Eye Appeal: new flash fiction at MicroHorror.com

My short story contest entry, “Eye Appeal,” is live at MicroHorror.

FREE for your Kindle— Flames of Quiet Light: Thirteen Tiny Tales of Love and Loss

My latest collection, “Flames of Quiet Light: Thirteen Tiny Tales of Love and Loss,” is free for your Kindle until November 10, 2013. Go on and get a copy.

Yours and Mine at Popcorn Horror

In early 2014, I’ll be releasing a horror short story collection titled, “Grim and Grisly Shades of Red.” It will contain thirty short tales of horror and suspense (some of which were originally part of The Man of Shadows series).

The awesome folk out at Popcorn Horror will be featuring one of the included stories every Thursday for the next five weeks. Today’s story is “Yours and Mine.”

The Popcorn Horror website is a horror lover’s dream. They showcase tons of short independent horror films, art, reviews, fiction, and other beautiful nightmares. Follow them on Twitter. Like them on Facebook. Invade their website like you’re a body snatcher. Show ‘em some love, people.

Sincere thank goes to Cara out at PH. I’m so glad you stumbled upon my work, by chance, over at MicroHorror. You rock!

Flames of Quiet Light— Goodreads Giveaway

Flames of Quiet Light: Thirteen Tiny Tales of Love and Loss.

Includes fiction previously published online or in printed journals as well as two brand new tales: “The Divinity of Grass” and “Fifth Grade.”

There used to be a fence here, around this domicile husk. The children, two by two, were ushered through the gates. Small, bare feet hovered above the earth like ghosts, touching air and nothing else. It was the large hands of strangers that swung them over the steps, set them down on the cool tile floor of the orphanage lobby. The boy remembers that when it stormed the window shades would sway like paper arks, and all the caged animals on the curtains- two rabbits, two canaries, two cats, two dogs- would dissolve to whimpers and scratches, broken only by the sound of thunder or the creak of bedsprings in the dark room. The girl has no memory of fur or feathers. She would listen to the rain fall and pretend the lightning bolts were a carnival of cotton candy. Her numb fingers became paper cones for electric blue curls...

-from "The Stormfire Girl

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Flames of Quiet Light

by Angel Zapata

Giveaway ends November 15, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

My poetry chapbook, "An Offering of Ink and Feathers," is FREE for your Kindle today thru Wednesday, October 16th at Amazon. I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to share this post with all your friends and family. And, of course, I’d be grateful for your review on Amazon and at Goodreads.

Excerpts from "The Diary of Noah's Wife" at Treehouse Magazine

My latest work, “Excerpts from the Diary of Noah’s Wife,” is featured today at Treehouse Magazine. Several years ago, a much shorter version, which presented a different set of diary entries, was published at Full of Crow.

An Offering of Ink & Feathers— Book Giveaway on Goodreads!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

An Offering of Ink and Feathers

by Angel Zapata

Giveaway ends August 23, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

An Offering of Ink & Feathers— A Poetry Chapbook

It's my pleasure to announce the publication of my poetry collection, "An Offering of Ink & Feathers." The print version is available now on Createspace and the Kindle version through Amazon. Most of the poems have never been published in print or online.

An Offering of Ink & Feathers is a chapbook of twenty-four poems. It begins with the flight of a moth and the sacrifice of its fragile body. This incident sparks a series of events— physical and spiritual— that takes our author and readers on a journey through love, marriage, fatherhood, divorce, and ultimately to the very brink of death.

I'd like to thank author/artist, Gabrielle Faust, for providing me permission to use her gorgeous artwork for the cover.

And thanks to my fellow writers and readers who have encouraged me along the way. I hope my words will find a place in all your hearts.

Hypothermic Writer Seeks Shelter

As most writers know, the majority of small press and independent publishing markets don’t pay a writer anything. No money at all. Many publishers are unable to or won’t provide a contributor copy as token payment either. This is known as submitting work to a “for-the-love market.” Payment is exposure only. I know ‘exposure’ is supposed to represent the writer’s work appearing in some form of mass media for the benefit of a reader’s eyes. But ‘exposure’— per the Merriam-Webster dictionary— can also mean “the condition of being unprotected, especially from severe weather.” This doesn’t sound anything like ‘love’ to me.

According to the National Homeless Organization.org, “’Between 1999 and 2002, hypothermia-related deaths, totaling 4,607 in number, occurred in all 50 states in the United States (CDC 2006).’ (Note that this does not appear to be specific to homeless; it would include folks lost in the woods, etc.).”

I don’t know about you, but wandering around lost in the woods totally sucks. I don’t want to be homeless or freeze to death. I’d also like to stop shivering.

I guess I’ve just been feeling a bit cold lately and I’m tired of exposing myself. I think it’s time to go back inside the house and sit in front of the fireplace for a while. Yeah, that’s better. I’m feeling a lot warmer already. And oh my, is that an old typewriter…

“Another 100 Horrors” is now available from Cruentus Libri Press!

“Another 100 Horrors” is now available from Cruentus Libri Press in print and for Kindle! 100 writers have contributed horror stories told in exactly 100 words. You can read my tiny tale, “Howl,” within its pages.

Thanks goes out to editor, Kevin G. Bufton.

Also featured is fellow writer, Erin Cole, and her story, “Hide-and-Seek.” If you've never read any of Erin's work, you are missing out on an extremely talented writer. She's author of the mystery novel, "Grave Echoes" and the horror collection "Of the Night." Her work can be found published all over the internet too. You can read her masterful crime story, "7 Seconds," at All Due Respect, for free!

 

Mara, Mara on the Wall at Yellow Mama

My latest story, “Mara, Mara on the Wall” is live at Yellow Mama. The June #38 Issue is jam-packed with incredible fiction and poetry. Go on and spend some time there.

Cindy Rosmus, editor of Yellow Mama, offered me great feedback on my submission. I’m really happy with the end result. Thanks, Cindy!

And a whopping thanks to Paul “Deadeye” Dick for the slammin’ photo he created. It perfectly complements the story.

Poetry Rewind: oh touch me you fool

Digging out some old pieces of mine that were published in printed journals, pre-internet submissions. This 4-line poem was accepted for issue #81 of The Lilliput Review back in 1996.

The Inevitable at One Forty Fiction

Proud to say, One Forty Fiction has published another one of my micro stories, The Inevitable. If you haven't spent any time on their site lately, do so. You can read a dozen stories in about 5 mins.

Submissions are open and guidelines can be found here.

Weather-Plagued at Necon e-Books

I'm happy to report my story, Weather-Plagued, received an honorable mention at Necon e-Books for their monthly flash fiction contest. It will also be included in their year-end anthology. You can read my story, all the other winning and honorable mentions, and view guidelines here.

They are now accepting submissions for their May contest. The theme is "A Recipe for Horror (Food and Drink)." Per their web page, "This is purposefully another very broad topic — your story must simply center somehow around food or drink (eating, cooking, restaurants, vineyards, distilleries, gardens, grocery shopping, etc.). However, a word of warning in advance — much like the culinary arts, our judges are going to favor "gourmet creativity" over "fast food convenience" when it comes to this theme. In other words, if you take an obvious approach to link food to horror (like cannibalism or zombies eating brains), you better knock our socks off! After all, we published a novel about gourmet canibals (THE EPICURE by Holly Newstein & Ralph W. Bieber, available HERE and also as part of our HAUTALA/NEWSTEIN BUNDLE), so the bar's already been set extremely high! Our standard 100 word count limit applies."

Living the Hero Dream at The Story Shack

Devlin was one of thirty-two people who answered the newspaper ad for Superhumans— with REAL powers only— wanted for secret society squadron. My superhero story, Living the Hero Dream, is live at The Story Shack.

My sincere thanks to editor, Martin Hooijmans for publishing it, and to illustrator, James Brown for bringing my characters to life.

The eBook for 10 Days of Madness is now available!

Chris Allinotte has released the 10 Days of Madness anthology.

Book description:

The Madness is Back!

The third annual "Days of Madness" short story anthology is back with twenty new short-short tales that explore the extremes of the human condition, and beyond!

Ride shotgun with a distraught father as he floors it down the highway in pursuit of justice.

Answer the "Babysitters wanted" ad in your local paper, but be ready for the game of your life.

When frogs scream like crickets and mermaids become reality, you've in for a wild ride through ten days of madness.

Features new stories from the pens of Richard Godwin, Benjamin Sobieck, Anthony Cowin, Angel Zapata, J.J. Steinfeld, L.W. Salinas, Matthew Wilson, Jack Horne, Donald J. Uitvlugt, and Chris Allinotte.

Purchase it here.

The Housekeeper reviewed at The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly

Another surprise review of my crime poem, The Housekeeper, over at The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly. It's always wonderful to hear a reader's perspective on one's work. Read it here.

"The 5-2 John Ricotta reflects on Angel Zapata's "Housekeeper", as performed by our friend, Deshant Paul, on Day 27 of 30 Days of The 5-2." —Gerald So/editor

You can read the first review at Michael Arnzen’s Gorelets here.

Vegas at One Forty Fiction

My tiny story, Vegas, appeared at One Forty Fiction this past Friday. One Forty Fiction publishes work that is “140 characters long or shorter. Just as on Twitter, characters include spaces and punctuation marks. Any story longer than 140 characters (even stories that are 141 characters) will be rejected.”

Submissions are open and guidelines can be found here.

Open Submissions and Accepted Work

I’ve been busy, busy, busy crafting all sorts of poems and fiction these past months and it’s been paying off lately (no, not financially, but my heart is satisfied). There’s been a handful of published work thus far in 2013, and the future is looking bright and pretty. Submissions are still streaming out of my inbox at a steady, weekly rate, and acceptances (and rejections) have been aplenty.

Some new work of mine to look forward to in the coming months:

“Mara, Mara on the Wall” appearing online at Yellow Mama (Issue #38, June 15, 2013)

“Howl” appearing in print in Another 100 Horrors from Cruentus Libri Press

“Tattoo,” “The Robotics of Sex,” and “Cryptozoologist” appearing in a flash fiction print anthology from Leodegraunce

“The Inevitable” and “Vegas” appearing online at One Forty Fiction

“Living the Hero Dream” appearing online at The Story Shack

Submissions are still open for the majority of these publications. Follow the links and submit those masterpieces hiding in folders on your desktops.

Open Submissions at Haunted Waters Press and Treehouse Magazine

Haunted Waters Press is currently open for submissions for their From the Depths, Summer 2013 issue. The theme: Conversations. Per their website, “The Summer 2013 issue of From the Depths will feature works whose stories revolve around conversations and the sharing of words and ideas. We are looking for elegantly written fiction and poetry where the heart of the story lies within words shared in conversations between lovers, friends, strangers or even enemies. Submissions need not be dialogue driven. Stretch the limits with conversations of unspoken words and thoughts conveyed through actions.  As always, we seek writing that comes from the heart creating an emotional connection with our readers and poetry that is clear, meaningful and accessible. We look forward to reading your work!”

They are also taking submissions for the Penny Fiction: Flash Fiction section of the magazine. These are stories of exactly 42 words. “The King of Hearts proclaims that Rule Forty-two is the oldest rule in “the book.” The book, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, contains forty-two illustrations and the copyright expired forty-two years after publication. Haunted Waters Press editor, Penny Dreadful, is selecting exceptionally small works of flash fiction to be showcased in Penny Fiction, a regular feature of the literary journal, From the Depths.  Extra points will be awarded for entries with a connection to the Summer 2013 theme, and for those writers who adhere to the rules. Not really. There are no points. Just read the contest rules below and impress Penny with your ability to follow instructions.”

Read all the guidelines here.

 

Treehouse Magazine is hosting its First Annual Treehouse Literary Loot Contest for Unusual Prose! They are “interested in prose that does unusual stuff. In the past we’ve published stories in the form of to-do lists, invisible text with footnotes, survival guides, landlord-tenant correspondence, recipes, and also all kinds of inventive work that was linguistically, but not necessarily structurally, experimental. So if you think your story, essay, prose poem, or genrebender fits the bill, send it our way.”

 

Prizes include:

1.      A one-year subscription to Barrelhouse

2.      A one-year subscription to Booth

3.      A one-year subscription to Carolina Quarterly

4.      A one-year subscription to Ecotone

5.      Two latest issues from Gigantic

6.      A one-year subscription to Gulf Coast

7.      A one-year subscription to [PANK]

8.      A one-year subscription to REAL: Regarding Arts and Letters

 

There are many more prizes and incentives offered. You have until April 30th. Read all about it here.

Good luck, writer friends!

National Poetry Month, The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly, and Michael Arnzen

As April is National Poetry Month, many online journals and e-zines are celebrating poets of old and new. One poetry site, Gerald So’s The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly, is utilizing a blog tour to spotlight small press authors/poets all month long. Get on over to the 5-2 because there are some amazing poets whose work you need to read and support.

It was a privilege to have my work, “The Housekeeper,” originally published last November, chosen for the April 4^th feature (which also has an audio presentation recorded by Deshant Paul). What I didn’t expect was to have four-time Bram Stoker award winner, Michael Arnzen take time out of his busy schedule to talk about my work on his website, Gorelets.

Along with discussing my poem and a winning short story I wrote for MicroHorror, he acquaints us with the fascinating concept of Treffpunkt— “the rendezvous point or gathering place” for writers, editors, and readers to all come together. You can read all about it here.

An absolutely sincere thank you to The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly editor, Gerald So for the publication and to author Michael Arnzen for the much-needed encouragement.

10 Days of Madness: Days 3 thru 7

I’ve fallen behind this week, but I’m trying to catch up on all the astounding fiction published thus far at Chris Allinotte's The Leaky Pencil for its 10 Days of Madness marathon.

Support all these hard-working, talented writers by reading and letting them know you appreciate their words.

Day 3: Donald Jacob Uitvlugt and J.J. Steinfeld

Day 4: L.W. Salinas and Matthew Wilson

Day 5: Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, J.J. Steinfeld, and Anthony Cowin

Day 6: L.W. Salinas and Donald Jacob Uitvlugt

Day 7: J.J. Steinfeld and Benjamin Sobieck

10 Days of Madness, Day 2: Richard Godwin

Today’s installment of Chris Allinotte’s madness features Richard Godwin’s disturbing, “Saturation Point.” It’s loaded with sex and defilement. You’ll probably gonna need a shower after reading it. But hey, you probably need to take a shower anyway.

Day One featured works by Benjamin Sobieck and me. Read "EVP" and "The Frantic and the Dead" here.

10 Days of Madness Begins at the Leaky Pencil

The madness begins today! For the third year in a row, Chris Allinotte is hosting his “Days of Madness” series at the Leaky Pencil. It’s been extended to ten days and this year’s theme is: Frantic. Chris says, “Whatever meaning you take from this term (frantic) is correct. However, in keeping with past years, I'm looking for human on human horror; leave the monsters at home for this one.”

Today’s kick-off is a double feature with Benjamin Sobieck’s “EVP,”

and my tale of frenzied paranoia, “The Frantic and the Dead.”

There are nine more days of astounding fiction ahead, so please pencil in some time to stop by daily and support all these hard-working writers.

You have done another fantastic job, Chris!

Microw 8 and 10 Days of Madness

I'm still recovering from surgery, but I have some exciting updates to share.

Full of Crow and editor, Michael J. Solender, have released issue 8 of Microw: Luminous. It includes photography and fiction from Erin Cole, Aleathia Drehmer, Linda Simoni-Wastila, Kristin Fouquet, my story, “Stargazers,” and many other incredible writers (see below):

It’s free and can be read here.

10 Days of Madness will begin at Chris Allinotte’s The Leaky Pencil in a matter of days. Two of my stories will be featured and were based on the theme of Frantic. Thanks, Chris!

Learn more at The Leaky Pencil.

An Update and Crucifixion Mornings

It's been quite some time since my last post, but I’ve been a slave to the pen. Thus far in 2013, I've had three rejections, two no replies (what’s up with that?), and seven pieces slated for upcoming publications, online and in print. The next few weeks I'll be doing some final edits on new fiction and poems.

A bit of bad news... looks like I may be out of commission for a couple of weeks due to health issues (which includes a surgery), but I should be back feeling better than I have in years. And that's great news.

And since it has been a while, I offer you a poem. Take care!

Crucifixion Mornings

Vermilion joy;

only anger swings a finger in this direction.

The subtle reflex of morning strikes electric perfection

as thought throbs arterial.

One bird, gray against the fevered veil,

speckles itself bright, then dim to burn quiet.

In itself it is common, but face is merely fiction.

Nature bursts forth a bouquet.

An instance:

wings like grape surrender to wine;

amber branches flag rubies of blackened oak;

shadows perfume indigo in dawn-born covenant.

It’s a pretense of obscurity, but bend this elbow,

it will always return to an arm, morsel of the whole.

An ark floating leaf and plume on sea-tossed air

reduces thought to ash and bark of birch.

Only anger dares swing a finger in this direction.

The bird is a dove entangled in the nesting brain.

To mystics it is wide and open as ocean,

but Christ it’s a hole in my wrist.

Copyright © 2013, Angel Zapata

Welcome 2013! Plus an Award and New Fiction

Let me first say, Happy New Year’s to you all. I hope the holiday season was a wonderful time spent with family and friends. We here at the Zapata household had a lovely time together. The wife and I took almost three weeks off from the day jobs to share time with our children (and it’s killing us to head back in just two short days).

2012 was full of ups and downs, both as a writer and as a husband/father. I’m expecting great things for 2013. I can’t say I’ve made any writer resolutions, but I have made some in my personal life, and I intend to keep them.

Okay, let’s see about recent writer news. Bewildering Stories has seen fit to select my story, Carrion Folk, as the recipient of the 2012 Mariner Award for most outstanding flash fiction work of the year. This is thrilling. Although the story is a work of fiction, there’s much truth in its depiction of emotional and physical abuse and its lasting effects on family members, especially the children. There’s a lot of me in its words.

In Between Altered States has published episode 32 online and my story, The Stormfire Girl appears in its pages. They are currently open for theme-based submissions. Read their guidelines. Thanks to editor—and gifted poet—Aleathia Drehmer.

Take care,

Angel