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Taking Submissions: Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis

December 15, 2015

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Deadline: December 15th, 2015
Payment: .03CAD per word and contributor’s copy

Martian Migraine Press is now open to submissions for our fourth annual anthology, Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis.

When it comes to Lovecraftian fiction, readers are already well familiar with the standard protagonists. Men of Science. Hardened, world-weary investigators. Sensitive artists, and the like. All of whom eventually learn too much, as they come into contact with forbidden books, foul thaumaturgies, and the human (and not-so-human!) servants of the Great Old Ones. Through curiosity, stupidity, hubris (and oftentimes a combination of these) such foolhardy individuals are blasted to madness in the deadly light that breaks through into their existence when they dare tread the shadowed paths of the Mythos! Surely death would be preferable!

But…

What of the opposite numbers to your standard Lovecraftian hero? What of those servants of the Great Old Ones? The cultists. Sorcerers. Witches. Lone madmen and women. What of those who goseeking that dark enlightenment of their own free will? What of the individuals who choose to cast off from the shores of humanity’s placid island of ignorance, who choose to voyage far on those black seas of infinity that surround that island?

Whatever else can be said about the Mythos (within the Lovecraftian world-view, naturally) it remains that the madness which underlies it is THE TRUTH OF EXISTENCE. The light may be deadly, yes, but it isstill light, and it still reveals! Remember, too, that the Great Old Ones and their servants, have been around for a very long time. What wisdom, what insights into Life, Death, and Reality might be gained by currying their favour? What would be the price of that wisdom, and more… would it be worth it?

For Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis, we are looking for stories that explore these themes, and these intrepid, intelligent, and yes, more than a little insane characters! However, we’re not interested in dyed-in-their-woolen-robes hooded cultists or card-carrying gibbering lunatics with knives behind their backs, laying in wait for the Randolph Carters and Professor Armitages of the world. Instead, give us stories that examine what it means to truly learn the nature of the Universe and come out the other side, smiling! Remember, the Old Ones are apathetic to human needs and desires, and are as likely to ignore a supplicant as devour them. So, consider how one might go mad at contact with them, but still live and move and have an affect in the world. We want to see tales of Mythos mystics, spiritual sorcerers, monstrous monks, and preternatural philosophers, and we want to see them in a diverse range of settings, not just Arkham. The world is vast and strange: show us the bizarre and mind-expanding traditions of far-flung locales! Take us from the deep past to the unimagined future! Give us stories that prove you can hear the Call of Cthulhu… and return as aCthulhusattva!

(Savvy Migraineers may detect a possible connection to our non-fiction release of 2014, editor Scott R JonesWhen The Stars Are Right: Towards An Authentic R’lyehian Spirituality … and they’d be right! If you’d like to study up on the Black Gnosis, and the kind of person crazy enough to seek it, we’d be more than happy to send you an electronic copy of WTSAR for your edification! Just pop an email to [email protected] with your preferred format — mobi, epub, or PDF — and we’ll send one along!)

Final count for the anthology will be 18 stories, released as a softcover paperback and as an electronic book in multiple formats.

Submission period closes DECEMBER 15, 2015. The anthology will be released in early May 2016.

SUBMITTING

Please use Standard Manuscript format when submitting. That’s double spaced, left justified, Times New Roman or Courier or something at least readable, a header on the first page (at least) with your author info and word count and… well, you know the drill. RTF or DOC files preferred, but DOCx and text files also accepted. Obviously, you could send us something that’s not in Standard Manuscript format, but it will lower your chances of it being looked at seriously.

We will look at both original work and REPRINTS.

To submit a story to Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis send an e-mail (with the story file attached, not in the body of the email) to: [email protected], with subject line: GNOSIS, title of your story, and your name.

LENGTH AND GENRE

For short fiction, we’d like to see anything from 1,500 to 7,000 words.

FLASH FICTION: got something under 1500 words? Send it in. However, the following still applies…

NO POETRY.

PAYMENT

All accepted submissions will be paid .03CAD per word, via Paypal, as well as a contributor copy (paperback) of the anthology, and copies in all electronic formats (mobi, EPUB, and PDF). Authors are also entitled to copies of three additional Martian Migraine Press titles of their choosing.

REPLIES AND QUERIES

We will try to acknowledge receipt of your submission within a week of its arrival in our inbox. The submission period itself will close on December 15, 2015 and we should be responding to all submissions, yay or nay, by early January 2016. If you haven’t heard from us by January 15, 2016, please query.

Via: Martian Migraine Press.

Details

Date:
December 15, 2015