Submitted by Lori Morgan, Vice President.
Location. Thrower residence, Tulsa
Attending. : Bill, Sean, Greg, BJ, Chris, Lori, Mike, Brad, Sue, and guest Randy
Ritual Questions and Responses
- Who wrote
- BJ wrote four new dark drabbles, one longer horror flash fiction story, one new dark fantasy short story, and a new horror short story.
- Mike wrote 7 – 8,000 words for proposed book “Animals, Beasts and Cryptids,” and in the week before the meeting churned out the last 3.000 [more-or-less] words of “Gate Patrol,” the story he’s been reading of late. It’s finally finished, after he came up with the general outline — 36 years ago!
- Bill is continuing to write on his novel, “They Key.”
- Who submitted
- BJ submitted “A Giant, His Blue Ox, and Me,” to Startling Stories Magazine Annual, Vampires; “Black Vulture Moon,” a horror short story to Dark Moon Books Horror Library Vol. 6 (rejected); “Burial Ground” to New Myths (rejected); “The Tall House” horror short story to Cunning Folk Magazine Vampire Issue; “Two Warriors and the Lost Women,” dark fantasy novella to Psycho Toxin Press; “Commander Dad,” horror short story to the Halloween anthology at Kangas Kahn Publishing; four dark drabbles to Run, Rabbit, Run at Black Hare Press; “The Man with Apple-Green Eyes” to the Campfire Stories anthology at Hollow Oak Press; “Charlie Blackhawk and the Little Cannibals” df short story to Novus Monstrum (never before seen monsters), via Midnight Submissions at Dragon’s Roost Press.
- Bill submitted “The Selfie” to KK Publishing’s planned Halloween anthology
- Who published
- BJ‘s YA, dark fantasy short story, “Deer Woman,” was published in Conspiracies & Cryptids, Vol. 1 by Fantastic Books, a Grey Rabbit/Multiminded imprint of HWDP, Inc.and her horror drabble, “Victorian,” was published in Love Me, Love Me Not: Dark Tales of Love, Lust and Lunacy by Black Hare Press.
- Brad also announced a publication
- Who got paid
- BJ, by Black Hare Press paid for her horror drabble, “Victorian.”
- Good rejections
- BJ, from Utopia SF Magazine for her short story, “Burial Ground.” Fiction Editor Angie at Utopia SF Magazine wrote that “we were really intrigued about the idea of a secret burial site on the Moon,” but “felt the story ended at the part where something interesting was about to happen.”
- Lori, from Nathaniel Webb and the Wyngraf team , who provided in-depth feedback on her story “Ties That Bind.” Full letter below.
- GPIC news
- Sue reported ongoing struggles with her computer.
- BJ had a genuine rewrite request from the editor of Startling Stories Magazine Annual, Vampires (this year’s theme). The editor wanted what he called “a real ending,” and gave her permission to expand her novelette from 12K to 15K words. Still waiting to hear. Also, Knight Writing Press, publishers of Enrapturing Tales sent an email saying reading of submission is delayed by at least another two weeks.
Readers at this meeting
- Greg read from his Dragonboy series.
- Sue read Brad’s story The Pylon.
- BJ read her SF short story “Charlie Blackhawk and the Little Cannibals.”
April meeting will be at the Sinor residence unless otherwise announced.
Full text of Lori’s good rejection letter.
Thanks again for the opportunity to read “Ties That Bind.” Unfortunately, we’re going to pass on it for Wyngraf. It’s just the sort of relationship-focused fantasy we’re looking for, but based on our readers’ notes, I’d like to offer a couple thoughts that I hope you’ll find useful on your writing journey.
In this sort of character-driven story, it’s especially important that the world and characters come to life in the reader’s mind. You might look into the concept of “white room” writing and how to avoid it by setting each scene with a few details. Google should turn up lots of resources on this. For characters, I like Deborah Chester’s idea of “character tags” to help each one stand out in the reader’s mind (https://debchester.wordpress.com/tag/character-tags/). I hope to read more of your work in the future. All the best, Nathaniel Webb and the Wyngraf team.