I wanted to be sure and give at least one more update about the state of submissions to Equus before the submission window closed. As we inch closer and closer to that date, I figured now would be a good time for that 🙂

As I write this there are several unread submissions in the queue waiting my attention so if you read this and think, “Wait! She just said she hasn’t seen [This particular thing] but that’s totally what my story is about!”, take a deep breath and smile. It just means I haven’t read your story yet, but when I do I will probably be pleasantly surprised.

I still haven’t seen the volume of submissions I’d have liked (about 63 in total so far–including those I haven’t read), but if history chooses to repeat itself there will be a big spike toward the end of this month. If you want to beat the rush I recommend submitting before the final week if you can.

My shortlist is very short, and so far it only contains creatures that we would describe either as ‘horses’ or ‘unicorns’. There are no donkeys, zebras, centaurs, kelpies, hippocamp, Pegasus, trojan horses, hippogriffs, longmas, pookas, Uchchaihshravas or… well, something you’ve totally created that no one else has already given a name to. I want this anthology to represent as wide a range of horse-like creatures as it possibly can, so if you’re stuck for something to write about you can increase your chances of inclusion by choosing something outside the obvious. This is not to say you shouldn’t write a horse or unicorn story if that is what you are inspired to write, but if you want to submit but are still looking for inspiration, I’d suggest looking at some of the less used horse-like creatures for ideas.

As I mentioned in my last update from the slush pile, all the stories on my short list are currently what I would describe as ‘fantasy’. And I love fantasy, don’t get me wrong, but I’d also like to see some science fiction horses. Or steampunk (or dieselpunk, or solarpunk!) horses. Noir horses. Mystery horse. Or even horror horses (nightMARE anyone?).

Submissions are open until the end of this month, so there is still time for you to conceive of, write, polish and send me your best Equus story. And I hope you will.

I’ll be spending a lot of time reading submissions toward the end of this week so if you’ve submitted and are waiting to hear back from me, thank you for your patience. If you haven’t submitted yet, now is a great time to change that. 🙂