Why Do My Posts Always Seem to Land on Holidays?

Because the first Monday of the month often is, I suppose...

It's been a busy time for me this month, and part of that was getting Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires ready for bed. The manuscript is currently in production's hands. Can't wait to see the final package!

Putting together an anthology is a labor of love. It is a very fine balance making sure all the stories work together, make the page count, show variety--a thousand other considerations. As both an anthology editor and frequent contributor, I just wanted to remind all our writers out there that an anthology rejection is not always because your story needed more work than we could realistically give it...sometimes, the story is PERFECT--for another anthology. I got so many submissions that were well-written but without a speck of Steampunk. Couldn't use them. They didn't fit the theme of the anthology.

As a writer, it is your job to read the requirements carefully and make sure that your story meets them. The Pac-Man story wasn't even Victorian...I might have been able to stretch a little, but not that far.

As an editor, it is my job to think outside the box if there is a quirky story that fits the requirements but might need a little work to polish it up. It is NOT my job to make your story fit the guidelines.

I love editing anthologies, but I don't see how someone does it all the time. It is exhausting! My hat's off to those who do nothing but anthologies--or even more extraordinary--still manage to make time for their own work as well. I'm a once-a-year anthology editor. At least for the time being. ;)

Steaming Along....

Well, I got so busy I totally forgot to write a May post until far too late to matter. I apologize for that. Especially since I promised the Table of Contents for Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires. You may recognize many of the pirates from Avast Ye, Airships on the list, but we have some new writers to welcome to MMP as well.

The stories are set in several continents, and various time periods, but they all have elements of Steampunk horror that resonated with me. :)

The order hasn't been finalized, but, in alphabetical order, the stories are as follows:


A Few Days in Kansas 1881 -- Jim Reader
Better Left Dead -- TC Phillips
Death in the Witch House -- John Lance
Engineered Deceit -- Amy Braun
Footloose -- Ross Baxter (Title may change)
Honeymoon in a Jar -- Robert Perret
Here, Where Our Blood Spilt -- Eric Del Carlo*
Last Dance with Mary Jane -- Wynelda Deaver (Title may change)
Light Over Birmingham -- Mattia Ravasi
Muzzle the Monster -- Leigh Ward-Smith
Purchase & Possess -- Steven Blake
Restless Spirit -- Rie Sheridan Rose
Steel and Steam -- Andrew Knighton
The Express -- Jason Gilbert
The Horrors of War -- Stephen Sanders*
Through the Darkness of the Opera House -- DJ Tyrer

*will update with links when I find them. :)

I am very proud of the lineup, and I think that the resulting anthology is going to be awesome.

Last Chance!

This is it. The deadline was extended a week, but this is your final opportunity to be part of the Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires Steampunk horror anthology. We have some really great reads for you, but there is still room for a few more. If you've been hesitating or procrastinating, this is the time to put pen to paper! (And I am in the same boat...)

So far, I am really pleased with the Table of Contents. I'll be revealing it soon. ;)

Mocha Memoirs is beginning to have quite a nice collection of Steampunk:

Heliodor by Shannon Wendtland

Avast Ye, Airships edited by Rie Sheridan Rose

"The Head Above the Gate" in RieTales...



But we can always use more, and that is where you come in. Get me a story by Friday! I want to see what YOU have to add to the genre. :)

We Haven't Finished Yet...

...there is still time for you to be a part of Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires! Submissions have been a bit slow, which is odd, because Steampunk and Horror are made for each other. The Victorians had a fine sense of the macabre. After all, remember, the practice of Post-Mortem Photography began with the Victorians.

They believed quite strongly in the supernatural. Spiritualism as we know it, with mediums contacting the dead, also had its roots in the Victorian Era, providing a lucrative living for many.

Remember, there were no radios, no televisions, and no movies to distract people. Books and shared tales were the most common forms of entertainment. Fairy tales and ghost stories were passed from generation to generation.

These are just a few suggestions for inspirational material. I've got a couple of ideas just writing this post!

If you need a refresher on the guidelines, look here. And for a little more detail on the information above, as well as further links, check out these posts:

http://mochamemoirspress.blogspot.com/2016/02/spooky-victorian-sensibilities.html

http://theconnmannchronicles.com/2016/02/22/moving-on/

Now, go write me stories -- deadline is the 31st!

Spooky Victorian Sensibilities

When you think of Steampunk, it harkens back to the era of Victoria. The streets were dark, lit by sputtering gas lights. There was a dreariness to the London air enhanced by the coal dust and damp which created the infamous "pea-soup" fogs.

So...is it any wonder that the era also abounded with mediums and spiritualists? Ghosts were very real to the denizens of Victorian England. Remember, this was the heyday of the post-mortem memorial photo. The science of photography was not something everyone carried around in a smartphone. Photographs were fairly expensive, and time-consuming. Sometimes the photo of a dead child was the only representation of them that a family would have.

The desire not to lose all connection to their loved ones kept many a spiritualist well-fed and dressed.

Steampunk seems an ideal genre to marry with this era of mysticism. Imagine a steam-powered magic lantern device that could project the image of a deceased loved one -- and how that loved one might be angered if the medium tried to cheat those left behind.

Or perhaps a safety-coffin goes horribly awry. The "deceased" could be relying on rescue -- literally being "saved by the bell," and instead finds themselves buried alive with no hope of escape.

A couple of free story ideas for you. Now someone go and write me more submissions for Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires! The pickings have been thin so far. If you've forgotten the guidelines, check them out here.

Attention all Steampunkers! -- Announcing a New Submission Call!

Attention all Steampunkers!

Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires

Mocha Memoirs Press is pleased to announce a new anthology,

Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires is currently open for submissions.

Submission Guidelines:

What We Want: Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires will be a horror-themed Steampunk anthology of short stories, released as an ebook and as a paperback. We are looking for Steampunk featuring the supernatural—as well as a beautifully crafted, original story.

Read our general submission guidelines at http://mochamemoirspress.com/about/ for more information.

What We Don’t Want: Any stories that contain rape, bestiality, and/or the abuse of minors. Violence and sex are acceptable but make them integral to the plot.

Submissions: Submit your work to mmpsteampunk@gmail.com with Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires Sub: Your Story Title_Your Last Name in the subject line. (for example: Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires Sub: Something Amiss Midship_Poe)

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.

The anthology will be edited by Rie Sheridan Rose.

We will accept works of 1,500-6,000 words. Please query first if you wish to submit outside of these guidelines.

No simultaneous submissions, please. Don’t submit a story to us and to another market at the same time.

Multiple submissions are acceptable. 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 are welcome, but submissions must be in English. 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 January 4-April 1, with an expectation that the anthology will be published by November 1, 2016.

New Release...Avast, Ye Airships! #Steampunk #AwesomeSauce

Have Airship...Will Travel...

Mocha Memoirs Press is excited to present...
AVAST, YE AIRSHIPS! a new anthology featuring 18 stories filled with action, adventure, and steampunk goodness.

In a daring history that never was, pirates roam the skies instead of the seas. Fantastical airships sail the clouds on both sides of the law. Within these pages, you will find stories of pirates and their prey with a few more pragmatic airships thrown in.

With stories ranging from Victorian skies to an alien invasion, there is something for everyone in these eighteen tales of derring-do!

Available now 

via 

Amazon & Barnes and Noble

Avast, Ye Airships!

Beneath the Brass by Stephen Blake

Maiden Voyage by Jeffrey Cook & Katherine Perkins

Colonel Gurthwait and the Black Hydra by Robert McGough

Captain Wexford’s Dilemma by Ogarita

Her Majesty’s Service by Lauren Marrero

A Wind Will Rise by Andrew Knighton

Hooked by Rie Sheridan Rose

Go Green by Ross Baxter

Lost Sky by Amy Braun

Miss Warlyss Meets the Black Buzzard by Diana Parparita

Plunder in the Valley by Libby A. Smith

The Clockwork Dragon by Steve Cook

Adventures of a Would-Be Gentleman of the Skies by Jim Reader

A Clouded Affair by Steven Southard

The Climbers by D Chang

The Steampunk Garden by Wynelda Ann Deaver

Lotus of Albion by Steve Ruskin

And a Bottle of Rum… by K.C. Shaw

It's February! Get Ready for Pirates!

February is going to be a HUGE month.

First of all, it is Women in Horror Month. If you haven't heard about this before, Women in Horror Month celebrates the female in what is traditionally considered a male dominated genre. Mocha Memoirs will be posting blogs about this all month, so I am just going to leave that there...

Even more exciting for me, it will see the publication of Avast, Ye Airships! I feel like I am sending my first child off to school to interact with the public for the first time. This anthology has been dominating my thoughts since April--so basically nine months--I guess it is my baby. :)

The manuscript has been turned in. It is a solid mix of adventure, humor, and romance. We have eighteen stories altogether. They come from all over the country, all over the UK, even as far away as Romania.

Steampunk, Airships, Pirates--what else can you ask for? Coming February 26th.

Airships Preparing For Take Off!

After months of preparation, the final boarding call has been sounded. The contacts have started, the crew is being finalized, and the Airships will soon be climbing into the skies.

We had over forty submissions (thirteen of them in the last two days!). They came from as far away as Romania, and as close as my downtown.

We had really great pirates, really bad pirates, and a few airships with no pirates.

There was a submission with cat pirates and a submission with squirrel-like aliens.

I had the pleasure of accepting a writer's first sale.

We had stories set on other worlds, and stories where the airship was almost a world unto itself.

It was difficult indeed to narrow things down. But I think you will be pleased with the results. I know I am.

It's time to bring the last provisions aboard. I'm assigning the crew to their quarters, and then we head to the skies! We will be heading your way the end of next month, so prepare a berth for us.

And chocolate..,all pirates love chocolate!

It's Beginning to Look Like the End of the Year...

Alright then--NaNoWriMo is over. Did you participate? It was a heck of a ride, but I made it. I even got to take most of Sunday off.

But now THAT'S over, what next? It's December, and it is time to take stock of the year. It hasn't been quite the whirlwind of activity last year was--but it has also been a bi less exhausting.

And it isn't quite done. There is still time for you to add a few credits to your resume. There are quite a few anthology calls still looking for contributors. Including ours. Have you submitted to Avast, Ye Airships yet? My friend Diane Jortner just recently made a blog post with a number of anthology calls collected together. You still have time for most of them. ;)

And even if you don't submit anything new before the end of December, take a moment to take stock of what you have managed to accomplish this year. Whether you submitted once or a thousand times, take this chance to make a list, set a goal, write a blog post--somehow chronicle your year, and look forward to what you will do next year!

Last year's goal proved impossible for me...300 rejections was a bit much for anyone...

This year's goal wound up sidetracked by a lot of things--like being burned out from trying to get 300 rejections!--and I didn't get terribly close to my 200 rejections.

Next year, I am going to shoot for 100 rejections. If I push myself, that should be possible. (Especially with my new Dragon Speaking Naturally which should be here any minute...)

What will your goals be for the new year?

December can be an end or a beginning. You get to choose which.

Hand Beneath the Pump

If you have seen or read "The Miracle Worker," you know that there is a moment when Annie Sullivan is trying to teach Helen Keller that the signs she keeps making in her hands mean something. As they stand beside the pump, and Annie runs water into Helen's hand, wearily signing "water"over and over, suddenly--a lightbulb goes off in Helen's head, and she makes the connection that has been eluding her all along.

Why am I bringing it up? I had one of these "watershed moments" the other day about my writing, and I think it is worth sharing.

My husband refuses to critique anything I write. He says I can't take criticism, and I have spent more than ten years arguing that I can take constructive criticism, that I am getting better at accepting edits all the time...but I have been wrong. If anyone suggests something I don't agree with in their edits, I argue or justify, or ignore it. I can be a terrible editing subject.

As I was in tears over an edit I thought was asking way too much by way of rewrites, my husband said quietly, "You know why the QA department loves me?" (He's a computer programmer.) "Because I know they are trying to make my code the best it can be; that I might have missed something that would make it better; and I listen to what they have to say."

I thought about what he was saying. Really thought about it. And, for the first time, the analogy made sense to me. Editors are a writer's QA department. They see things we might not. They understand things we don't. We need to listen to them. Without whining about it. :) I made the changes they were asking for...and you know what...they were right. It was a stronger story for them.

(Okay, I may be a little self-serving, as I am about to go into editor mode....lol. Don't forget about our new Steampunk anthology, now open for submissions.)