Anthology First #scifi #romance #SFRBrigade

Hi, I'm Pippa Jay, author of scifi and supernatural stories to engage your emotions. I seem to have been unlucky when it comes to anthology calls. Of the several I've submitted to, most were cancelled due to too few submissions. In most cases, I've gone ahead and self published the short story I'd written anyway because why not? (They did get edited first - I never put something out without edits!).

A 2016 SFR Galaxy Award
winner

A Gulf Coast RWA 2013
Silken Sands Self-Published
Star Contest finalist

But in 2012, an author group I was part of (the Science Fiction Romance Brigade) decided to produce their own anthology - a collection of scifi romance shorts to promote the wide selection of stories that the still overlooked and under-appreciated genre had to offer. I really wanted to be a part of it...but I had no ideas. Despite an overflowing Plot Bunny Storage Facility, I wanted something really...well, that would be really something. I put out a call for help on Twitter, where I know several authors who sometimes look to rehome unwanted plot bunnies that they just don't have time to work on. A fellow author threw several ideas my way, and one stuck - a thief and a lawman. I hadn't really written any kind of anti-hero/reluctant hero before, so the idea of a reformed (or maybe not) thief appealed to me.

The second inspiration came from watching Mission Impossible 2. I'm not much of a Tom Cruise fan to be honest, but I loved the original series so I've watched the films. I'm not going to tell you what scene it was because it'll be kind of spoilery, but once I had that first line down, the rest seemed easy. Well, at least until the editor got hold of it anyway... :P

As you might have guessed, my story got chosen, along with seven others. Chuffed doesn't cover it! My assigned editor was a tough cookie (but that's the way I like 'em), and together we carved Imprint into shape. And then the shiny bonus - my story got picked to open the anthology! I was really proud, but also a little scared. What if my opening lines put readers off the whole collection? What if it put them off picking up the book at all?!

8 free SFR short stories in 1
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I needn't have worried. Since its release in 2013, Tales from the SFR Brigade has had almost 12000 downloads, AND was a Night Owl Reviews Top Pick, scoring 4.5 stars. It's currently 4.2 stars on Amazon US too. And it's completely free to download.

Experience love and adventure among the stars in TALES FROM THE SFR BRIGADE, a free digital anthology of eight Science Fiction Romance stories.

* A space captain discovers the cyborg she loves just might be her greatest enemy.

* A mind-wiped prostitute risks all when she recruits a dangerous stranger to help her escape a terrible fate.

* A prisoner-of-war confronts the comrade who loved her, then left her for dead.

* A space-obsessed physics teacher is kidnapped by a far-too-charming alien.

* An apocalypse survivor battles the biomech-enhanced hunter who seeks to capture her.

* A young artist must choose between her comfortable life on Earth or a war-torn space colony with her beloved.

* A daring thief is on the run from the alien law man who is determined to bring her to justice.

* A widowed rebel leader tries to save the last remnants of humanity, one stranger at a time.

From Earth to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, explore the worlds of Science Fiction Romance with stories from Linnea Sinclair, Marcella Burnard, Erica Hayes, Liana Brooks, Pippa Jay, Berinn Rae, Amy Laurens, and Kyndra Hatch.

Download TALES FROM THE SFR BRIGADE for free today.

Find out more HERE.

***

Since the release of Tales, the Brigade has gone on to do seven volumes of first chapter samplers - the Portals - and another anthology - Romancing the Stars - to further showcase the very best that our genre has to offer, and all free (bar RtS). Romance boldly going forth...

Covering the Cover

by Diana McCollum

I have been a part of two anthologies. The first was a collaboration with other Windtree Press authors. I wrote my story. It was edited by other authors. And I had no control over the cover or anything really but my story. One person handled each and some times more than one of the tasks in putting the anthology together.

In the anthology "Gifts from the Heart", released early January 2015, I wrote a very short story "Saved by the Ring". This story is based on a true story my father told me about. The incident took place during WWII. I updated it to a contemporary story.

I felt the book turned out great. I liked the cover. It's hard to please everyone, and the more authors involved the more differences there are of what would work and what wouldn't. So the fact that one person or maybe two were in charge of that aspect was great.

Fast forward a couple years and I had two short stories come out in the anthology "Love & Magick". All together there are six different short stories, from various genres, and by three different authors. There are historical, time travel, a grown up fairy tale, contemporary, western and paranormal.

In  the anthology, Love & Magick my first two short stories were published, "Ghost of a Chance" & "The Crystal Witch".

We all chimed in on what we wanted on the cover. When you think about it, covering all the different genres on one cover would be impossible.

Having three women with their own ideas, almost impossible.

Our cover went back to the cover artist half a dozen times until we finally settled on this one. And this last cover one of us didn't like the fact the lady looked like she was NOT wearing a swim suit.

Although, she could have been wearing a strapless bikini top. So it went back to the cover artist and Karen Duvall of Duvall Design photo shopped bathing suit ties around the ladies neck. A cover artist is an indispensable part of your publishing process. No matter who you hire, the money is well worth having a professional looking cover.

Our theme was romance and each story had some sort of magick in it. I believe our final cover suggests that.

The design of a book cover is so important since that is the first thing that grabs a reader to pick up your book and read the back copy/blurb and buy it. That initial emotional response, so important!

One thing you need to think about is the mood of your book. The colors, patterns, and type of lettering that resonates with your book theme.  "Love & Magick" I believe the cover mood shows mystery, magick and romance. The blues with the moon enhance the mood.

Another way is to check on the e-book outlets for covers in your genre. What is popular right now for suspense, historical, paranormal etc. You want your cover to stand out from the competition. Check out the covers of New York best sellers in your genre. Set up a file on your computer with all the covers you like. What is it that draws you to that cover? Then you have ideas to give your cover designer.

If you are creating your own book design it is better to go simple and sophisticated, rather than trying to cram too much on to the cover making it cluttered and too busy. If the reader's eye can't focus on the simple, she'll move on to another book. Fonts should be bold and clear for your title and your name. 

Always make sure you check your cover as a thumbnail size. Is the design show good as a thumbnail? Most people who buy online will see this thumbnail size first. You want your book to pop and show well in the small size.

Have you read books where you've wondered how on earth does the cover relate to the story?

When I write,  I weave elements of paranormal,  and fantasy into my stories. I always have a Happily Ever After, because I have to for my own satisfaction!  

My hope is that I am able to take you away from your everyday life for a journey that is both entertaining, and fun, and sometimes a little scary, then I've succeeded in my job as a writer.

To purchase click on links:
"Gifts of the Heart" by Windtree Press Authors
"Love & Magick" by Judith Ashley, Diana McCollum & Sarah Raplee

http://dianamccollum.weebly.com/books.html
http://bit.ly/2nld4AC  (visit my author page on Facebook)
@Dianasuemcc   Follow me on twitter

Not the Anthology of Your Childhood Anymore!

by M. L. Buchman

As a young reader I was totally addicted to anthologies, especially in science fiction. I read almost every single anthology of Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke short stories. I particularly loved their interstitial introductions to tell me the background of their stories. I also was a rabid reader of Hugo and Nebula Award anthologies.

Version 1: Anthology Magazine
Then I sidetracked into novels for a long time and actually forgot about my love of the short form. When I became a writer, that carried over. "I don't read short stories, why would I write them?" I kept saying that until an editor got sick of it and said, "I'm making you a lead name in an anthology magazine, get over it. It's title is Christmas Ghosts." "But I don't write ghosts!" I won't use the adjective fulminating to describe her look as she's also a friend...so I'll just go with "disgusted."

So I entered the land of anthologies and short fiction as a writer simultaneously:

Amazon

Okay, so this looks like a perfectly normal anthology from my childhood: a theme, an editor, and multiple authors who were all paid up front. Except it isn't. This is issue #4 in a bimonthly magazine that now is coming up on four years and I've been in several other issues and, I'm told, will be in more to come.

Less than ten years ago this would have been incomprehensible. There are no ads, they pay pro-rates (and no, sorry, they don't accept queries or submissions of any sort). This would have been insupportable in the past. Thanks to modern publishing (e-book and POD and DIY audio) it is now completely viable.

Version 2: My Own Yearly Best Of!
I then took that idea to heart and created my yearly Ides of Matt series. Once my "I don't write short" was busted over my friend's knee, I discovered that I loved writing short stories. For over three years now, I have been writing short stories and releasing them for free on my website (www.mlbuchman.com) at the same time I publish them. I've especially fallen in love with writing romance short stories.

Which had led me to creating my own annual anthologies with introductions for each story.

More Info / Buy Links

But it just keeps getting better:

Version 3: Cooperative Anthology (Box Set / Collection / Bundles)
We all know what they are now. A box set used to be a true rarity (the complete Anne of Green Gables for example), and they literally came in a box. Now authors are creating massive ones with thirty novels all by different authors and smaller ones by two.

I'm presently doing one of the latter with the amazing Regency author Grace Burrowes. As my specialty is military romantic suspense, common ground appeared illusive. But we both wanted to set a story in the ranch country beneath Montana's Big Sky.

Well, no one in traditional publishing would have touched us with a ten-foot pole. Frankly, we'd have been laughed from the room even though we both write contemporary romance series...it's just not either of our core audiences.

But this is the new age, so that didn't stop us.

More Info / Pre-order links

What's perhaps even more curious, we're doing it as a 90-day box set (as in"Grab It Now, Or It's Gone!" marketing mentality). Utterly impossible to our old mindset of how publishing works...worked. Hmm...

Version 4: Unbound Anthology
Sometimes the titles aren't even sold together! I recently participated in a project called Titan World. Ten authors writing separate titles, all linked to an eleventh author's world (Cristin Harber, by permission and with contracts in place). It is more a cooperative marketing tool than an anthology, but it still fits the definition of one...doesn't it? Common theme, multiple authors. But no longer one set? But it is an anthology, they're all set within a single world. Double hmmm...

More Info

Version 5: "Limited by Your Imagination" Anthology
With the changes in technology and delivery now available to authors, the possibilities of ways to anthologize are unlimited! I can't wait to see what happens next.

M.L. Buchman started the first of over 50 novels while flying from South Korea to ride his bicycle across the Australian Outback. Part of a solo around the world trip that ultimately launched his writing career.

All three of his military romantic suspense series—The Night Stalkers, Firehawks, and Delta Force—have had a title named “Top 10 Romance of the Year” by the American Library Association’s Booklist. NPR and Barnes & Noble have named other titles “Top 5 Romance of the Year.” In 2016 he was a finalist for Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA award. He also writes: contemporary romance, thrillers, and fantasy.

Past lives include: years as a project manager, rebuilding and single-handing a fifty-foot sailboat, both flying and jumping out of airplanes, and he has designed and built two houses. He is now making his living as a full-time writer on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife and is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing and receive a free starter e-library by subscribing to his newsletter at: www.mlbuchman.com

My Love-Hate Relationship with Daylight Savings Time by Sarah Raplee

I love the first day of Spring for many reasons—for example, Spring and Fall are my favorite times of the year—but I love the second day of the season even more. On the second day of Spring there are finally more minutes of light than of darkness after the long, dark winter months. What I call “the Dark of the Year” is over.

As a person who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or Seasonal Depression, the more minutes and hours of daylight, the better I feel. Until the days get long enough to remedy my symptoms of increased pain, irritability and sadness; brain fog; a lack of energy and motivation; and a decreased ability to cope with stress, every morning I sit in front of what I call my ‘Happy Light’. 

This lamp produces a special bright light that mimics sunlight. I sit in this artificial sunlight for ten to thirty minutes, depending on how short the days are. The bright light stimulates my body to produce the hormones and neurochemicals I need to function more-or-less normally.

NATURE BRIGHT LAMP

That being said, I dread the change from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time in Spring and the second one back to Standard Time in Fall. If it were up to me (which of course it isn’t), we would remain on Daylight Savings Time all year. I can cope with darkness in the mornings much better than I can cope with an early sunset. (In fact, for many people, being awake at sunrise helps to mitigate SAD). I have a bad couple of weeks after these time changes.

Research has shown that a lot of energy is saved when we are on Daylight Savings Time. Unfortunately research has also shown that adapting to getting up an hour earlier during the changeover from Standard Time is very hard on us poor humans both physically and mentally. For example, there are more auto accidents in the two weeks after the Spring time change than during any other two-week period during the year. (This year we almost lost a close relative in one of those accidents when he nodded off at the wheel.)

According to the Fox News article Seven Ways Daylight Saving Time Can Affect Your Health, rates of strokes and cluster headaches increase around the changeovers in both Spring and Fall. People report being very fatigued during after the Spring changeover and productivity is decreased.

I say let’s save energy all year round and forgo the stressful changeover periods! We humans created the artificial constructs of Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time. We can choose to remain in Daylight Saving Time all year round.

Do the time changeovers cause problems for you or someone you know? ~ Sarah Raplee

Burst into Spring

By Courtney Pierce

There’s a reason Stravinsky wrote the “Rite of Spring” back in 1913. The shock of the new. Dissident and harmonic. Smooth and violent. The piece embodies our inner core

of change from winter to spring with all its raging hormones.

The spring season begins and ends with weather, the tease of one warm day after a crust of morning frost. The birdbath yawns to reject the decomposing leaves. Heat waves whirl and retreat, but not enough to push back dormant eggs of hatching insects. In the early morning hours, birds awaken with a piccolo call for their species. If one stands in the dark to listen, breath won’t make a sound as it streams and dissipates. In an instant, clouds boil and blacken to drop an opaque curtain of hail.

I love the spring season, the renewal of it the earth, the savagery of its power to awaken

our primal instincts. The promise of fresh vegetables begins with taking a chance on the wild weather: tornadoes, wall clouds, and flying fat snowflakes. I’m never more motivated and childlike than with the unpredictability of spring. Grab a spade and join me to dig in the dirt, grounded in mud. The earth comes out of cold storage and rises up to fertilizer-heated starters of broccoli, carrots, beans, and peas.

With spring, too, there comes an unseen energy that powers animals from within. Romance is in the air, at any age. I can attest to this. At 57, I’m getting married in June, and I feel like a teenager. The pull of a mate is indescribable, and not just to take out the garbage or fix a faulty electrical outlet. This mate's a keeper for airy and heavy conversation, wishes and dreams, and for fantasies of life. I'm a lucky girl this spring.

For thousands of years, not much has changed in our internal commitment to the change of season. Well...maybe one exception . . . the post office. What ever happened to “No matter rain, snow, sleet, or hail, the post office will deliver the mail”? In this last snowstorm, it took two weeks to get my mail. For some reason, though, it only to took days to get my WiFi and cable TV back. And even less for the only entry in the mailbox: my honeymoon lingerie. Hmmm....the old and the new.

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her bossy cat. She writes for baby boomers. By day, Courtney is an executive in the entertainment industry and uses her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor and mystery. She has studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, she is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, She Writes, and Sisters in Crime. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal. 

Check out all of Courtney's books at:

courtney-pierce.com and windtreepress.com. Both print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com

 

The Dushane Sisters are back in Indigo Lake. More laughs, more tears...and more trouble. Protecting Mom's reputation might get the sisters killed―or give one of them the story she's been dying to live.

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight."

Colorful characters come alive in Courtney's trilogy about the Dushane sisters. Beginning with The Executrix, three middle-age sisters find a manuscript for a murder mystery in their mother's safe after her death. Mom’s book gives them a whole new view of their mother and their future. Is it fiction . . . or truth? 

Get out the popcorn as the Dushane Sisters Trilogy comes to a scrumptious conclusion with Indigo Legacy. Due out in early 2017.