thesrhughes
Spencer Rhys Hughes
Writer, Actor, Curator of Cool.
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I like finding secret stranger messages. #quickbuck #cometomaine #maine #message #bill https://www.instagram.com/p/BnEG8FHhrZ9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5xhaqbxqruxx
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Publishing for Fun and Profit
So there was a list going around tumblr for a while that made it to my dash of literary journals that accept open submissions (and will pay!), but upon inspection about half of them were closed indefinitely, and I found quite a few other places that looked interesting through further research, so I wanted to post my own list.
I tried to focus on things that paid professional grade (at least 6 cents per word), were friendly to speculative fiction, and specifically encouraged diversity and writing about marginalized groups.
(Please note that as of right now I have never submitted or been published with any of these, so if anyone has experience with them, good or bad, please feel free to message or reblog this with your experiences.)
Speculative Fiction
Strange Horizons — Speculative fiction (broadly defined) with an emphasis on diversity, unusual styles, and stories that address politics in nuanced ways. 8c per word. Up to 10,000 words, under 5,000 preferred. Responds within 40 days. LGBT+ positive.
Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine — Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc. 7-12c per word. Up to 25,000 words. No response times listed.
Asimov’s Science Fiction — Primarily sci-fi but accepts fantasy and surreal fiction, but no high fantasy/sword and sorcery. Prefers writing that is character driven. 8-10c per word. 1,000-20,000 words. Responds in about five weeks.
Evil Girlfriend Media — Horror and urban fantasy centered on female empowerment and defying gender stereotypes. $100 flat payment. 4,000-7,000 words. No response times given. LGBT+ friendly.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies — Fantasy with a focus on secondary worlds and characters. 6c per word. Up to 10,000 words. Average response time 2-4 weeks.
Fantastic Stories — Speculative fiction with an emphasis on diversity and literary style. 15c per word. Up to 3,000 words. Responds within two weeks. LGBT+ positive.
Fiction Vortex — Serialized fantasy and speculative fiction. $300 for featured stories, $50 otherwise. 3,500 words or less. No response times given.
Shimmer — Speculative fiction with an emphasis on diversity, strong plots, vivid characters, and beautiful writing. 5c per word. 7,500 words or less (will consider longer words with query letter). Usually responds within two weeks. LGBT+ positive.
Clarkesworld Magazine — Sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. 10c per word up to 5,000 words, 8c per word after. 1,000-16,000 words. Responds within days usually, gives a tracking number.
Apex Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds. 6c per word, +1c per word for podcast stories. Up to 7,500 words, all submissions over will be auto-rejected. Responds within 30 days.
Heliotrope Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds. 10c per word. Up to 5,000 words. Responds within 30 days.
Lightspeed Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds, with creativity and originality in terms of style and format encouraged. 8c per word. 1,500-10,000 words, under 5,000 preferred. LGBT+ positive. Submissions temporarily closed for their main magazine but is accepting for their People of Color Destroy Science Fiction special.
General Fiction
The Sun Magazine — General fiction, likes personal writing or writing of a cultural/political significance. $300-$1500 flat payment and a one year subscription to the magazine for fiction (also accepts essays and poetry). No minimum or maximum lengths but over 7,000 words discouraged. Responds in 3-6 months. Physical submissions only.
One Story — Any and all varieties of fiction, “unique and interesting” stories encouraged. $500 payment plus 25 contributor copies. 3,000-8,000 words. Usually responds in 2-3 months.
Camera Obscura — General fiction. $1000 for featured story, $50 for “Bridge the Gap” award, no payment for other contributors. 250-8,000 words. Response time vary, running just over two months as of now.
Flash Fiction
Daily Science Fiction — Speculative flash fiction (including sci-fi, fantasy, slipstream, etc.). 8c per word. Up to 1,500 words, but shorter stories given priority. Response times not listed.
Vestral Review — General flash fiction. 3-10c per word depending on length to a max of $25. Up to 500 words. Response within four months.
Flash Fiction Online — General flash fiction. $60 flat payment. 500-1,000 words. Response times not listed.
Novels/Novella
Riptide Publishing — Any LGBTQ manuscripts between 15,000 and 150,000 words. Currently especially interested in lesbian romances, trans stories, asexual/aromantic stories, romances with a happy ending, and genre fiction such as urban fantasy. Also has a YA branch. LGBT+ positive.
Crimson Romance — Romance stories of all kinds, currently seeking LGBT+ stories with a focus on emotional connections and relationships, especially m/m romance. Novel (55,000-90,000 words) or novella (20,000-50,000 words) length. LGBT+ positive.
Kindle Direct Publishing
Kindle Direct Publishing — Allows you to set your own prices, create your own cover art, and make royalties off of each sell. Any and all genres are welcome and if you’re prolific and smart about how you’re publishing you can make pretty good money.
General Guide to Kindle Publishing — Gives a good rundown of the publishing process on Kindle.
101 Guide to Kindle Erotica — Great guide with lots of resources about how to make money publishing erotica on Kindle.
Publishing Comics/Graphic Novels
Here is a list of potential comic companies and what kind of open submissions they accept.
Here is a list of literary agents who accept graphic novels.
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“Screw writing “strong” women. Write interesting women. Write well-rounded women. Write complicated women. Write a woman who kicks ass, write a woman who cowers in a corner. Write a woman who’s desperate for a husband. Write a woman who doesn’t need a man. Write women who cry, women who rant, women who are shy, women who don’t take no shit, women who need validation and women who don’t care what anybody thinks. THEY ARE ALL OKAY, and all those things could exist in THE SAME WOMAN. Women shouldn’t be valued because we are strong, or kick-ass, but because we are people. So don’t focus on writing characters who are strong. Write characters who are people.”
— Words of great wisdom on strong female characters~ by madlori (via laughingskeleton)
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Short: The Oracle as We Burn
New Post has been published on http://thesrhughes.com/short-the-oracle-as-we-burn/
Short: The Oracle as We Burn
Background
A little while ago I had a rough writing day, a day where I started a bunch of short/flash projects but never took any of them very far. A day of one-to-three sentence beginnings, where the middles and endings slipped through my fingers. But a lovely treasure of a human being advised me to stitch all these failed attempts into a patchwork of a story, and so I did. What emerged from this stew of beginnings is…well, weird, to say the least. Weird and dark and chopped up. It features non-linear time, characters-as-archetypes (or vice versa), and a strange hunt for The Boogeyman. In terms of linear-event-narrative, well, it’s not the clearest piece I’ve ever written, I’ll give you that. But it’s a bit of fun. Check it out!
The Oracle as We Burn
I can’t remember – it started after we imbued the drugs with magic – the unspooling of ourselves skulls blooming – expanding into each other teeth first – the first time I saw us in the broken mirror – when did the halls here unravel? – how long have we splintered outside of time? – who made the mask? –
she flicks the ash from her cigarette
she flicks the ash from her cigarette
I ask “what does that mean?”
she unseams her lips “it’s just a cigarette, it means nothing”
but then they came for her under blood and not long after they burned the witch
Out there in the woods, a tree unfurls its roots; they are nooses. Its branches are bone. It claws at the clouds until sunlight spills out. Its decades aren’t carried in the rings of its trunk, but in the bodies hanged up unrevenged. How many children have hanged there? How many boogeymen have added to its collection of bones?
The sun slices itself open along the horizon and the sky curdles with its blood. That’s when they came.
we shot up in the corner, beneath the unflinching gaze of digital vitreous
we fell // we fall–
today is forever and the syringe is always full
I can’t remember remembering, memories shuffle together, 52 card pickup. Out there in the woods, gnarls of knotted bark blink their blackened eyes. Overhead, the CCTV blinks its squishy lens. Cataracts, cataracts.
When the Ragged Man comes over the cracked stones, when the skyscrapers drown, when the apocalypse pulls its punch, flip the coin. It tumbles to its zenith upward and pauses and you will know. When the Ragged Man comes over the desert, prepare.
we introduced alchemy to the manufacture of our recreational pills and powders – we studied the dust-dead languages – we stared into the squirming void and memorized the texture of its skin – when fighting monsters, do drugs – do not become, that’s for later – when you stare into the abyss – this overdose is nothing, we have only collapsed into the corner of the next room –
She shrieks with white phosphorous, a flare against the black. The last I saw the Oracle, she tumbled, sparking, into darkness, her last wails the mourning of dead gods.
He didn’t exist until we feared him into existence. We told the stories around campfires and flashlights and flickering candles and the universe heard our whispers and provided. When the first child went missing, I can’t remember.
there is a house at the end of the lane
go there by night, you won’t find it by day
(and when you arrive
we think that you’ll find
you ought to have just stayed away.)
strange attractors, fractal magic, loose change cointossed, observing the zenith; I see him now, we see him, we watch him lumber through tragedies licking his lips; life, uh, life finds a way; Jung, Feynman, Curie, Radium Girl; over a long enough time period, everything does indeed happen—
we midwived the boogeyman by begging the universe to make one
this is sometimes how magic works
sometime after we put the magic in the drugs, we unraveled; I don’t remember
she flicks ash and the molecules tumble like coins through the air.
52 card pickup, the Oracle burns in warcrime flare; she screams the truth and tumbles into darkness like breezecaught ash. She flicks the cigarette. They come to make her into an inferno.
She burns forever because every moment crystallizes into itself infinitely – our teeth are the same teeth, now, and our skin is the same skin, and we exist overlapping each other – our Venn diagram is a circle – we no longer remember – splintering outside of time, we see crystals, moments – memory serves no purpose – it all happens simultaneously, forever – how many hanged?–
52 card pickup, missing children, Oracles, boogeyman, darkness, distance and time, starlight—
what is a Tulpa?
who put on the mask, first? possessed by the whispering dark, who put on the mask? when did the first child disappear? we can’t remember – it happens, y’know?
They came for her under bloody skies as the day killed itself for night.
1967 AD
1967 BC
1945, 2001, 2296 AD
666 BC, 999 AD
the broken mirror and our reflection
when you stand outside of time you do drugs, y’know?
this does not count and Thank God It’s Forever
They came for her as she flicked ash. They came for her under sunlight suicide. She said it meant nothing.
death is nothing at all – it does not count – (we) have only slipped away into the next room – nothing has happened – everything is happening – everything happens forever – in the next room, we splinter – an overdose is nothing at all – the magic in the heroin now – we do not count – the Oracle is in the next room and we scream in phosphorous – this is nothing at all forever, we are the wise ones, the witches burnt – the children missing – the bodies hanged – the boogeyman himself, licking his lips – the truth is –
Our last memory (if “last” exists beyond its placeholder as a mere word, which it no longer does, not to us, but if it did, then our last memory) is a flare into darkness forever, a crystal scream. We burn into a star, time and distance, at daylight’s death. We spasm and jerk and foam around the lips and the magic turns our blood into phosphorous. We are so high forever and now our teeth chatter truth—
will we ever come down? will we know if we do?
the trees claw the clouds until warcrime chemicals rain our wails upon us. we are the witch and we are the ones who burn her. she flicks ash//we flick ash. we say “it doesn’t matter” but the truth –
the first child. the fifty-second child. the scary mask, the oracle, the forever scream of the dying sun. the truth is a wail into dark, a desperate flare against the void. time and distance, every star a shriek. from the shadows, the boogeyman comes. I remember, now, when we put the magic in the heroin. now, under the cataracted glare of the bloodshot camera, which is also then, now. now, we splinter, falling into each other teeth first. our skulls bloom and our meat sprays into rose petals. we go round the prickly pear. we see, now – we are the boogeyman and we are the children he takes away. our house is at the end of the lane. we are in the next room, the room next to you. we splinter, outside of time. you know how it is. you remember. because after we splinter, we fall together again, teeth first.
#amwriting#distance#fiction#flash fiction#horror#metaphor#monsters#quick read#short story#space#supernatural#time#writing
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Symbolism
I thought I might not be the only writer out there who likes to put symbolism in their stories so I found some things and what they represent!!
Animals
Alligator - stealth, survival
Ant - diligence, industry, community, remarkable strength, hard working, success, patience
Antelope - action
Armadillo - boundaries, self protection
Badger - aggressiveness, passion and drive
Bat - rebirth, longevity, joy, good luck
Bear - gentle strength, dreaming, introspection, power, protection
Beaver - builder, accomplishing goals
Bee - divine messenger, love, service, gathering, community
Bird - enlightenment, perspective, swiftness, vision, prophetic knowledge
Boar - nature-based wealth, prosperity, success, protection, courage
Buffalo - prayer, abundance, survival needs met, good fortune, healing
Bulls’ horns - a good symbol in meditation for motivation
Butterfly - rebirth, the soul, transformation, the three phases of life
Cat - feminine energy, mystical power, used to keep the wearer safe in travel, wholeness
Chameleons - ever-changing future, inconsistency
Cheetah - speed, focus
Cougar - power, swiftness, balance
Cows - red cows are a symbol of hope, inspiring symbol for nurturing efforts
Coyote - trickster
Crane - longevity. A pair of cranes symbolizes “Long Marriage”
Cricket - good luck charm, singing, Spring, fertility
Crow - sacred law, gateway to supernatural, shape shifting, illusion
Deer - graceful gentleness, sensitivity, compassion, kindness
Dog - companionship, health, service, loyalty, protection, future prosperity
Dolphin - manna, joy, childlike play, helpfulness, breath of life, harmony, intelligence, self connection
Donkey - fertility, easy childbirth, efficiency, health, well-being, and luck
Dove - peace, innocence, fidelity, love, gentleness, kindnes
Dragonfly - good fortune, magic, vision, dreams, luck, and ancient knowledge, illusion
Dragon - wisdom due to long lives and potent magic, royalty, Emperor, eternity, courage, strength, rain, Spring
Eagle - courage, spirit, bravery, strength
Elephant - commitment, strength, astuteness
Elk - stamina, pride, power, majesty
Fish - miracles, providence, sea/water magic, good luck and prosperity, foresight, fortune, salmon in particular, are associated with knowledge
Fox - camouflage, adaptability, integration, tricksters, shape shifters, and possessors of great magic
Frog - healing, cleansing, messages, health, honesty, fluidity, purification
Gazelle - awareness
Giraffe - grounded vision
Goat - tenacity, diligence, can help to achieve goals, endure criticism, and stay safe. Goat’s fur or foot - an anti-evil talisman.
Goose - safe return, love of home
Grasshopper - nobility, prosperity
Hawk - nessenger, strength, foresight, truth
Hippopotamus - emotional depths
Horses - power, stamina, speed, transportation and communication - A black horse with a white marking on its forehead is lucky
Hummingbird - joy, pure love, celebration of life
Ladybug - delight, trust
Lamb - filial piety (dutiful respect or regard for parents).
Lion (baby) cubs - inspire mercy and gentleness.
Lion (grown) - inspire strength, courage
Lions - pride, nobility, cunning, courage, just laws, fairness, the sun, images can protect sacred ground.
Lizard - dreaming, foresight, ancient secrets
Lynx - secrets
Monkey - benevolence, drives away evil
Moose - self-esteem, assertiveness
Mountain Lion - wisdom, leadership
Mouse - frugality, rebirth, scrutiny
Opossum - strategy, diversion
Otter - medicine (woman), balanced feminine energy
Owl - deception, wisdom, clairvoyance, magic
Ox - evil spirits that disturb lakes, rivers, and seas
Peacock - wholeness, dignity, beauty, recognition, self assurance, pride
Pig - rebirth and rejuvenation
Porcupine - innocence
Rabbit - fear, fertility, moon magic, speed, swiftness, longevity, courage, strength
Raccoon - dexterity, disguise
Raven - magic
Robin - growth, renewal
Rooster - courageous, warlike disposition, warmth and life of the Universe
Scorpion - the “fire within” that often needs careful tending
Seal - inner voice
Sheep - sacrifice
Snake - cunning, evil, supernatural power
Spider - destiny, fate, weaving
Squirrel - gathering
Swan - grace
Tiger - courage, bravery, fierceness, strength, being in the now
Turtle - mother earth
Weasel - stealth
Whale - record keeper
Wolf - teacher, A Guide to the Sacred
Zebra - Individuality
PLANTS
Aloe- Healing, protection, affection
Amaryllis- Pride
Anemone- Forsaken
Angelica- Inspiration
Apple blossom- Preference
Arborvitae- Unchanging friendship
Aster- Symbol of Love, Daintiness
Basil- Good wishes
Bay- Glory
Begonia- Beware
Bittersweet- Truth
Black-eyed Susan- Justice
Bluebell- Humility, kindness
Candytuft- Indifference
Red carnation- My Heart Aches, admiration
- White carnation- Innocence, pure love, women’s good luck gift
- Pink carnation- I’ll never forget you
- Yellow carnation- Disdain, disappointment, rejection
Chamomile- Patience
Chives- Usefulness
Chrysanthemum- Cheerfulness
Clover, white- Think of me
Coreopsis- Always cheerful
Coriander- Hidden worth
Crocus- spring, Youthful gladness
Cumin- Fidelity
Cyclamen- Resignation and good-bye
Daffodil- Regard
Daisy- Innocence, hope
Dill- Powerful against evil
Edelweiss- Courage, devotion
Fennel- Flattery
Fern- Sincerity
Forget-me-not- True love memories
Gardenia- Secret love
Geranium- oak-leavedTrue friendship
Gladiolus- Remembrance
Goldenrod- Encouragement, good fortune
Heliotrope- Eternal love
Holly- Hope
Hollyhock- Ambition
Honeysuckle- Bonds of love
Horehound- Health
Hyacinth- Games and sport, playfulness, rashness
– Blue Hyacinth- Constancy of love
– Purple Hyacinth- Sorrow, forgiveness, regret
– Yellow Hyacinth- Jealousy
– White Hyacinth- Loveliness, prayers for someone
Hydrangea- Gratitude for being understood; frigidity and heartlessness
Hyssop- Sacrifice, cleanliness
Iris- A message
Ivy- Friendship, continuity
Jasmine- white- Sweet love
Lady’s-mantle- Comforting
Lavender- Devotion, virtue
Lemon balm- Sympathy
Lilac- Joy of youth
Lily, calla- Beauty
Lily, day- Chinese emblem for mother
Lily-of-the-valley- Sweetness, purity
Lotus Flower- Purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration, and rebirth
Magnolia- Love of nature
Marjoram- Joy and happiness
Mint- Virtue
Morning glory- Affection
Myrtle- Good luck and love in a marriage
Nasturtium- Patriotism
Oak- Strength
Oregano- Substance
Pansy- Thoughts
Parsley- Festivity
Peony- Bashful, happy life
Pine- Humility
Poppy, red- Consolation
Rhododendron- Danger, flee
Rose, red- Love, I love you.
Rose, dark crimson- Mourning
Rose, pink- Happiness
Rose, white- Purity, heavenly, I’m worthy of you
Rose, yellow- Jealousy, decrease of love
Rosemary- Remembrance
Rue- Grace, clear vision
Sage- Wisdom, immortality
Salvia, blue- I think of you
Salvia, red- Forever mine
Savory Spice- interest
Sorrel- Affection
Southernwood- Constancy, jest
Sunflower- Adoration
Sweet pea- Pleasures
Sweet William- Gallantry
Sweet woodruff- Humility
Tansy- Hostile thoughts
Tarragon- Lasting interest
Thyme- Courage, strength
Tulip, red- Passion, declaration of love
Tulip, yellow- Sunshine in your smile
Valerian- Readiness
Violet- Loyalty, devotion, faithfulness, modesty
Wallflower- Faithfulness in adversity
Willow- Sadness
Yarrow- Everlasting love
Zinnia- Thoughts of absent friends
Color
Red: Excitement, energy, passion, love, desire, speed, strength, power, heat, aggression, danger, fire, blood, war, violence, all things intense and passionate, sincerity, happiness (Only in Japan)
Pink: love and romance, caring, tenderness, acceptance and calm.
Beige and ivory: symbolize unification.
Ivory: symbolizes quiet and pleasantness.
Beige: calm and simplicity.
Yellow: signifies joy, happiness, betrayal, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, gold, philosophy, dishonesty, cowardice, jealousy, covetousness, deceit, illness, hazard and friendship.
Dark Blue: Symbolizes integrity, knowledge, power, and seriousness.
Blue: Peace, tranquility, cold, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, technology, depression, appetite suppressant.
Turquoise: calm.
Teal: sophistication.
Aquamarine: symbolizes water.
Lighter turquoise: a feminine appeal.
Purple: Royalty, nobility, spirituality, ceremony, mysterious, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, honor, arrogance, mourning, temperance.
Lavender: femininity, grace and elegance.
Orange: Energy, balance, enthusiasm, warmth, vibrant, expansive, flamboyant, demanding of attention.
Green: Nature, environment, healthy, good luck, renewal, youth, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy, service, inexperience, envy, misfortune, vigor.
Brown: Earth, stability, hearth, home, outdoors, reliability, comfort, endurance, simplicity, and comfort.
Gray: Security, reliability, intelligence, staid, modesty, dignity, maturity, solid, conservative, practical, old age, sadness, boring. Silver symbolizes calm.
White: Reverence, purity, birth, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, winter, snow, good, sterility, marriage (Western cultures), death (Eastern cultures), cold, clinical.
Black: Power, sexuality, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, fear, evil, unhappiness, depth, style, sadness, remorse, anger, anonymity, underground, good technical color, mourning, death (Western cultures), austerity, detachment.
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I don't know what compelled me to take this photo but I'm kinda glad I did... #street #view #nyc #streetview #neon #garbage #why
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new project freewrite
Samantha's dad used to beat the living spirit out of her, mostly because he could if she remembered right. Then one day, at the breakfast table, he keeled right over on the linoleum and started spitting up rainbows all over the floor, twitching and sputtering and gagging. For a second she felt like a witness to some biblical miracle, like she was an apostle to her mother's massiahhood. But then she started puking, too.
When she woke up some unknown time later, they told her that her mother had died, and that Sam, herself, had suffered some brain trauma. The doctors diagnosed her with this and that and whatever other longnamed disorders they could invent, but Sam knew better. That was when she first met Shadow. That was when she first understood the Frequency. That was when she first figured out the truth of things. And fuck what the doctors said, anyway, for all the good they did her.
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it’s all you americans talk about… liminal space this… cryptid that
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A small list of random ass sites I’ve found useful when writing:
Fragrantica: perfume enthusiast site that has a long list of scents. v helpful when you’re writing your guilty pleasure abo fics
Just One Cookbook: recipe site that centers on Japanese cuisine. Lots of different recipes to browse, plenty of inspiration so you’re not just “ramen and sushi”
This comparing heights page: gives you a visual on height differences between characters
A page on the colors of bruises+healing stages: well just that. there you go. describe your bruises properly
McCormick Science Institute: yes this is a real thing. the site shows off research on spices and gives the history on them. be historically accurate or just indulge in mindless fascination. boost your restaurant au with it
A Glossary of Astronomy Terms: to pepper in that sweet terminology for your astrophysics major college au needs
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Console-free Camping
If you like to play The Last of Us, then try Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
If you like to play Beyond: Two Souls, then try The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
If you like to play Call of Duty: Black Ops (Zombies), then try World War Z by Max Brooks
If you like playing Grand Theft Auto, then try American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
If you like playing Sid Meier’s Civilization, then try A Game Of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
If you like playing Final Fantasy, try playing Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa
If you like playing Mass Effect, then try Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
If you like playing Alice: Madness Returns, then try Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
If you like playing Halo, then try Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein
If you like playing Portal, then try House Of Stairs by William Sleator
If you like playing Mario Kart, then try The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia
If you like playing Dark Souls, then try Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
If you like playing Life Is Strange, then try We Are Okay by Nina Lacour
If you like playing Stardew Valley, then try How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
If you like playing Fable, then try Young Elites by Marie Lu
If you like playing Borderlands, then try Velocity by Chris Wooding
If you like playing Dishonored, then try Airman by Eoin Colfer
If you like playing The Oregon Trail, then try Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
If you like playing the Elder Scrolls series, then try The Naming by Alison Croggon
If you like playing Red Dead Redemption, then try Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
If you like playing Bioshock, then try Dark Life by Kat Falls
If you like playing Fallout, then try Razorland by Ann Aguirre
If you like playing Assasin’s Creed, then try The Way of Shadows Night by Brent Weeks
If you like playing Dragonage, then try Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
If you like playing The Legend of Zelda, then try Graceling by Kristin Cashore
If you like playing Until Dawn, then try Ten by Gretchen McNeil
If you like playing Sonic, then try Maximum Ride by James Patterson
If you like playing Overwatch, then try Bluescreen by Dan Wells
If you like playing Uncharted, then try Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
If you like playing Pokemon, then try Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them by JK Rowling, and Newt Scamander
If you like playing Mario Party, then try Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
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Welcome home. . . . #nyc #xxx #poison #art #streetart #graffiti
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Reblog if Black Lives Matter to you
Where are those woke white people at!?
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I've been staring at this cursor for almost half an hour. The page is blank. The cursor beats it taunt at me, a chant of my failures. The horror, the horror! #writing
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Surrealistic Paintings by Leigh Whurr
Leigh Whurr a.k.a. Oddly-Spliced is a digital artist from Birmingham, UK.
Describing or explaining my work is rarely simple since the very appeal of this type of imagery lies in how it may touch a place that words or logic cannot immediately reach.
There is logic to be found, but it is spliced with my own subjective reality. It is an instinctual drive and so any statement about my work usually requires some degree of philosophical leverage, as well as a certain amount of self-analysis. Painting digitally seems like a natural extension of a contemporary approach, although I do not feel this should impinge on the content of the work itself in terms of how it should be received. It is, to me, simply a more efficient and enjoyable way of producing art.
If you aren’t following Cross Connect, you’re missing out.
posted by Margaret via
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News!! (Sad News)
New Post has been published on http://thesrhughes.com/news-sad-news/
News!! (Sad News)
Squidlings, I bring bad omens, sour news, sad news…
The Bad News
My sweet, tentacular friends, it has come time to announce that The Furies series is unlikely to see its third installment published. This decision has been in the works for some time.
Let me first apologize, and then explain myself. This has been a difficult and trying balancing act, and, unfortunately, I don’t believe I can pull it off.
As much as I loathe to admit it, this is, in large part, a financial decision. While I’ve been working on selling stories, writing a podcast, and working alongside agents and editors to break into the trad-publishing scene (and the promise of a decent advance), the penniless work of The Furies has fallen by the distant wayside. With so many other paying opportunities, and so many ideas overflowing my skull, there seems to be less and less time to work on the story that was supposed to be No Peace.
The second reason for this announcement has to do with my own drive. Not long ago, my agent advised me to take some time off from my current Big Fucking Project and work on something else. I went to the last draft of No Peace and…felt quite uninspired to begin the revising/rewriting process. Instead, I ended up tooling around with other back-burnered projects and tried to hone my short story craft (I’m still bad at it.) For 3-4 weeks I circled No Peace, but never got around to starting a new draft. I took this as a sign.
The third reason is that, paging through the extant draft of No Peace, I struggled to figure out how to fix it. The extant draft felt like one-and-a-half stories crammed into a single story line. It was overcrowded, too long, and littered with too much detail. It was the War and Peace of contemporary fantasy fiction, and I had no idea how to shorten it. The current draft is objectively oversized (coming in at just around 600 pages) and the idea of gutting it to a normal size seemed like a tremendous amount of work…not to mention the labor of writing a second draft of such a gargantuan tale.
Reading the extant draft, I struggled with the weight of the thing–that is to say, the poignancy and prescience of the tale. It lacks a certain ‘now-ness,’ being a book series set in an increasingly distant past, focused on issues that somehow seem less pressing at this particular cultural moment.
Lastly, it’s been several years since the release of No Grave, and No Peace still only has a first draft. To put this into perspective, the release version of No Grave was the third revision pass of the sixth manuscript draft. Considering my issues with length, prescience, and story with No Peace‘s extant draft, it seems silly to believe the path toward its publication would be any less fraught. And, being blunt, I just don’t have the time to engage with that volume of work without a very different professional and financial situation.
A Silver Lining?
There is the simple silver lining: maybe, one day, given more financial stability and more time to actually sit down and write, I may return to these characters and this story. If I do, it’s likely I’ll want to rewrite the first two books entirely, having honed my craft substantially since their release, and take it forward from there, updated.
But that is but one possible future, and it can’t be promised.
And so, the more complicated silver lining: I’ve learned a hell of a lot about writing books. Though, sadly, I still have a lot to learn about short stories, apparently…
While plodding turtle-like through the extant draft of No Peace, I also churned out a number of other manuscripts. Some were never finished. Others have been read, rewritten, revised, and edited. I’ve met agents and assistants and editors and editorial assistants and have had the whole lot of them tear my work apart like feral, froth-mouthed dogs. This has been a keen learning experience.
I wrote an entire draft of a cyberpunk comedy while drinking. I’ve been told that it’s hilarious but also utterly unpublishable in its current form. I wrote four drafts of a story about an author whose self-destructive tendencies accidentally tear a hole in reality. It’s an autobiography, obviously. It also still needs a lot of work to be anywhere near publishable. I’ve written fifty short stories and managed to get 5-6 of them published by people who aren’t myself. I even wrote a podcast.
And, then, there is my work in Oceanrest.
Which brings us to…
The Future, Dark & Screaming
I’m trying not to make promises, even though promise-making is the heart of storytelling. Every story is a series of promises we make to a reader, and every twist, reveal, or conflict is a choice to make good on that promise, or to break it, or to subvert it.
I’m subverting this entire thing by promising not to make any promises.
But here’s a promise: I’ll obviously keep writing.
(See what I did there?)
My current project, praying to break into trad-publishing, praying to take this semi-profitable hobby into a fully-fledged profession, is a little world-building venture I call Oceanrest.
I’ve written eight manuscript drafts of Oceanrest Novel #1, a novel my current agent swears we’ll be able to sell if I can shave off just a few more words. I’ve written two manuscript drafts of Oceanrest Novel #2, because hope springs eternal. I’ve done a skeleton-outline of Oceanrest Novel #3. Oceanrest Novel #4, if I have my druthers, would be an updated version of the first novel I ever wrote, a project I worked on parallel to No Reflection but never felt was quite “right.” I have five drafts of it already, and I feel like I only figured out what it was “about” on the last one.
But what makes Oceanrest special to me, as an author, is that it’s conceptually non-linear. It’s a setting, a town, a world, where any number of stories could unfold. Oceanrest #4, my first completed novel ever, would take place in the year 2000, for instance. Oceanrest #1 takes place today, and #2 takes place about 15 months after that. I have a brainstorm for a story that would take place in the 19th century.
What I need, right now, as an artiste, is flexibility. I have faith in my current work because I’m giving myself flexibility.
And because, hopefully, my agent is right.
“Well,” you say, “we hate you, now.”
Please don’t?
If you adored the characters and storyline of The Furies, know that those characters and stories still live in my head. If things go well in my life, The Furies will see rewrites and re-releases, and eventually continuation…but I can’t promise that, now. I don’t have the resources.
But Nicole and Angie and Jimmy Sacrifice and Tristan and Alex and Harley are still tearing around in my skull. Matthew Crowe and Charles Goodwin still pull marionette strings between my neurons, beneficiaries of corporate structure and privatized surveillance culture. Parts of them will likely end up scavenged and mounted on other faces, attached to other names. Human pain, coping, and overcoming will remain woven through my every tale.
Stick with me, please. I promise to tell more stories. I promise to take you on terrifying journeys.
Stay tuned.
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