Calling All Super Readers!

As one of my daughters' favorite cartoons says: Calling all Super Readers!

Did you love Spring Fevers? I don't mean just the story by your buddy or the one you wrote, I mean the whole enchilada, cover to cover, e-pixel to e-pixel (or whatever they're called.)

If so, I'd like to speak with you. It can be over the phone (my dime), or via email. Heck, I'll even send you an address if you prefer a written item of snail mail. Whatever way you prefer, that works for me.

What's in it for you? Well, the first five Super Readers will be sent a free copy of The Fall when it comes out. We're working hard to produce it and it's making progress. But part of what I'm looking for is how to make it and the next works of Elephant's Bookshelf Press also as strong as they can be, too.

Super Readers, please send a note to antholsubs@gmail.com. You can even use Super Reader in the subject line. You deserve it!

Guidelines for the Coming Apocalypse: A Call for Submissions

I’ve decided to expand the pool of writers for the next anthology from Elephant’s Bookshelf Press. In light of this, it behooves me and our editorial team to share some clear guidelines about what we’re looking for.

One thing shouldn’t need to be said, but I’ll say it anyway: We’re looking for quality. We’re not the Statue of Liberty. We’re not looking for your tired or poor stories. If you have one yearning to breathe the free air outside of the trunk where it’s sat for the past twenty years, make sure you give it some mouth to mouth. Inspire your manuscript with a healthy dose of vitality. That worked for some writers published in Spring Fevers.

What we’re looking for right now are submissions for The Fall. It will be an anthology of short stories that are dystopian, apocalyptic, or post-apocalyptic in nature. More to the point, they will deal with endings and subsequent beginnings. To be sure, we writers can be a depressing lot if left to our own maudlin devices. And some of the stories will carry a dark cloud along with them, which means we’ll need some that, perhaps, blow those clouds away and cleanse the palette and the prairie.

I’m looking for one submission per author. Sorry, no previously published stories. If it’s appeared on your blog already, let me know, but that is not an automatic kill in my book. Send submissions to antholsubs@gmail.com. The deadline is August 17. If you have something ready before then, you are most welcome to send it early. It will definitely help us stay on schedule. Sorry, there's no payment for an accepted story. .

These stories can take just about any form: science fiction; young adult; middle grade; heck, even romance if you can swing that. The restriction is erotica. It’s not that I don’t appreciate a well-told sexy story, but they're not always appreciated by readers – or writers whose stories appear right after the erotica, for that matter.

The maximum length is 10,000 words. That’s a maximum, not a target. None of the stories in Spring Fevers came close to five figures.

For ease of formatting and time-saving on the copyediting and final proofing, please adhere to the following format styles:

·         Use Times Roman;

·         12 pt. type;

·         1" margin all around;

·         Double-spaced lines;

·         Do not add extra line between every paragraph;

·         Instead of an extra line between a paragraph to denote a break, please use a single “#”;

·        Paragraphs indented 0.5". Please use the autoformat settings on Microsoft Word for paragraph indentations rather than manually inserting a tab or individual spaces. This feature is found under the ‘Paragraph’ format window;

·        Use a SINGLE SPACE following a period at the end of a sentence, NOT two spaces;

·        Use STRAIGHT QUOTES rather than SMART QUOTES. This is an autoformat/autocorrect feature in Word that, if checked, turns straight quote marks and apostrophes into ‘curly’ quote marks and apostrophes. This can cause formatting issues when the text is converted to a final font and style for publication. Under WORD OPTIONS, click on PROOFING, then on AUTOCORRECT OPTIONS, then make sure the line that says ‘Replace straight quotes with smart quotes’ is UNCHECKED.

Should you choose not to adhere to these guidelines, your story will still be considered. It’s an annoyance, but it’s not a deal breaker. The more you can do in advance, the faster the editing process will go and the cleaner and more consistent the final published book presentation will be.

Because that’s part of what we’re looking to create, too – a clean, consistent book that readers enjoy by authors whose work they want to read again and again. Ideally, you’ll discover that Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, LLC, will produce books and anthologies that entertain the reader and keep them thinking. A laugh here and there is also appropriate.

After all, whether you’re facing the end of the world, the end of a relationship, or the end of a blog post, it’s good to be able to smile and say, “Yeah, that was pretty darn satisfying.”

If you have additional questions, feel free to post a comment here, or you can send it to the email address above. A comment will allow me to respond for everyone. Because if you were confused, it’s possible others were too.

Thanks in advance to everyone!

Author Q&A: J. Lea Lopez

J. Lea Lopez writes women's fiction and erotica, as well as traditional stories. Two of her stories, "The Haricots Verts" and "The Adventures of Sasquatch," appeared in the relationship-themed anthology Spring Fevers, which was published earlier this year.

I reached out to her to get a little more information about what what went into those stories and how she likes to write.

Elephant’s Bookshelf: Tell us a little bit of the background of the stories that appeared in Spring Fevers. Were these inspired by anything in particular or just products of an imaginative mind?

J. Lea Lopez: “The Adventures of Sasquatch” began as a story I'd written a couple years ago for a contest in a magazine that required I cut it down more than I had wanted. I didn't win the contest, and ever since, the story has just been sitting on my computer. I thought it was a great fit with the theme for Spring Fevers. Plus, I was able to go back to the longer version. I polished it up and sent it on its way. The story was partially inspired by my own size 11 extra wide feet. Georgia's frustration with that aspect came straight from personal experience.

“The Haricot Verts” was sparked by the simple phrase "Tell him." It's that little subconscious voice in your head that talks to you, saying all the things you wish you could be honest enough to say. It also turned into a fun little exploration of the second person point of view.

EB:Do you like to experiment in your writing or are you more of a traditionalist?

JLL: I tend to keep to a more traditional form. I have certain preferences - minimal dialogue, not much focus on physical setting. Flash fiction is a fun place to experiment with things that are different, like the second person point of view in "The Haricots Verts." My novels are pretty standard form, though.

EB: The two stories are like night and day. One is a short vignette and the other is longer, fleshed-out story of a single mother who decides to finally put her best foot forward. If I may be so bold, do you prefer the quickie or the extended love story?

JLL: "Her best foot forward." Ha! Love the pun. But ask any woman, and I think she'll tell you there's a time and a place for both the quickie and the good old-fashioned lovemaki--er, love story.

The two stories really are very different. I love them both, but if you were making me choose, I'd have to say “The Haricots Verts” is my favorite. It has all the things I love: tension, a complex relationship, an undercurrent of sexual tension, and a sense of urgency, all in such a little space. It just tugs at something in me every time I read the story.

EB: Do you tend to work on multiple projects at once or one thing at a time?

JLL: I attempt multiple projects, but usually I end up not making much progress on any. For several weeks now, I've been stuck in the "thinking and scheming" frame of mind for about three different projects. I have to buckle down soon and start focusing on one first, then another, so I can actually get something accomplished.

EB: What are you working on?

JLL: I'm working on an erotic short story collection as well as polishing up my first novel, Sorry's Not Enough (not erotic), both of which will be out later this year. Sorry's Not Enough is the story of Charlotte's struggles with family, trust, sex, betrayal, and love. I'm also still in first draft mode with another novel, Confessions of a Non-Believer, about a young woman thrown into emotional and spiritual turmoil after the death of her fiance. Then, way on the back burner (see, I told you I try to do too much at once!) is my planned erotic novel series.

EB: We're looking forward to them, Jen. And we hope you'll find something in your trunk of stories to contribute to our next anthology. Thanks so much for sharing with us Jen!

Friday the 13th, and Beyond

Yes, I know today isn't Friday the thirteenth, and neither is next Friday. Heck, there isn't another Friday the thirteenth till July.

But Mindy McGinnis, author of Not a Drop to Drink, a Young Adult novel I'm really looking forward to reading when it's published in 2013 (get it? -- 13!) appeared today on a newly launched writing community of bloggers called Friday the Thirteeners. So I thought I'd note that. Of course, readers of Spring Fevers will recognize Mindy's name. Her story "First Kiss" led of the anthology.

In her post, Mindy calls attention to a post on garment disagreements with her mother. (Not that she was aware, but I saw this post right after hearing about a garment disagreement between one of my 3-year-olds and my wife. Nice little coincidence.) What is not a coincidence, of course, is that in her post, Mindy's talking about boobs and prom dresses. I have a few years yet before I have to worry about such concerns for either of my little girls, but I'm sure those discussions will cause a fuse in my daddy brain to be lit and possibly lead to a messy explosion of brain matter upon the walls.

By the way, if you're in the Cincinnati area at the end of May/beginning of June, you might be able to catch Mindy at the annual Lori Foster Reader and Author Get Together . It looks like it's almost sold out, so check that you can attend.