too.

Moksha: A list of magazines and anthologies seeking submissions. Primarily speculative fiction/poetry. I've had several pieces published through this.

The Horror Tree: Not just horror. Covers speculative fiction in general. Has craft essays, calls for submissions, writing prompts, book reviews, and more.

Write, Publish, Shine: Run by the wonderful, super-supportive editor Rachel Thompson, this is a writing community and publishing school. I took her Lit Mag Love course, and it's what really got me organized and turned into a publishing machine.

Submission Roundup: This hasn't been updated since the summer, but I keep checking back because it's a great list of speculative publishers in search of stories.

Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Calls for Submissions: A bit of a pig in a poke, really. I've found a few good things here, but it also includes magazines which charge you money in order for you to submit work, and it doesn't say if this is the case in the listings. A bit of a pain in the arse, in that regard.

Canadian Authors Awards and Competitions: Not just for Canadian authors. Listing is by deadline, and entry fees and prize amounts are shown prominently.

Publishing... and Other Forms of Insanity: Terrific resource with lists of paying markets, free competitions, residencies, and more.

Science Fiction Poetry Association: Lists paying magazines which do not charge you money to submit your speculative poetry.

Literary Outlets for Environmental Writing: Some of the places listed are no longer around, but still is the best (and only) list I've seen for this genre.

Aswiebe's Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Market Listings Online: A spreadsheet of speculative magazines listing word counts, pay rates, etc.

The Short List: Places which publish flash and micro fiction.

Not writing related, per se, but if you're sick of trying to read a story only to find it's behind a paywall, Paywall Reader will help you get around that.

Last night I received an email notifying me that my story "The Lupercal" had been shortlisted for a flash fiction contest sponsored by the Louisiana State University of Alexandria, and my story "The Yolk of the Moon" had won second place. I'd have been happy for even one of these things, but to be the only person with my name on the list twice felt like quite the accolade. When "The Yolk of the Moon" goes to print, I'll share it with you. "The Yolk of the Moon" is about the last days of an old egg-sucking dog. "The Lupercal" is a story about an ancient participant in the Lupercalia.

Just now, I received an email saying The Masters Review love my flash memoir piece "The T-Bone" and will be featuring it in their New Voices Section. It is about the time I was in a bad car accident.

In other news, I just finished the first round of edits for my short story "Daisy Chain," a joyous piece of sci-fi smut that will be published in Against the Wall, Under the Armor, an Erotic / Romance Sci-Fi Fantasy Anthology published by Nat 1 Publishing. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may have read an early incarnation of this story. I wrote it about twenty years ago. Nice to see it getting more recognition now. I'm proud of my smut.

My poem "How the Blubber Boy Came to Be" has been released online at The Deadlands.

My short story "Wolf Mother" has been published in issue 6.2 of Augur Magazine.

"Words Unspoken," a new short story, has made it to the second round of adjudication for another magazine. I should find out within the week whether or not it's made the cut.

I continue to get rejections, as well. One magazine has rejected two pieces in a row, yet the editor keeps saying they like it, but it's not right for the current magazine--send more! So that's something, I guess.