S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 37

Sub Op

I spotted this open call for submissions over at the Paying Market forum on AbsoluteWrite.com, and while I have absolutely no idea what interactive fiction is -- yes, I am that old -- I'm sure you all do:

"sub-Q is an interactive magazine for interactive fiction.

We are a market for F/SF, horror, mystery, and mash-up interactive fiction. Our authors have had prior works featured in Weird Tales, Strange Horizons, Apex, and Wired, among others. Please see our website for examples of what we are publishing. We like beautiful, moving prose, but we also like pulpy fun! Don’t self-reject. Let us see what you’ve got! If you’d like to submit something, but you’re not sure it’s a good fit, feel free to query via our contact form. We are happy to work with you to achieve your goals.

What We Want

Stories that can be told only on a device (using choice, audio, and/or animation)
Fiction, poetry, and webtoons/sequential art welcome
About 3500 words of one-time user experience (about five minutes of playthrough), 5000 words of all possible user experiences
F/SF, horror, mystery, magic realism, mash-ups
Showing the reader things they’ve never seen before
1st or 3rd person POV

Not Looking For:

Fan fiction
Erotica
Torture
Gore
Revenge fantasy
Excessive sex, violence, or profanity

Guidelines are subject to change. Please review before submitting.

Rates

Our rates for text-based interactive fiction are based on prose word count.

Original: $0.06 USD/word for prose; $0.03 USD/word for interactivity ($0.09 USD/word for both)
Reprints: $0.03 USD/word for prose; $0.015 USD/word for interactivity (0.045 USD/word for both)"

For more information, go to sub-Q's web site here.

Coaster Tags

One little way to go green with your holiday gift-giving this year is to make quilted fabric gift tags that double as coasters, and today I'll show you how. For this project you'll need:

Print Fabric scraps
Muslin scraps (or a fabric light enough to write on)
Narrow ribbon
Fine-point indelible marker
Batting scraps or dryer sheets
Scissors
Wide masking tape
Sewing thread
Embroidery floss
Sewing and tapestry needles
White notepaper
Pins
Iron

Optional: Sewing machine, beads, other embellishments

Press all your cloth scraps, and cut the prints and muslin scraps into the size coaster tag you want plus one half inch (so to make a five inch square coaster tag, you'd cut your fabric into 5-1/2" squares.) Cut your batting or a stack of dryer sheets into the exact size of the coaster you want. Place a piece of masking tape across the center on the back of your muslin (like this), turn it over and write the name of your recipient on the front with your marker:



The masking tape is an old quilter's trick to temporarily stabilize the muslin so you can write on it like paper. Once you're finished writing, remove the tape, and stack a square of your print fabric on top of it so the name and the right side of the print are inside:



Place a square of muslin or a stacking of dryer sheets on top of your two squares and pin together:



Sew along the edge of the muslin square all the way around (like the black lines in this pic), leaving a 1-1/2" gap at the bottom. Clip your corners (like this), turn inside out, and press flat with your iron:



Sew closed the turning gap with a blind stitch, cut a heart shape to fit inside the coaster out of your notepaper, and pin the heart to the coaster:



The heart is your stitching guide. Stitch around it with your embroidery thread.



Thread your piece of narrow ribbon through the corner of your coaster:



Tie it to your gift with the ribbon:



Once they're done with their gift they can use the tag as a little coaster:



You can make these in all kinds of variations:



Some tips: Keep all your beading and raised embellishments on the outside edges of the tag so the center remains flat enough to place a cup on later. You don't have to write names on your tags, you can use an initial (like my K coaster above) or something else that identifies your recipient. One quilter I know makes fabric photo Christmas ornaments like this and uses them as gift tags first.

Swanning Around

I finished my latest crazy quilt tote yesterday, and I'm so happy with how it came out I'm going to make you all look at it:



I made every stitch by hand, which is why some of them are a bit uneven, but my stitching is slowly improving:



I've had this swan lace applique for a while, and couldn't figure out how to use it. Finally I just sat down and made it a center motif, and let the subtle colors in it inspire the embellishment beading:



Sometimes I think too much about how to do something, and the solution is always to just do it, trust myself, and see what happens. Even when something doesn't turn out perfect, it still gives me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes (and with this one, about a hundred stitches I had to pick out and do over.)

Working with materials I love also helps. All the backing fabric for this tote is thin, hand-dyed silk that feels like air when you stitch through it. I went crazy with the beading, which is always fun, and used holographic thread, which makes every inch of the tote sparkle. This will be part of a gift for a family friend who is going through a tough time right now, so I poured a lot of love into it, too. Hopefully it carries as many good thoughts and wishes as the beads and stitches.

All that's left is to fill the tote with goodies and make a gift tag. Tomorrow I'll show you how I make fabric gift tags that also work as a little extra gift.

Homemade Ten

I'm hand-making all my holiday gifts this year, and to encourage any you who want to do the same, here are:

Ten Things I Make as Gifts

Apple Basket: Organic green Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples piled in a nice basket are my default gift when I'm visiting someone I don't know for the holidays. Even if they don't want to eat the apples, it makes a pretty centerpiece for their table.

Book Loop: back in 2011 I reinvented the book mark by turning it into a necklace you can wear while you're reading; I also created some interesting variations here, here and here.

Character Cards: If you have a writer pal and want to make something really special for them, try creating a set of character cards based on their story crews. If they haven't yet published or finished writing anything, make up a deck of character idea cards.

Crazy Needlebook: For a friend who sews or quilts, make my Victorian-era needle keeper by following my step-by-step directions and photos here on the Disenchanted & Co. blog.

Framed Paper Roses: Watch this DIY video to learn the simplest way to make roses out of paper. Glue a piece of background paper to the backing of your frame. Glue your roses in rows on top of the paper-covered backing. The variations on this are fun, too -- if the gift is for a musician, make the roses out of old sheet music, book pages for a reader, or old handwritten notes for a writer, etc.

Holiday Story: Write a short story exclusively for your recipient, print it out and put it in a nice binder for presentation. If you're a journal maker you can also make it into book form for them.

Index Card Journal: This was probably my most unusual homemade small journal, and all you need to make your own is an inexpensive boxed pack of index cards, some old tea or coffee to stain the cards, some theme words, and some small bits to decorate the box base.

Natural Sachets: Learn about sachets and find out how to make a variety of floral, herb and spice sachets here, including a drawer sachet you can make from two old handkerchiefs.

Recycled Calendar Pocket Journal: Make a keepsake pocket journal from an old wall calendar by following the steps and photos in this post.

Toriana Market Bag: Another step-by-step post of mine here shows you how to make a strapped messenger-style bag in virtually any size.

What have you made for holiday gifts that your recipients loved? Let us know in comments.

Just Write

Today I'm off to write something new and post it online before midnight. Everyone inclined to do the same is invited to join me.

My link: More on Twenty-One (click on the title to go to the .pdf), with new material beginning on page 18.

For more details on Just Write, click here to go to the original post.

Image credit: My kid. :)

Off to Write

You know you're behind on your blogging when you go to schedule your next day's post at 12:57 am and there isn't one to schedule. I could have sworn I had one in the queue, but alas, no.

Just as well. I'm unplugging today to knock out some work and take care of some housework and errands. We're running a bit behind on Christmas so I'm hoping to catch up this weekend.

Just FYI, I haven't got a lot planned for the holidays on PBW; I do have to work this month so naturally the clients come first. That said, I'm putting together some inexpensive gift ideas and photos to share in upcoming posts (which I will find the time to write, too.) I might also try one or more of Cooking Light magazine's 100 healthy cookie recipes for fun and show you the results. If you want to check them out for your holiday baking see the thumbnail index here. I'll also be continuing to work a little bit on Twenty-One each week.

See you all tomorrow for another Sunday edition of Just Write, and more of Nex's adventures.

Christmas in Philly

Take a quick trip with this video and see how they celebrate the holidays in Philadelphia (with background music, for those of you at work):

A Very Philly Christmas from Cory J Popp on Vimeo.

Gift Pass Ten

Ten Things I Don't Want for Christmas

Chicken Soup for [Anything] Books: Personally I find reading inspirational story-themed anthologies a bit like being gently and repeatedly hammered over the head with a pillow in which someone has inserted a brick. Also, I'm not currently suffering from anything that requires literary chicken soup. If that should change my eyes are probably going to be too swollen to read, so how about you instead bring me a box of tissues and a nice cup of tea?

Chocolate-Flavored Body Paint: Interesting, but it probably contains sugar, so no.

Gourmet Popcorn: While I do like popcorn, I don't like it so much that I can eat a barrel of it before it goes stale.

Jarred Food Gift-to-Make: As pretty as those ingredients are layered in those mason jars, what you're actually doing is giving me more work to do during the holidays, which I don't actually need, thanks. If you want me to have cookies, make the cookies for me.

Jewelry Holder: I can't wear rings or bracelets or necklaces anymore due to arthritis-related issues, so I gave all of my jewelry to the daughter. I own exactly one pair of earrings, which I wear all the time, so I am my own jewelry holder.

Quilting Gadget: I own them all already. Seriously. Even that handy magnetic wrist pin holder/picker-upper.

Personalized Pillowcases: My guy and I remember which side of the bed is ours (I'm left, he's right.) The cat will also probably either puke on them or sharpen his claws on them, at which point they will become personalized cleaning rags.

Sausage and Cheese Food Gifts: Not healthy or very tasty, and we're watching our cholesterol and chemical preservative intake. If you must food gift us send organic fruit, please.

Smart Technology of Any Variety: I'm not interested in ignoring people so I can fiddle with some device while they fiddle with theirs or stare at the top of my head.

Writers Do It [insert risque phrase] T-shirt: Cute but not something I'd wear. Also, no one wants to think about how I do it at my age, sweetie.

What don't you want for Christmas? Let us know in comments.

Sub Op

Riptide Publishing has an open call for lesbian novel-length fiction: "Have you written a novel-length female/female romance? We want it! Any genre, any setting, any focus. Historical ladies, contemporary ladies, ladies in suspense, romantic comedy ladies, paranormal ladies, futuristic ladies. Any and all female/female romance, send it our way. We're also accepting stories about aromantic ladies in any genre, though for this particular call, such stories should focus on a deep, exceptional friendship between two or more women.

This is an open-ended call; you may submit at any time. Earliest potential closing date for this call is March 1, 2016, though we may elect to run it longer.

Length: 50,000 to 110,000 words

Genres: Any

Heat Levels: Moderately to very explicit, but not erotica. That is, focus of narrative and relationship should not solely be sexual exploration, though at least two scenes with at least moderately explicit sex is preferred unless your character(s) are asexual.

Ending: HEA or strong HFN

Orientation: Lesbian, bisexual (as long as they are currently in an all-female relationship), poly (again, all ladies please!), homo- or biromantic asexual, homo- or bisexual aromantic. Trans, nonbinary, and intersex women are welcome.

Submissions Due: Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Acceptance Letters Sent By: 12 to 16 weeks after submission

Anticipated Release Date: Nine months to a year after acceptance."

No specific info on payment, but looks like they pay at least 40% of net on regular submissions (terms are explained on the author FAQ page here.) I'd definitely query them on payment. For more information on the call, see Riptide's submission guidelines page here.

PBW's Book of the Month

My pick for November's book of the month is The Taint of Midas by Anne Zouroudi, one of the books I found at my local dollar store back in October. This is the second novel in a mystery series featuring Hermes Diaktoros, a Greek detective who investigates the death of an old beekeeper on the island of Arcadia. The series also follows the theme of the seven deadly sins, which if not exactly original provides a decent sense of continuity among what are likely standalone books.

If you're not immediately enchanted by the lovely writing and the realism invested in the characters, this tale may seem a bit melancholy at first (and those of you who are avid tourists of Greece might want to fasten your seatbelts -- it definitely doesn't cater to you.) I stuck through the sadness to follow the puzzle, which is as clever and convoluted as anyone could ask, but I think the secondary characters are what really grabbed my heart. This novel is populated with so many absorbing characters to fall for you'll have a hard time deciding which is your favorite (mine is Sostis, the fishing barber.)

The Taint of Midas also whisked me back in time to the old days of reading mysteries at the libraries I haunted as a teenager. I couldn't get enough of Evelyn Anthony and Virginia Coffman and P.D. James in those days; they were my Agatha Christies. I especially loved stories that took place outside America because they gave me a window to the rest of the world and cultures that were very different from mine. There's so much respect for the craft and the characters and the conflict in those old mysteries; they weren't just thrown together but built carefully, and with a lot of thought and affection and investment by the writers.

Author Anne Zouroudi carries on that tradition beautifully. Now that I've discovered this writer I will definitely be investing in the rest of her series, which should offset the fact that I got this book so cheap.