Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia antho (closes 21st June 2010)

Started by Ed, February 28, 2010, 02:57:03 PM

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Ed

From Brian Hatcher:


Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia   

I'm pleased to announce that Keith Davis of Woodland Press has asked me to edit my first anthology: Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia. This anthology will be published through Woodland Press, publishers of the Legends of the Mountain State series, Appalachian Winter Hauntings, and the Stoker-nominated Writers Workshop of Horror. 

Here, in a nutshell, is what I want for Mountain Magic: 

• Short stories up to 2500 words and poems between 8 - 34 lines 
• The setting must be the Appalachian states (West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia)
• Magic (either supernatural or performance magic) must be central to the plot of the story or poem
• Urban fantasy is acceptable. "Rural" fantasy, more so. 
• Horror stories and poems should not be too graphic. I am looking for "quiet horror" for this anthology.

And what I don't want:

• No high fantasy (elves, wizards, Dungeons & Dragons settings)
• No Dr. Strange pastiches or "Wizard of Gore" knockoffs
• Although this anthology is targeted to adults, stories should not contain explicit language or content
• None of the standard, and considerably unflattering, Appalachian clichés
• No reprints, including stories which have been posted online
• No simultaneous submissions

Submissions will be taken from March 20th to June 21st, 2010. Electronic submissions only. The submission should be in .rtf, .doc, or .docx format and attached to the e-mail, not included in the body of the e-mail. Only one short story per e-mail, although multiple poems may be sent in the same e-mail. All submissions should be sent to mountain_magic@verizon.net.  Please do not send inquiries about submissions until July 1st, 2010.

Payment will be 5¢ a word for short stories and $5 per poem, along with one contributor's copy of the book. 

Be sure to visit Grimoire of the Mountains, the official blog for this anthology, at http://grimoireofthemountains.blogspot.com/. There you will find inspiration and news on the anthology. Questions about the anthology can be sent to mountain_magic@verizon.net, and I'll post answers on the blog so that everyone can see them.

Good luck, everyone. I can't wait to see what magic you'll make.
 
Brian J. Hatcher, Editor
Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]


Ed

Good luck, Lee :afro:

Sounds like Brian is looking forward to getting a few subs from Doomers:

QuoteThanks for reposting the guidelines on your board, BTW. I'd love to get some submissions from "across the pond".
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

LeeThompson

Thanks, Ed! And good luck to you to, if you write something for it!  :cool:

Rev. Austin

Ah, and here I am working on a story set in a small Appalachian town!  Crikey!
facebook.com/waynegoodchildishaunted
Stay in touch! I don't mean that in a pervy way.

Ed

How's that story going, Rev? While at the WHC in Brighton the other day, I was speaking to Michael Knost, who was supposed to be sharing a room with Brian Hatcher, and I mentioned a story of mine I had in mind that might be too tenuously linked for this antho. Michael advised me to send it - he said Brian's been receiving loads of submissions that don't even remotely fit the guidelines - no magic, so with this in mind I think we ought to get a few stories over to him. I get the impression he'd be glad of a few good ones. :afro:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

LeeThompson

I just started my story. Knocking out the first draft should be pretty easy. I have it mapped out in my head. I hope you guys sub too!

Rev. Austin

I was using my idea for this as a vehicle for my series character Jonny Cave, but I now think it'd work best as part of a much, much larger plot :D kind of a shame because if I could work it into a self-contained story for this I think it would be pretty mental, and as is usually the case with me I think of an ace idea for a loooong story then it goes on the backburner for a month or two.  ::)
facebook.com/waynegoodchildishaunted
Stay in touch! I don't mean that in a pervy way.

Grillmeat

Well here goes nothing.
I have a piece is my (?) mark folder in my writing drive. It was originally set in the midwest around the turn of the century and has definate magic/mystical overtones.  I think I'll dust it off and see if I can change the location to an Appalacian state without altering the "story" much. If so, I'll be in for this one.
OMG!! Soylent Green is people!!!

Ed

Just a reminder that this one closes today, so get your last minute entries in if you're still working on them. Mine went off a few minutes ago. Hopefully it'll make the grade, but I'm not holding my breath - I don't think it'll be relevant enough to the guidelines.
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Grillmeat

Got my submission back last week.
Didn't make the grade. I was hoping for a bit of feedback on it but, apparently, he has received quite a response so I just got the old "thanks for submitting but..."
OMG!! Soylent Green is people!!!

Ed

Sorry to hear that, Grill. I think it was a pretty difficult remit for anybody living outside of the area. I didn't know much about the place until I started reading various articles about it. Strikes me as being a lot like The Waltons there. Timber, mountains, small communities, poverty, more timber, etc. Could be wrong, though :scratch:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Grillmeat

Yeah. I have the feeling he was looking for more "Appalachian flavor" than what my piece had. I had the geographic area down and I think the "mystical" part was ok but in the end I'm not sure the over all "feel" of the story was right.   Good luck with your piece Ed.
OMG!! Soylent Green is people!!!

desertwomble

Quote from: Grillmeat on June 21, 2010, 09:54:33 AM
I have the feeling he was looking for more "Appalachian flavor" than my piece had.

"Maybe yer didn't have a nice enough mouth, boy!" said Hillbillywomble, plucking at his his banjo and nursing a gutful of moonshine.

DW :cheesy:
http://chaucers-uncle.weebly.com/

www.paulfreeman.weebly.com
 
Read my most recent winning Global Short Story Competition entry:
http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/assets/october-ebook.pdf

Ed

Ack - just got my rejection. I'm not sure whether it was a form rejection, but he said, "it came very close to making it to the final round, and ultimately passing on the story was not an easy decision." I didn't think the story was relevant enough, personally, so I wasn't holding out much hope.
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]