Weird Circular #9 June

The June Weird Circular

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

Welcome to the Weird Circular

Dear Fellow Writers of the Weird:

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for summer. I've got my shades on, kicked back, sunning in my canoe with the gators here in Houston. Summertime always makes me think of reading, for some reason. When I was a kid, my mom used to take me to the library everyday. I always signed up for the summer reading program, which tracked how many books you could read in one summer and gave out prizes for most books read. Do you know, dear reader, I never cheated? Every year I was determined to beat my last year record and read as many books as I could. I won free ice cream tickets, dinosaur erasers, and lots of mini snickers bars. 

I'm still trying to beat my summer reading record. These days, I write a lot of speculative things, but I read everything, from poetry to nonfiction. And reading is the basis for my writing inspiration. What are you reading? Are you spending time critically engaging with your reading and giving back by reviewing books? Or do you just read for the heck of it? This month, think about your favorite books and how they relate to your own writing process. Then, read something new that you'd never think of picking up before. How does it change how you view your writing?

- Holly 

June Submission Calls

Uncanny Magazine, Deadline June 10th. Speculative giant and award-winning Uncanny Magazine is open to fiction submissions June 3-10. 750-6000 words, pays .08/word. Uncanny Magazine is seeking passionate, diverse SF/F fiction and poetry from writers from every conceivable background.  We want  intricate, experimental stories and poems with gorgeous prose, verve, and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs. Uncanny believes there’s still plenty of room in the genre for tales that make you feel.

Liminal Stories, Deadline June 15th. Open for fiction submissions up to 10,000 words, pay .06/word. Liminal is searching for stories of a particular tone and tenor, regardless of form.  We like stories that are strange and unsettling, sharp-edged and evocative.  Although we will consider any genre, we have a soft spot for weird fiction, magical realism, soft science fiction, and those uncategorizable stories that straddle the line between genres.  Liminal stories should linger in the mind and evoke emotion in the reader.

Other Upcoming Submission Windows: 

Need more submission ideas? Check the

newest markets,

, Duotrope's

,

, or Literary Mama's

.

YOU SHOULD BE WRITING

Prompt #1: Creating a word dictionary. This is a fun exercise for writers who have a few stories and poems under their belts already. Go through your work, either printed or on your computer, and hunt for words that you repeat often. You can also use this tool, Sporkforge, which will tell you what words you repeat often. Then, create a word dictionary using those words. Keep it in a notebook or binder and add to it as you find new words you love and want to use. Bonus Round: Using your word dictionary, write a short story or poem in what you consider to be your signature voice and style. Focus on the language, not the story, and see how far you can push your voice. What defines your style? Make this the epitome of your writing voice, a story or poem that would define your work. (This is hard to do, that's okay. It's about practicing, not making a perfect product. You may never use this piece or submit it, but it will help you learn how to hear your own words.) 

Prompt #2: Inspired by Shirley Jackson's book, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. What I love about Jackson's writing is the interiority of the characters, who rely on their imaginations to give them comfort. Write a character, either in a persona poem or a story, who falls into their imaginations at times of crisis. What do they fantasize about? What do they dream? See if you can weave that into their view of the world.Bonus Round: Extra points for fantasies that are fantastic or other-worldly in some way. Put your character on the moon and see what they do. Let them fight a dragon or a fairy. See where the extraordinary can take you. Don't worry about if it doesn't make sense at first, just follow the yellow brick road.

Prompt #3:

 Write a story, poem, or essay using the idea of masquerades. This is a fun practice to try to fit into a realist story in some way, or you can simply focus on the history of masquerades and do some research to create a hybrid essay which uses the facts paired with narrative. Or, approach this from the perspective of the super hero genre. What is your character hiding? What are you hiding? If you could wear a mask, would you? Why?

Bonus Round:

 Take the mask off. What happens when your character is revealed? 

Editing tip of the month: Take a story or essay you've written and follow these steps: 1. Write a short, 1-2 sentence summary of the story. 2. Write a paragraph summary of the story. 3. Answer this question: What are the character's goals or what is the goal of the essay if you are writing nonfiction. You can only pick one. 4. Answer this question: What is the conflict or thing preventing those goals from being reached? Do this for each story you write and you'll start to be better at describing your own writing and also understanding your characters better.

Inspiration from the Ether

➳ Craft Article of the Month:Curating a New Literary Canon ➳

☢ Weird Inspiration from the Real World This Crazy Forest Mirror Illusion Will Transport You To Another World ☢

News From Your Corporeal Host

  • I wrote a post on Medium about how to use Twitter bots to fuel your writing. "Ten Twitter Bots to Follow for Writing Inspiration."

  • A few of my poems were reviewed recently, read more on my blog. "Recent Poetry Reviews."

  • My short story, "The Joy of Baking," about two bakers who help souls through the afterlife, will appear in Luna Station Quarterly in June. 

  • I have two poems up for the Rhysling Award for the best science fiction, fantasy & horror poetry of 2016. You can purchase a copy of the anthology on Amazon. Voting for SFPA members ends July 1. Vote here. 

  • You can read my #NaPoWriMo poems from the month of April, 30 excerpts available on my blog

Join the conversation

or to participate.