Slushy Sunday

So I suck at this blog thing.

Blogging for procrastination this time. We've received more submissions for Sand this time around than ever before.

Must be my new cologne.

First Strange Contest of 2009, Newsletter

Strange Publications will start delivering a monthly newsletter to your inbox next year. The newsletter will include updates about Strange projects, contests, and more. Drop by www.strangepublications.com to sign up. IF you sign up by January 31st, 2009, you have a chance to win a copy of Sand: Strange Tales Year One. One lucky newsletter subscriber will be chosen at random to win.

Another Stitches Update, Pending Sand Opening

Reading has gone well for Fifty-Two Stitches and the line up is nearly complete. At last count, we have 36 stories. Just an observation about Duotrope: our acceptance rate is much lower than the reported 77%. Duotorpe has a nice disclaimer to that end, but when you're on the inside, it can be a little suprising how big that difference can be.

Also, Sand opens for submissions next Monday. Issue #3 (February) is almost full, but we are increasing to three issues a year, so stories are needed.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Fifty-Two Stitches Update

I'm a slacker at blogs. I guess I've been kind of busy.

We have half our stories for Fifty-Two Stitches selected, with more acceptances to go out today. I've been impressed with the input. We should have a tenative schedule set sometime in December, pending all contracts go smoothly, etc.

We'd like to see more dark fantasy, less necrophilia, less second-person. Just FYI.

Fifty-Two Stitches Submissions Update

We've received a number of submissions for Fifty-Two Stitches since Saturday, and accepted quite a few. Reading flash subs is a heck of a lot more fun than longer pieces, and I've personally been impressed with the offerings.

So far, we've picked up some dark fantasy, sci-fi horror, straight cut-em-up horror, psychological horror, and at least one weird/surreal piece.

Keep 'em coming.

What I Like: The Editor Opens his Head

This is a cheat sheet for all of you thinking about submitting to Sand: A Journal of Strange Tales .

I like weird and dark. Characters don't need to die, but they need to have some epiphany or moment of change. Irony is good... although the term "plot twist" has become a dirty word, and rightly so because a twist is rarely done well. Read I Am Legend, then you understand how a master manages to pull one off. Matheson was brilliant. Some stories to read: "House Taken Over" by Julio Cortázar, "The Book of Sand" by Jorge Luis Borges (from which Sand gets its name), "Assembly of the Dead" by Chet Williamson, works by Ramsey Campbell...grab a copy of 100 Hair-Raising Little Horror Stories, a collection of horror, science-fiction, and fantasy with a darker side. Cheap and good reading.

Other tidbits: I feel that The Twilight Zone was the greatest show ever to grace television, closely followed by The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, and Ray Bradbury Theater.

Most of all, entertain without condescension. I don't want ray guns and explosions, but I don't want four pages of meandering conversation about the meaning of rain over coffee, either. Make the plot move, but make it move well. Grab a copy of Damon Knight's Creating Short Fiction. Great lessons.

Keep trying us, don't give up, and KEEP WRITING.

I hope this helps.

Little Ol' Me...

Blame this blog on Aaron Polson, my partner at Strange Publications. He figured I should have a "public face" on the web.

So...Ed Lupak is a high school social studies teacher, editor, and sometimes writer. He was last seen floating in a hot air balloon over north central Kansas with his trusty German Shepherd, Zeb. Ed enjoys a good zombie movie or Twilight Zone marathon. His short fiction can be found in a few dusty, well-worn places if you look hard enough.

I'll try to update this once in a while.