We submitted JDP’s 2012 Pushcart nominees this past Friday and they were:
“We Left Him with the Dragging Man,” Graham Tugwell
“About the Hiding of Buried Treasure,” Kimberly Lojewski
“Murmuration,” Ryan Werner
“Paper Heart,” Ally Malinenko
“For Kylie,” Matthew Burnside
“How I Upstaged Anne Frank,” Robert Buswell – forthcoming this week.
Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and thanks to all the great writers who share their work with Jersey Devil Press.
"My Little Cthulhu" figure designed by John Kovalic.
We know you’re busy setting pen to paper crafting devious, speculative (possibly metrical) verse for our recently unveiled Poetry Issue, but we also wanted to give you the what-for’s and how-to’s on the second of three special editions JDP will be publishing in 2013.
Simply put, we’ve always wanted to do a Lovecraft issue. But not just the standard collection of pastiches, because there are lots of other people around doing that and doing it well. So…inspired by Gaiman stories like “A Study in Emerald” and “I Cthulhu,” we’re looking for something special…a mash-up of one literary style or theme with ol’ Howard Phillips to create something new, ideally something dark and ferocious, very possibly with a healthy dose of humor. In short, write Lovecraft like Neil Gaiman!
Guidelines
1. No copyright infringement. We’d love to see Batman fist-fight Nyarlahotep as much as the next quirky lit mag, but we can’t publish characters that belong to someone else. So whatever you’re going to mash-up with Lovecraft, make sure that either a) you created it or b) it’s in the public space. Related: since Neil already went to town with Sherlock Holmes and won a Hugo for his troubles, you might want to scratch that character off your list.
2. No trunk stories. Look, we love Innsmouth Free Press and things like the Cthulhurotica anthologies by Dagan Books, but if they’ve already rejected you, we’re probably not interested. (Unless they said, “Wow, this is something like Neil Gaiman would write!” But they probably would’ve accepted it if that was the case.) Bottom line: conjure something fresh from depths of outer space for us. We want a new indescribable color not the same old ones. (Heh, get it, “Old ones?”)
3. Neil Gaiman is not allowed to enter. That just doesn’t seem fair and possibly could create some universe-ripping paradox. (So get to work on the script for Stardust 2, pretty boy.)
4. Read back issues of JDP. It’s generally sound advice in and of itself, but it’ll also give you an idea of the stuff we like to publish.
5. Though with time we’ve grown to love and respect flash as an art form, we’re going to pass on it for this issue only. We’re looking for solid short stories, a tale of 3,000 to 7.000 words. The best three to five will make the final issue, to be published in July.
6. Deadline for submissions is May 1st at approximately 11:47 pm, East Coast time, give or take fifteen minutes. But, seriously, don’t cut it that close.
7. Submit your story here and good luck.
Finally, if this proves to be a success, we will consider a special issue devoted to “Write a Duran Duran Biography Like Neil Gaiman.”
We propose Bono sell limited-edition, signed Irish mullet replicas to help raise additional funds.
That always struck me as kinda harsh. Let’s thank God other people are starving instead of me? Not exactly what you want to throw on your Christmas card.
Fast forward a zillion years and I think I have a better idea of what Bob Geldoff was trying to get at with that lyric. Move my house a few miles east and, well, maybe it’s not all there any more. Maybe the kitchen was last seen around the Azores and the better part of the roof is something you need to drive two miles down the highway to find. “Be glad it wasn’t you,” might’ve been a kinder way of putting it than what Bono wound up singing.
That sentiment’s been running through my head a lot this past month. Because in towns neighboring mine and all up and down the (real) Jersey Shore, folks’ lives have been changed forever. We will rebuild, yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that what was here is gone forever. Or that there are people in JDP’s community who are spending these holidays homeless, facing a very difficult future.
So what can you do to help? Simply, um, help.
First stop: remember that thing I said about houses disappearing? Well, one of them was owned by Jon Zois. It was a 150-year-old Princess Cottage — and a big chunk of it’s gone. The damaged home graced the cover of our November Issue and on the back cover was a link to the fund set up to help Jon rebuild. You can go directly to it here.
But let’s say you’re not feeling completely altruistic and want to get something back for your good graces. May we suggest the Springsteen photo raffle being hosted by the good people over at Backstreets Magazine? This is a pretty amazing deal. Donate $25 to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey and you’re entered for a chance to win one of twenty extremely rare and exclusive photo prints, like, say, the photographer’s proof of the Nebraska cover (we’ll let the magnitude of that sink in for a moment if you’re a genuine Bruce fan). Personally I’m hoping for the shot from 1978 taken by Bruce’s girlfriend of Springsteen with the three state troopers who pulled him over for speeding — on Highway 9. (Yes, they let him off in exchange for a picture.)
Speaking of food banks…how much did Sandy suck? It actually (almost) killed one. Project Paul serves the Bayshore Community on the northern end of the Jersey Shore. In addition to providing food to local citizens in need, it also operates a thrift store in Keansburg. Unfortunately, said store (and the food pantry) were under three feet of water earlier this month. So they’re really rebuilding from scratch. Cash donations can be made via PayPal to help this important local resource get back to serving others.
Finally, there’s always that all-encompassing help-blanket known as the Red Cross. Their Sandy fund is a simple, easy way to contribute to people affected by the hurricane not only in Jersey, but all over the Mid-Atlantic region. We’re perhaps understandably focused on our home state, but we know others have been hit just as hard.
So, please help however you can, as much as you can.
Have a great Thanksgiving. And, tonight, well, you know…