Month: March 2016

Announcing Men Who Changed the World, a StarkLight Press short story anthology!

We are accepting applicants for this prompt-driven anthology, in which winning authors receive a person, locus and quality to fuel their writing project. This anthology features historic figures whose actions altered the course of history and made the world what it is today. These stories won’t be mere history, however; we encourage our authors to inject a supernatural, speculative and fantastic element to their work.

If you are interested in being a contributor or know someone who would be interested, send a query letter including your brief bio and links to some samples of your work to starklightdesk@gmail.com

This contest closes August 1, 2016.

 

 

Sharon Flood – Bio

I was born and raised in the St. Lawrence River Valley in the 1,000 Islands region. I graduated from Thousand Islands Secondary School in Brockville. I wrote some in high school, but after that, my talent lay dormant until I discovered http://www.protagonize.com/author/moonwalker in 2008. It’s a collaborative writers’ site that honed my skills. Through this site I met my first publisher, The Masquerade Crew for my first anthology story – http://www.amazon.com/Forevermore-Travel-Anthology-Sharon-Flood-ebook/dp/B00XSBH4UW. I was chosen as a Mob Boss here: http://www.masqueradecrew.com/p/the-masquerade-mob.html Where I do book reviews for The Masquerade Crew, and on Amazon.com I am very proud to announce that I am involved with all five collaborative novel projects here – http://www.collaborativewritingchallenge.com. They operate out of New York city. I also have stories published in their Halloween, Christmas and Easter horror anthologies.
I was very lucky to get involved with an independent publishing company out of Dawson Creek, B.C. http://starklightpress.com/ this past year. I’m so thrilled to be part of their staff as line editor. I have stories in Steam punk Christmas, and hearts Asunder, A Valentine’s day horror anthology. Starklight Press has published a lot of my most recent work, such as three ongoing collaborative Science fiction novels involving the Galactic Armed Forces universe.

Sharon’s prompts for Shamrocks, Saints and Standing Stones were Standing Stones, Ireland and the 1970s. Here’s an excerpt from the story she crafted from these three ideas:

St. Patrick’s day Ireland, 1972

Creevykeel Court Cairn, County Slive – the crack of dawn

A penny whistle, Uilleann pipes Bodhrán and guitar

Four young men in their early twenties.

Felix pulled his 1967 sedan off of the Donegal road to Cilffony onto the soft gravel shoulder. It was still fairly dark. The sun had not yet peeked over the horizon. The other three men – Adrian, Cecil and Declan got out and looked around, not that there was much to look at, yet. They could see the ancient layout of the enormous standing stones that formed the Creevykeel Court from the road. Felix went around to the boot of the auto and dragged out a butterfly net, a camera, a flashlight and a metal ice chest cooler full of stout.

“Best get yer stuff lads. It could be a good wait. Adrian, got yer penny whistle?” Felix asked.

“Always. Not that it’ll help. Sun’s not even up yet. Why are we?” Adrian grumbled.

“Ye know why. It’s St. Patrick’s day. Fairies will be out an’ about, celebratin’. Me da’ said this was one of the better places to find ’em.”

“Do ye have any idea how daft that sounds?” Cecil said.

“No one’s twistin’ yer arm, Cecil. Ye can back out now if ye want. Stay here and wait fer us. Ye’ll be sorry when we’re rich ‘n famous, and ye’re … not,” Felix finished with a lame sigh.

Sharon also answered our interview questions for this St. Patrick’s Day anthology:

1. What’s your most prominent memory of St. Patrick’s Day? 

I don’t really have one. We made green construction paper shamrocks in grade school to tape on the school windows on March 17^th. Later on at work, we were encouraged to wear something green on March 17^th. I may have watched one or two St. Patrick’s Day parades on March 17^th, but it wasn’t a big deal in our house, although my paternal grandparents were from Ireland. It wasn’t a holiday we ever celebrated.

2. Name the part of Irish culture you are most happy to lay claim to and why- is it Guinness? Irish music? The Book of Kells? The Fighting Irish?

Irish Music. I love it. During the 1970’s and 1980’s we went to a few Makum and Clancy concerts, and Irish Rovers concerts. We have several of their LPs. Carlton Show band was another favourite. More recently, I have a few Rankin Family CD’s. They’re Canadian of Irish descent. They sing mostly Irish folk. I like Celtic music because it’s mostly folk rock, which I like very much.

3. What are your thoughts on working with this sort of writing exercise, fueled by prompts? How did seeing the prompts of your fellow authors and chatting online together with them about the work affect your process?

It’s been fun coming up with ideas to work with for the prompts. It’s like having a road map for your story, without having to pick your ideas out of the ozone. It made research a lot easier, because I had specific key words to look up. When I see some of the other prompts I realize how lucky I was to get mine – Standing Stones, Ireland, 1970’s. These are all easy subjects to find. Some of the other prompts – not so much. The prompts were picked out of the hat. This time the hat liked me.

 

 

You can read Sharon’s story in Shamrocks, Saints and Standing Stones, available March 10 from StarkLight Press!

Chris Musgrave joins StarkLight Press from the U.K, where his wry wit and skilled pen combine to make excellent fiction. His prompts for Shamrocks, Saints and Standing Stones were 1940s, Las Vegas, and a Magic Doorway. His gripping story, Pest Control, is excerpted here:

 

‘Why don’t you tell me why I’m here, Mr Powers. How can I be of service to you this evening?’

‘Well, Mr St.–‘ I give him a look. ‘Paddy, we’ve got a little…’ He waves a hand in tight circles, searching for the right word. ‘…Pest problem and I’m told you’re the man who knows how to deal with it. Quietly.’

I lean in closer and lower my voice. ‘What kind of pest?’ I ask. ‘Ogre under your covered bridge? They’re a troublesome bunch o’ buggers them, but mostly harmless. Bean sidhe hogging the cabaret stage?’

‘Dragons. We have dragons.’

You can read all about how Mr. Powers deals with his supernatural infestation in StarkLight’s St. Patrick’s Day anthology, due for release March 10! Until then, you can learn a bit more about this tale’s author:

 

Chris Musgrave has always enjoyed a good story, so much so that he’s spent the last twenty years trying to write one of his own. His passion is for horror but he’s just as content with a good urban fantasy or speculative fiction.

He lives in Yorkshire — a remote area in the north of the United Kingdom known for its tea and strange wildlife — with his wife, his son, and an army of freeloaders which he kindly refers to as ‘characters’.

When he’s not writing fiction, he’s blogging over at www.chrismusgravewriter.com or as a contributor at www.thesarcasticmuse.com. 

1. What’s your most prominent memory of St. Patrick’s Day? 

There was this one time when I drank so much that I woke up stark-naked and covered in green-tinted vomit…no wait, that was a Tuesday…Saint Patrick’s Day, you say? Never heard of it.

1. Name the part of Irish culture you are most happy to lay claim to and why- is it Guinness? Irish music? The Book of Kells? The Fighting Irish? 

Very little beats the Irish when it comes to music. Each song, like good fiction, paints an eddying array of pictures in your mind. The same ballad can bring a tear to your eye, pluck at your heartstrings, fire up your patriotism, and have you clutching your sides in laughter.

I was raised on Irish music: traditional and modern. My parents will remind me of the day my brother and I attempted to sing along to The Pogues in the back of the car, and my wife will no doubt remember my late night rendition of Buachaill ón Éirne (the less said about that, the better). It brings me comfort, my little guilty pleasure, and every day it inspires my writing in one form or another.

1. What are your thoughts on working with this sort of writing exercise, fueled by prompts? How did seeing the prompts of your fellow authors and chatting online together with them about the work affect your process?

While I tend to thrive on prompts, I did struggle a little with this one and I think the reason was tied to the era. I do write fiction in historical and futuristic settings and I always revel in the challenge of setting my story outside of “current time”. However, for some reason, the time prompt put me on the back foot during the research and drafting processes.

I will admit to some jealousy when I first saw the prompts of a number of my fellow authors. This was quick to pass and, once the initial excitement gave way to the crushing weight of potential ideas, there was little I could do but start writing.

Of course, the first (second, third, sixth) ideas went in the bin (garbage, for my friends across the pond), but new ones arrived just as fast. Unfortunately, this was around the time that the Facebook group became highly active and the occasional back-and-forth chased yet more ideas from the grasses of my brain in much the same way Patrick chased the snakes from Ireland.

Seriously though, it pays to have a group of writers/friends around your level of insanity to bounce ideas off. Every suggestion is gold, even if it doesn’t fit your current story or even the current prompt. Write them all down and save them for a rainy day and then, when that day comes, you can kick back, raise a cold one and say “Sláinte mhaith!”.

 

To kick off our countdown to St. Patrick’s Day, StarkLight Press is featuring interviews with the gifted authors who helped make Shamrocks, Saints and Standing Stones: A StarkLight St. Patrick’s Day Anthology.

Our first interview is with Krista Michelle, whose piece, Journal Through Time, is based of the three prompts given her: the year 2000, New York, Faery. From this Krista wove her masterful St. Patrick’s Day tale.

When Krista Michelle isn’t travelling, working, spending time with family and friends, or misplacing her manuscripts; you’ll find her in coffee shops throughout her small British Columbia town, creating stunning fantasy worlds and speculative fictions. Her works include the collaborative novel, “The Concierge” and more short stories than she can count. She’s currently drafting her first independent novel, “The Keys”, and hopes it will be completed before she gets to the bottom of her coffee mug! You can check her out on Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorkristamichelle

Krista answered our interview questions about the holiday and this innovative writing assignment:

1. What’s your most prominent memory of St. Patrick’s Day?

My most prominent memory of St. Patrick’s Day has been from when I was a child at school. We wore felt Leprechaun tophats, and coloured shamrock colouring pages, and wore green! If you didn’t wear green, you were likely to get a wee pinch from the other lads and lasses, in typical leprechaun tricks faerie style

2. Name the part of Irish culture you are most happy to lay claim to and why- is it Guinness? Irish music? The Book of Kells? The Fighting Irish?

The Irish culture I was most happy to lay claim to, was probably the knowledge that I am ¼ Irish descent: my Grandmother on one side was brought to Canada as a baby out of Ireland, and I always found it intriguing. I studied a lot on Irish culture when I was younger, and the culture I enjoy most is the farms, Irish music, and Celtic dancing.

3. What are your thoughts on working with this sort of writing exercise, fueled by prompts? How did seeing the prompts of your fellow authors and chatting online together with them about the work affect your process?

I found that working on this sort of exercise, although personally not requiring prompts, has been fun. For me, prompts are ok if required; but, I love seeing where my ideas take me without, also.

Seeing the prompts of my fellow authors and chatting online together with them about the project affected my work greatly. It is nice to be able to write, and share an anthology with, so many talented writers of all ages and levels. I found I was looking forward to their posts about their individual progress, and I was happy to share mine also.

Here’s to future anthologies!!