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- Lightning Q&A with award-winning author KC Grifant
- Discount code for "Creating Horror Short Stories That Sizzle And Sell"
- Submissions open
- Coming Soon: Writing The Short Story - From Conception To Sale (discount code now available!)
- Read this week's community drabbles—the theme is "extraction"
- Just announced: Live Editing Workshop with Rebecca E Treasure, Managing Editor at Apex Magazine
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Lightning Q&A With Award-Winning Author, KC Grifant
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KC Grifant is an award-winning author who writes speculative stories in the horror, fantasy, sci-fi and weird west genres. She authored the award-winning supernatural western Monster Gunslinger series and Shrouded Horror: Tales of the Uncanny.
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She's editor of Women of the Weird West, and co-editor of Dread Coast: SoCal Horror Tales and Of Terrors and Tombstones. She's a published short story writer, with dozens of tales appearing in podcasts, magazines and Stoker-nominated anthologies. She also co-founded the Horror Writers Association San Diego Chapter! And we're now very fortunate to be able to call her an instructor with Reach Your Apex. Meet KC!
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Q1: What's the last thing you finished reading or watching, and what did you think of it?
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A1: I just finished Severance season 2. It’s such a strange, trippy, and thoughtful show—a dark comedy that can also be very serious at times. I really like it.
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Q2: Do you work to music, silence or some other audio stimulus? If you work to something other than silence, what do you listen to? If you work in silence, how and where do you secure that silence?
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A2: When I’m writing at home, I need music 100% of the time—I can’t write without it. It has to have lyrics, though. Classical music and jazz make me antsy when I’m trying to write. If I’m working in a place with ambient noise like a coffee shop or airport, I don’t need music.
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Q3: Do you experience creativity blocks? If so, what do you do to break them? If not, why do you think that is?
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A3: I don’t experience creativity blocks that much anymore. Since having my first kid, my free time shrank significantly, so I can’t afford to wait for writer’s block to clear. When I do hit a wall with a story, it usually means I’ve rushed or set an unrealistic deadline. In those cases, I realize I have to step back, think through the plot, and figure out where I may have gone off course.
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Q4: What's your most unpopular opinion?
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A4: Even though my family is from Greece, I don’t think feta cheese and olives are tasty. Most people are horrified when they hear this.
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Submissions open
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Many thanks to Scribophile for sponsoring 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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- 🌌 Arcturus is open to submissions of all types of poetry and prose. Send them up to 10 pages of poetry or 5,000 words of prose or hybrid writing before May 31st. No submissions fee!
- 🌋 Vestal Review is open to submissions of flash fiction of up to 500 words. Their current window closes on May 31st. 💰Paying market!💰 $3 reading fee.
- 😇 Monstrous Angels is a forthcoming anthology about morally grey religious horror. Send them short fiction of up to 8,000 words before May 25th. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 📚 Cast of Wonders is looking for short YA stories to celebrate Banned Books Week. Send them joyful short fiction of up to 6,000 words (under 5,000 preferred) before May 31st. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 💨 Smokelong Quarterly is open to submissions of flash fiction of up to 1,000 words. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 💥 Bona Books is compiling an anthology that explores “punk and queer rage”. Send them your angriest writing of up to 6,000 words before May 31st. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🦊 Black Fox Literary Magazine is open to submissions of short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Send them up to 5,000 words of prose writing or up to three poems before May 31st. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🍁 Malahat Review is open to submissions of short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. If you’re a Canadian writer, submit stories of up to 8,000 words, essays of up to 5,000 words, or up to five poems. For international writers, the same applies except that they limit stories to 4,000 words. This window closes on June 30th for Canadian writers, and May 31st for international writers. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- ⚾️ The Twin Bill is open to submissions of stories, essays, and poems all about baseball! Send them stories of up to 3,000 words, essays of any length, or up to five poems before June 1st. 💰Paying market!💰 $3 submission fee.
- 🪖 Exist Otherwise is looking for submissions on the theme of “Soldier Without a Name”. Send them up to 1,000 words in any genre before May 31st. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🖋️ The Speculative Literature Foundation is offering a $1,000 grant to an emerging SFF writer over 50 years old. Send them a cover letter and up to 5,000 words of prose writing, or 10 pages of poetry or drama, before May 31st. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 📖 Tiny Fox Press is open to submissions of full-length sci-fi and fantasy novels. Send them a query letter and the first 10 pages. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🫐 Blueberry Lane Books is open to submissions of full-length speculative women’s fiction and YA fiction, as well as the occasional mystery. They’re also looking for nonfiction reference books. For fiction, send them a cover letter, author bio, and the first three chapters. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
- 🏡 Holiday House Books is open to submissions of books for younger readers. Although they say they accept YA novels, most of their catalogue seems to lean younger. Send them a query letter and full manuscript. No submissions fee! 💰Paying market!💰
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Coming Soon - Saturday, May 31, 2025
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Use discount code wtss10 for $10 off registration.
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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 "extraction." 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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Not the Thousand. Just the One.
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The obsidian scimitar sliced between Mystral’s ribs, shattering into a thousand burning splinters.
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The wraith cackled. “You’ve lost.”
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If a single shard pierced her heart, she’d be his thrall. Forget her family, her home…even Lorith.
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“You’ll never extract them all.”
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She whispered a Spell of Sustaining and ran her blade from sternum to navel. Reaching into the self-inflicted wound, she felt for the pulsing of her heart.
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The aorta severed. Fingers slick with blood, she tossed the pulsing mess aside. The wraith’s eyes glowed red. Finally, it understood. Nothing would stop Mystral.
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“Suck the marrow dry, extract every last drop,” his mother had said. It seemed a cruelty, even undignified, but she insisted. Jacob gripped the femur, having already carved away the muscle, tendons, and grit for their weekly gumbo, but was hesitant, despite the many taboos already violated, to go further.
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"We have chosen predation son," his mother reminded him, her hand on his shoulder a comfort. "There is no shame in it, but what is shameful? Wastefulness."
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Heeding her wisdom, Jacob seized his claw cracker, burst open the bone and began to drink. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter.
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No one is prepared for a colossal hand to reach out from nowhere, pick up towers--the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Tower of London, and other structures with "tower" in their names--and take them elsewhere. But what they expect less is for that hand to reappear three days later, wrapped around a missing tower, to deposit it in a place other than the one from which it was taken.
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It's like a giant rearranging their dollhouse, only now, hundreds of tourists have no idea where they've been for part of their trip, nor how they're getting home.
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“I heard it’s all a scam. There’s nothing actually wrong with you. They just want to steal them. They exchange them like currency.”
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“But then every time you’d go they’d pull one out.”
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“No, that’d make it obvious. They need to play the long game. Make it seem like extraction is the last resort. In fact, the longer they go without pulling one, the more valuable it is.”
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“Just go see them, Carl.”
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“Just get that wisdom tooth out, it’s clearly not doing anything for you. Let the dentist trade it on the black market if they want.”
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JUST ANNOUNCED - GET EARLY NOTIFICATION
June 13, 2025 - 1pm Eastern
Live Flash Fiction Editing Workshop With Rebecca E Treasure
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Want to get your flash fiction edited by the managing editor of Apex Magazine? In this very special live workshop, Rebecca E. Treasure, will edit flash fiction submissions of up to 1000 words from five workshop participants, providing tips and practical feedback that any writer can learn from.
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There are five spots available to submit your flash fiction for editing. They'll be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. As a newsletter subscriber, you can sign up to be notified early when registration opens.
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Unlimited participating audience spots will also be available at a reduced price.
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Click the button below to sign up for early registration notification.
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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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