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- Best-selling award-winning author Cerece Murphy on advice she'd give to the Cerece of 12 years ago
- Discount code for our next live workshop with Cerece Murphy
- Submissions open
- Meet our newest instructor, award-winning author KC Grifant
- Read this week's community drabbles—the theme is "misdirect"
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Best-selling award-winning author and Reach Your Apex instructor share what Today Cerece would tell the Cerece of 12 years ago. It's actionable advice drawn from years of trial and error that have resulted in 13 published novels.
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Submissions open courtesy of Scribophile
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Many thanks to Scribophile for curating this week's open submissions. Scribophile is a free welcoming community of writers where you're guaranteed to get solid critiques on your work. You can also get 20% off your first purchase using coupon code APEX20.
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- 📰 Penelle Magazine is open to submissions of poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and reviews of indie press books. Send them up to 7,500 words of prose writing or up to five poems. They’re particularly interested in hearing from writers with a connection to the southern United States. No submissions fee!
- 🎶 Jerry Jazz Musician is open to submissions of stories, essays, and poems inspired by jazz music and culture. Send them up to 5,000 words of prose writing or up to five poems. No submissions fee! They also have a short fiction contest with a $150 prize.
- 🪴 Dug Up Magazine is a new magazine looking for horror stories of up to 5,000 words. No submissions fee!
- ☮️ Unlikely Stories is looking for stories, essays, and poems inspired by sociopolitical activism. If you manage to wade through their rather muddled submission guidelines, you’ll eventually see that they want up to 8,000 words of prose writing or up to six poems. No submissions fee!
- 🎥 Bright Wall / Dark Room is open to submissions of essays engaging with movies. Send them a pitch or a completed work between 2,000 and 4,000 words. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🌟 Amazing Stories is open to submissions of optimistic speculative poetry. Send them up to three poems of up to 60 lines (though under 30 lines is preferred). No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🧟♀️ The No-Sleep Podcast is open to submissions of short horror stories to be read out loud. Send them stories of up to 8,000 words (although the ideal range is 2,000 to 2,500). They also prefer stories written in first person. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🌏 The Cellar Door is open to submissions of short horror stories on the theme of “Phantom Worlds”. Send them stories between 2,000 and 6,000 words. Note that this call will close once they receive enough suitable submissions, so don’t delay. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 📕 Aethon Books is open to submissions of sci-fi and fantasy novels. Send them a cover letter and the first 50 pages. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 📗 Bywater Books is looking for novels, memoirs, and graphic novels by queer writers and writers of colour. Send them a full manuscript (or outline for a graphic novel) and completed query form. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🪐 Orbit Works is a digital publisher open to submissions of full-length sci-fi and fantasy novels. Send them a full manuscript along with a short pitch and author bio, and an outline for future instalments if this is a planned series. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 📘 Martin Sisters Publishing is open to submissions of full-length novels and nonfiction work. Send them a query letter, marketing plan, and the first 10 pages. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
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Meet Our Newest Instructor
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We're extremely fortunate to have KC Grifant join Reach Your Apex as an instructor.
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KC is an award-winning writer who writes and edits internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west stories.
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She's published dozens of tales in podcasts, anthologies and magazines, including: PseudoPod, Andromedia Spaceways Magazine, Unnerving Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Dark Matter Magazine, Sley House Presents, Fission Magazine, Tales to Terrify, the Lovecraft eZine; Musings of the Muse; Dancing in the Shadows—A Tribute to Anne Rice; Stoker-nominated Chromophobia, Fright Mare: Women Write Horror, and many others.
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She teaches genre and short story workshops and has been a moderator, panelist or speaker at dozens of conferences and events. She co-founded the Horror Writers Association San Diego Chapter and co-chaired its flagship event, StokerCon, in 2024. She's a member of the SFWA and served as a mentor. She also works as an award-winning science writer and editor and likes to haunt coffee shops, comic book stores, labyrinths and carnivals.
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This Week's Community Drabbles
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For your reading pleasure, here are this week's awesome drabbles. The week's theme was "misdirect." If you'd like to join the fun, sign up here https://reachyourapex.com/drbl
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(Presented in the order they were received.)
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“You’ve failed twelve times,” Michael replied. “You SURE you want to bet again?”
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But he already knew the answer. He could see the desperation in her eyes; the starving child hugging her skirt-hem.
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She placed her wedding ring on the table.
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He rotated the cups. “Round and round, where it goes, nobody knows.”
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She pointed and Michael flipped it revealing the pea.
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She gasped. Tears splattered her winnings as she grabbed them.
#
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“You let her win, why?” Another shark asked after she left.
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“People will accept luck, even when they won’t accept charity,” the archangel replied.
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There are many ways to reach the Goblin Market. I know but one.
Begin at dusk. Follow the road till it fades to a rutted track between the leaning cypress and wait for the sun to snuff itself on the black water. Fight the urge to flee.
When the bellows of night reptiles reach a crescendo, a light will appear, blue and flickering. Do not follow, no matter how it whirls and beckons. Turn your back and walk until the water swallows your ankles, elbows, mouth. Close your eyes. When you open them again, you will be in the Market.
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Final Audition for College Scouts
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Three seconds left. Down by two to Saint Mary’s. Lamont dribbled from half court, the defender’s eyes locked onto his. He pushed to drive towards the hoop—the defender followed—then Lamont halted. As he jumped his knee popped. Fire streaked up and down his leg. He released the ball and collapsed to the court with a series of thuds—knee, hip, shoulder, head—each accompanied by radiating pain as his body made contact with the hardwood.
Lamont grabbed his knee, feebly attempting to hold it together and quench the flames. Heartbeats pounded his ears—between two beats…a gentle swish followed by the roaring crowd.
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Knights rushed into the dragon's lair by the dozen with steel in their hands and greed in their hearts. Many perished or returned burned without and scarred within. They brought no gold home and took no brides to their beds.
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The most devout and righteous of the princes sought the evil demon that was said to whisper evil in the hearts of weak men. To prove their worth they risked their innocence only to have the demon reveal their true dark natures to the world.
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Upon the princess' lap lay a drowsy cat, purring sweetly, stealing her heart with ease.
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Thank you so much for being a newsletter subscriber. We love our supportive, weird, and wonderful community. Don't hesitate to reply to this email if you have something to tell us. I read every email and will respond.
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