Doorknobs & BodyPaint
Guidelines
Issue #64, August, 2011
All Saints
Submission deadline: October 15, 2011
Publication date: November, 2011
Send Submissions to:
leilarae2@gmail.com
or
doorknobsandbodypaint@gmail.com
or
riverbabble@gmail.com
or
pandemoniumpress@gmail.com
Shrines spring up in the most unlikely places. Not just the ones on top of mountains, or the ones along riverbeds, or under trees. Shrines appear in back allies, where someone has chipped away a brick and inserted a drawing or clay figure in its place; or, yet again, in the desert, soon to lost to the shifting wins. Shrines are always coming into being. We need them. So, take a moment and write a story within the guidelines for All Saints.
(hoops):
DORSAL CONTEST, Bara Swain, editor
More than 50,000 men, women and children were executed for witchcraft across Europe and North America between the 15th and 18th century. In the United States, 35 executions are recorded. My recent trip to Salem, Massachusetts prompted me to read Elizabeth George Speare’s The Witch of Blackbird Pond, a children’s historical novel published in 1958, and Arthur Miller’s powerful play, The Crucible, published in 1953. Both explore themes of intolerance, reputation and hysteria. As I read Miller’s tragedy, I could hear the hysterical cries of antagonist Abigail Williams, who accuses her neighbors of witchcraft and devil-worship as an act of revenge during the Puritan period:
I want to open myself! … I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!
Write a story of 450 words or less, where a hateful urge or dark desire is acted out under the cover of righteousness and threatens the reputation of others.
DOORKNOBS
1. Maximum length: 250 words.
2. The sub-theme is: hallowed.
3. The year is: 1925.
4. Within the story, you must use this text: enclosing the.HAYWARD FAULT LINE (shake us up)
1. Maximum length: 450 words.
2. The sub-theme is: venerate.
3. The setting is: Delphi, Greece.
4. Within the story, you must use this bit of text: to honor as.TAPAS (tiny morsels)
1. Maximum length: 250 words.
2. The sub-theme is: sanctify.
3. Within the story, you must use this bit of text: observed by.
4. Like seasoning, it is language that makes your story unique. Surprise us.PLANET BETTY, Doug Mathewson, editor (Fantasy and Dystopia)
1. Just like that they left. Millions of people were gone. Most traveled by commercial ships, some by private ship, and a few by ships not registered at all. No ship, no person was from any government. Some refused to go, others regretted not. Emigration was banned soon after the departure. Who were these people and why did they all leave? Those who remained behind must now try and make the pieces fit.
2. Maximum length: 450 words.
3. The sub-theme is: honor.
4. Within the story, you must use this bit of text: the eve of all.CAIRO ROOM
The Cairo Room contains all non-contest and writer's pool selections under 450 words. From the exotic to the post-modern to hypertext to first time writers, this room welcomes all writers.General Guidelines:
1. Send your submission by email, please include your name, postal address, email address, and bio at the beginning of each story; paste your story into the body of your email and send it in rich text form.2. If you send more than one story (three total), send each story as a separate email.
3. This is important. Put the category DK (Doorknobs), HF (Hayward Fault), DO (Dorsal), TA (Tapas), PB (Planet Betty), CR (Cairo Room), the issue #, and your last name on the subject line. (example: DK, 61, Argure) We use a filter for all email; therefore, if you do not put this information in the subject line, your email will automatically go into trash.
4. Do not send your story in HTML format or as an attachment. If you send your story in HTML format or as an attachment, it will be discarded.
Contest Prizes for each section (Doorknobs, Hayward Fault Line, Dorsal, Tapas, Planet Betty):
A Publication Party with a reading of the winning stories.
A copy of Doorknobs & BodyPaint: Fantastic Flash Fiction, An Anthology.
We do not pay money for your published work.
The writers retains all copyright to their work.