Brandon Applegate & Hungry Shadow Press

He wants your “Little Bastards”

By Angelique Fawns

 

Strange, dark stories swirl in the world of Brandon Applegate. This purveyor of horror lives in Texas, writes short fiction himself, and creates “weird, scary, sad anthologies full of great stories by cool people.”

 

Under the imprint of Hungry Shadow Press, Applegate has published two anthologies so far. It Was All A Dream: An Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes Done Right and The First Five Minutes of the Apocalypse.

 

He is currently looking for your Little Bastards: Too-Short Horror Stories Nobody Wants along with his co-editor Alexis DuBon. These are pieces that run between 1000-2000 words.  The call says, “They got sub callsfor flash and sub calls for 2000+, but what about those little bastards no one wants? What about those stories YOU wrote for no call at all, just because you wanted to? Those guys that never get picked for dodgeball. Let’s find them a home. Let’s find a place for those treasures, those stories that said all you had to say in 1600 words. Those outcasts, those weirdos, those stories that Goldilocks wouldn’t look at twice.” 

The sub-window opens September 15th and runs till September 30th.

(more…)

Sam Asher, and The Cosmic Background

A New Pro-Pay Home for Strange Flash

By Angelique Fawns

 

Who can’t get behind a market that defines itself as “a slipstream publication – that means we like your stories that don’t make a ton of sense. We want your giant talking frogs.”

 

The Cosmic Background is a new pro-paying flash market, and they take their inspiration from the leftover radiation from the Big Bang. 

 

The website says, “Turn on an Old TV. Turn on a Radio. And tune between the channels. Listen to the static. Observe it. Within that static you’re seeing the afterglow of the Big Bang, observing the visualization of heat from the birth of our universe. You’re witness to the most important event in the history of everything.

But only when you tune between the channels.

That’s where we want your work to come from: The place between channels.”

 

I met the editor and brainchild behind The Cosmic Background when Sam Asher purchased my story, “The Sentient Sea of Sargassum.” 

(more…)

Ira Nayman & The Dance

By Angelique Fawns
 

Ira Nayman has a few claims to fame, one of which is being the editor of Amazing Stories, the very first science fiction magazine started in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback, from 2017 to 2020. He is a film producer, comedy writer, and has created a series of speculative fiction novels in the “Transdimensional Authority/Multiverse” series.  One of his most recent projects is editing an anthology called The Dance, which focuses on how the choices you make influence your life. Submission close for this speculative short story collection on August 1st.

I sat down with this fellow Canadian creator to learn more. 

(more…)

Róisín and James from Tower Magazine talk about Ending and Beginnings 

By Angelique Fawns

 

Something disruptive has emerged out of Ireland. James Hudson and Róisín Byrne have created a stunning digital anthology magazine with unique and structurally explosive content. Focusing on the themes of sudden upheaval, abrupt endings, chaos, and disaster, these editors are bringing art and writing together in a way they call “nuanced, uncomfortable, or otherwise has bad vibes.” 

The theme for their first issue was “END.” 

They purchased my series of comedic, dark reality show scripts “The Survivor House Promos” for this inaugural first issue. They are using ITCH.IO for delivery.  All in all, working with this team was an uplifting and fun experience. 

Tower is opening for submissions on July 1st for the theme of “HOLE.”

They are looking for pieces in all genres, but prefer horror, sci-fi, fantasy and erotica. Here is the ask:

“HOLE will be themed on holes in all senses; holes in the body, holes in the ground, mental and spiritual holes, and more. What makes a hole, its walls or its absence? Who makes a hole? What goes in the hole? Who owns the hole? How does a hole make you feel? How does a hole feel? Can I go in?”
Some inspirations:

• The rabbit hole of Nick Drnaso’s “Sabrina”
• The holes in women’s minds and bodies in Alison Rumfitt’s Tell Me I’m Worthless

• The reverse-tower hole in Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation

• The meeting of early internet rabbit holes, moral vacuums, sexual obsession and open wounds in Dennis Cooper’s The Sl*ts

• The ur-type hole story, Junji Ito’s “The Enigma of Amigara Fault”

(more…)

The Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction

Stephen Kotowych Kickstarts a New Anthology

By Angelique Fawns

Stephen Kotowych is finding the best hidden gems in the Canadian short speculative market and putting them in an anthology for all of us to enjoy. His Kickstarter funded in 45 minutes and closes on Thursday, June 29th.  

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kotowych/years-best-canadian-fantasy-and-science-fiction-volume-one

 

The Kitchener, Ontario-based Kotowych is no stranger to creating top-notch fiction. He is a winner of Writers of the Future, a two-time finalist for Canada’s Prix Aurora Award, and has been published in numerous anthologies. He shares more of his vision for us.

(more…)

Robert J. Sawyer Takes Us Out of This World

By Angelique Fawns

 

Robert J. Sawyer is no stranger to big ideas in science fiction. The winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and Aurora Awards, he also recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Writers of the Future. Called the “Dean of Canadian Science Fiction,” he is the author of twenty-four novels and is lauded as one of the most decorated science fiction writers in history. 

Sawyer currently is a judge for the SciFidea Award — Dyson Sphere Sci-Fi Writing Contest, and he’s a Guest of Honor at this year’s World Science Fiction Convention (the Worldcon). I’m incredibly honored that he agreed to sit down with me. 

(more…)

The Human Adventure is Just Beginning!

DreamForge Year 5 Kickstarter

By Angelique Fawns

DreamForge is my favorite positive Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine. Not only do I belong to the DreamCasters writing group, but I am a member of their Patron and love the rewards in their Kickstarters! What better way to start the summer than with a new campaign? We have till Wednesday June 21st to help bring another year of fantastic stories and art into world. The goals this year are to:

 

• Add an extra anthology-sized Mega Issue with the theme “The Grand Uplift.”
• $500 Bonus for Best Story of the Year, voted by Readers.
• Setting a Stretch Goal of raising their pay rate to $0.08/word.
• Present more positive worlds to optimistic readers and with webinars and the DreamCaster writing group, help more hopeful writers find their voice and improve their fiction.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scotnoel/dreamforge-magazine-year-5/

 

Scot Noel, editor and publisher of DreamForge gave me some insights on the magazine and campaign. 

(more…)

Juliana Rew & The Rhapsody of the Spheres.

By Angelique Fawns

Since opening its doors more than a decade ago, Third Flatiron has been producing award-winning anthologies and providing a unique voice in the speculative world. Their last collection, After the Gold Rush had numerous top ten finishers in this year’s Critters Awards, and many stories on the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List. (Including my story, “The Last of the Gen Xers.”)

Juliana Rew, a writer herself, has recently released a new short story collection Twelve All in Dread: The Twelfth Witch and Other Stories. An imaginative group of medieval-inspired tales, you can sample it on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQFVDQT9

I’m very excited to hear Third Flatiron is producing another anthology called The Rhapsody of the Spheres, which will be open to subs the latter part of May. Doesn’t the title get your imagination working in overdrive? What does it even mean? 

Hint: Read the interview below to find out more.

(more…)