Weird Circular #39 December

The December Weird Circular

This month's Weird Circular is live with submission ideas, prompts, and more!

Welcome to the Weird Circular

Dear Fellow Weird Writers,

I am pleased this month to announce that I am publishing a new chapbook, in Italian.

will come out in 2020 from Kipple Press. This is my first time ever being a translated poet. It's pretty amazing to see the surprising things that come when you push yourself to commit to a writing life. 

This month I'm thinking about balance. How to make a writing life work while also keeping the other parts of my life cared for. Not just self-care, but family care, house care, dog care, cat care, and all the caring that we need to get through. How do you juggle it all? I am learning to treat each thing in my life with care, and to wipe away the things that don't bring me joy.

Your corporeal host,

Holly 

Submission Calls

Upcoming Submission Windows: 

  • Apparition Lit, Flash Fiction Contest, deadline 12/15: Theme: The Apparition Test, which sets out that 1) the main character must not be a writer with writer’s block, 2) boobs cannot be described, 3) Story cannot involve a long scene with a character driving, 4) Story cannot involve rape or violence toward women/children/animals. Pays $10.

  • Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora, deadline 12/31: Theme: What is the legacy and the future of Africa and the African Diaspora? Poetry (any length), pays $50, Reprints (1k-17.5k) Pays .01/word, Fiction (1k-17.5k) Pays .08/word for 1st 1k, .01/word after that.

  • Zombies Need Brains, Multiple Anthology calls, deadline 12/31: Theme: Apocalyptic, Galactic Stew, My Battery is Getting Low and It Is Getting Dark: Speculative fiction (up to 7.5k) Pays .08/word. 

  • Madness Heart Press, Ghastly Gastronomy Anthology, deadline 12/31: Theme: Horror/Cooking. Short Stories (1.5k-?) Pays $5/story.

  • Alternating Current Press, Remapping Wonderland, deadline 12/31: Theme: Classic Fairytales Retold by People of Color. Fiction (up to 10k words).

Need more submission ideas? Check the

newest markets,

, Duotrope's

,

, or Literary Mama's

.

YOU SHOULD BE WRITING

Prompt #1:

Write a list of everything that makes you angry in the world. Then pick about 5 of those and expand on them in a freewrite. What about them drives you up the wall? Why do you think they bother you? Write a story from the POV of a character who is mad about something. Or else write a poem with the title as one of your pet peeves. 

Bonus Round:

Bonus points if you can find something to love in the thing that makes you mad!

Prompt #2:

 Give yourself permission to write some purple prose today. Write as luscious and as gorgeous as you can. Really think about word choice. This works great for poetry and prose, but you can try it out in nonfiction too. It helps to remember why you love words and why you became a writer.

Bonus Round:

 Now use that beautiful tidbit of writing as a structure in your piece. Repeat it in strategic places, or use it as a metaphor to wrap the piece together.

Prompt #3:

 Here's a word bank to write from for this prompt: 

Flowers    red      lips    macerate    glory     enchanted    fumbling     scared     rain   object    broken     devious     fell      fairy    labored    soak   words

Bonus Round:

 Bonus points if your story features a female character. (Always bonus points for this.) 

Editing tip of the month: Try rewriting your book starting on page one. Don't look at the old version of the book. Do this for the first chapter and see what surprises you. Did the character do something different? Did you describe the setting in  a different way?

Inspiration from the Ether

♛ Weird Story of the Month: Nutrition Facts by D.A. Xiaolin Spires ♛

➳ Craft article of the month: Tricking Yourself into Writing ➳

♫ This month's writing music is from Enchanted Lands ♫

News From Your Corporeal Host

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