I'm in the mood for love

I'm in the mood for love. I need some "Happy Ever Afters", witty dialogue, and sexy time. I'd like these things to be set in a contemporary world, that doesn't involve swords, claws, or fur. I want a smoking hot hero with a dry wit and clever mind. I want my heroine to mirror him in all of these attributes but have a special sparkle all her own. 

I've started making a list of all of these needs and wants. Who knows, maybe I'll stop looking for what I need and write what I want. 

Late but Worth It!

So, I was at the Austin International Poetry Festival on my Blog Day this month, and it totally slipped by me. I apologize profusely... On the other hand, because of that, I can offer the following blog post today. :)


I am very honored and a bit intimidated to announce that I have been asked to edit an anthology for Mocha Memoirs Press. Submissions don't officially open until May 1st, but I am giving you a few days lead time to start thinking of what you want to write. The theme of the anthology is Airship Piracy, though if you have a rollicking good airship account without pirates, it never hurts to give it a shot.

Here are the official guidelines:

 

Mocha Memoirs Press is pleased to announce that a new Steampunk  anthology, Avast Ye Airships!,  is opening May 1st for submissions. Please read all of the information provided.

Submission Guidelines:  

What We Want: Avast Ye Airships! will be an open themed Steampunk anthology of short stories, released as a digital book and as a paperback book. We are looking for Steampunk featuring airships—and pirates would be nice, but aren’t mandatory—as well as a beautifully crafted, original story. Feel free to read our general submission guidelines for more information.

What We Don’t Want: We will reject any stories that contain rape, bestiality, and the abuse of minors. Violence and sex are acceptable but make them integral to the plot. Other than that, use your imagination—Steampunk is nothing without imagination.

Submissions:

• Submit your work to mmpsteampunk(at)gmail(dot)com with Avast Ye Airships Sub: Your Story Title_Your Last Name in the subject line. Attach your story as a DOC or DOCX file. Submissions sent in the body of the email will not be read.
• We prefer to see submissions using something approaching Standard Manuscript Format, which can be found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
•  The only exception is that italics MUST appear as they will be used; no underlining.
•  Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email stating your name, pen name (if using one), story title with word count, address, website or blog, and any professional publication credits you think might interest us.
•  We will accept works of 1,500-6,000 words. Please query if you wish to submit outside of these guidelines.
•  No simultaneous submissions, please. We ask that you don’t submit a story to us and to another market at the same time.
• Multiple submissions—sending more than one story for consideration—are okay. If sending more than one story, please send them in separate emails.

We’re not accepting reprints for this anthology. We will pay a flat $10 per story via Paypal only. Payment will be made within 45 days of publication. We are seeking Worldwide English Language rights for 12 months in print and digital formats. Authors from outside of the United States-We welcome you and will accept American or British English spelling. Please be aware that at this time, we have a largely American readership. Feel free to help us expand that base.

Submission Deadline and Publication Schedule:  We will remain open for submissions from May 1-December 31, with an expectation that the anthology will be published by March 1.

Writers Groups

E. A. Black writer dark fiction and horror. Elizabeth Black writes erotica and erotic romance. You may find E. A. on her Amazon Author Page, and you may find Elizabeth at her Amazon Author Page. She is available on Facebook and Twitter as well.

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I rejoined my writers group after a six month absence yesterday. I think the warm weather inspired everyone to come out of their hovels after a long, cold, snowy winter. I was joined by six women including one I had never met before. This group is women-only.

I joined a writers group for several reasons. Here are a few:

I wanted to be with other writers.

I wanted to hone my craft with the assignments I'm given.

 I wanted to get out of the house at least once per week. I tend to hole up in my apartment because I'm a hermit.

I like that this group is in the morning so my day isn't completely gone when I get out at 11 am.

I reward myself with a drive by the beaches on my way home.

I get tips and critiques from the other writers in my group when I bring in my WIPs.

The next time I go, I'm bringing a container of my homemade shortbread cookies to go with my coffee. Everyone in the group brings coffee along since I suspect we're caffeine addicts. This group is part of a larger Writers Center that offers readings and such, including an Open Mic night. I missed the last Open Mic but since it's warming up I'll make a point of going to the next one. I'll admit it feels great getting away and recharging with a writers group. It's the main reason I go, along with the social networking.

What to do when you're laptop is falling apart....

So, I missed last month and I apologize HUGELY. I was the unfortunate victim of the blue screen of death. Also unfortunate was that I lost a lot of my writing, if not most.

Or so I thought.

But you see, us writers, we're wiley. Slightly crazy and definitely scared to death of loosing our documents. So we send them out to Beta Readers. We back them up in the silliest of places. I have an old monster of a tower sitting at my nieces house. Does not have WiFi capability. This is the second time I've had to have everything downloaded onto a stick so I could continue working on them.

One is a novella that contains the very first (and so far only) time when I killed off my main character at the end. I sobbed uncontrollably after writing that scene and could never go back and edit it and get it ready to go out. Now, I think I might be ready.

There are also the stories that are ready for prime time, but their author lacked the thick skin to send out and face rejection with them. Now? Eh. My writing isn't everyone's cup of tea. Light, sassy fantasy is a distinctive taste. But I know others like it.

Otherwise, Dragon's Champion would never had sold a copy. And my retelling of a fairy tale, Cinder's Ella, would never have sold (it is under contract with the lovely MMP, and I'll let you know as soon as I have dates).

So. We writers are crazy, and sometimes have a skewed perspective on any given genre.

But the saving grace is... We save our work in multiple places. So we can bring them to you.


Talk to you soon!