I’m planning a submissions party this weekend and you are all welcome to join me on Twitter. I have at least one story that that I should be sending out for reprints and a second that I’m not sure when, offhand, the reprint rights revert. I need to do market research, update my spreadsheets, and get submitting. I’ve also got some stories that have been sitting gathering dust and that’s a crying shame.

Jaym was talking about a future anthology project themed around Aztec steampunk on twitter today and I cracked a “Maize-powers, activate” joke. The projects hash tag is now #maizepunk. You’re welcome. There’s this draft of a story that I wrote last year, set in Central Mexico, that played off of some Aztec mythology combined with Lucha Libre. I might just have some ideas on how torewrite that now, and I would love another chance to crack the table of contents of one of Jaym’s projects. I do so admire her work.

Speaking of Jaym, she’s also co-editor of Crossed Genres. The theme for this month is Superhero. I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t submit to the 20spec anthology (but I wasn’t going to send something I wasn’t happy with). There’s still time before this deadline closes and the broader theme gives me more room to tell the character’s story without getting too caught up in the 1920’s aspects that I was stumbling over a little. Deadline is January 31st.

Call for Submissions: Like Heaven or Hell

Take flight or wallow in sin… or both. Which do you find more erotic, the strange visions of Hieronymous Bosch, or the muscled and sensuous heavenly creatures of Raphael? Angels and demons have played on and preyed on our erotic fantasies for centuries. We would like to see stories that deconstruct what it means to be an angel and/or a demon and how that translates into sexual relations. Play with the symbolism of light and darkness between your characters–what happens when they collide? Does one take over another? Explore gender roles and take risks that break or exploit stereotypes. (The angel is not always the sweet and innocent one…)

I’ve been sitting on a story for a year now that is one of my favorites, flaws and all. It was one of the stories that got me into Clarion. It starts with a amnesiac fallen angel, who can be either (or both) male and female at will and becomes an escort to survive the human condition. Somewhere along the way I mash up all sorts of religious and mythological entities. The story needs some clarity but this sounds like a really good fit for what I was trying to do. The deadline is February 15th.

Last, but not least, is the story I’m most excited about and can’t talk about yet. I have the opportunity to submit a story to a closed anthology. Just being invited is an achievement as far as I’m concerned. The rest is up to me writing a kick ass story and a bit of luck that it fits what the editor is looking for. I’ve already started work on that project. The deadline is in mid-March but I’d like to be finished sooner rather than later and I expect to go through several revisions before I’m satisfied.