Tag Archives: editing

Cover Reveal: Last Dream of her Mortal Soul

January 8, 2019 R. Parrish 1 Comment

Writing cover reveal posts are difficult, because you just KNOW the reader’s eye has gone to the cover before it focused on the words… or at least I assume that’s the case because that’s what always happens to me LOL So given that, there is no point in writing long introductions to the cover, or the book, and trying to be like, ‘Drum roll please…’ because everyone has already seen the cover.

Though apparently that didn’t stop me from rambling a bit just now.

But here it is! The cover for Last Dream of her Mortal Soul:

Designed by Sarena Ulibarri, I think this cover is the perfect addition to the series, and a wonderful way to end the trilogy.

What trilogy, you ask? Well, let me tell you about it 🙂

This is the third book in K. Bird Lincoln’s ‘A Novel of the Portland Hafu’ series. This is an urban fantasy series that, rather than focusing on vampires or werewolves, includes more Japanese mythological creatures. Also dragons. 🙂 The main character, Koi, is half-Baku/half-Human. She is also half-Japanese and half-American. Hence the series title. The official description for this final book is:

Even a dream eater can’t escape the final sleep…

After her trip to Japan, the Head of Portland Kind calls Koi home to help solve a murder. The body of a powerful magical being was found in the witch’s hut in Forest Park, along with a strange, haunting quotation about dreams and death written in blood. Can Koi discover who seems to be calling out a Baku before others from her new-found family die?

Dun dun dun!

The book will be available in March and you can pre-order it here:

It does standalone but you will definitely get the most out of it if you’ve read the previous two books as well:

Book One:

Book Two:

And in the spirit of full disclosure — I edited this series so I’m very biased when it comes to them. But I’ve been in love with them from the beginning when I had to arm wrestle another WWP editor for the privilege of acquiring and working on them 🙂

Editing

The Continuum — Out Today!

January 23, 2018 R. Parrish Leave a comment

The Continuum by Wendy Nikel is out today! If you like time travel adventure you’re in for a treat because this book is exactly that. It’s a super quick read–on account of it’s a fast-paced novella–so even if your TBR pile is truly epic you’ll be able to fit this one into your schedule 🙂

“Nikel’s inventive spin on time travel and eye for sumptuous detail make her writing a treat to read.” — Publisher’s Weekly

Order it now:

Or ask your local library to add it to their catalogue!

Editing

Pre-Order The Continuum

October 26, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Elise Morley is an expert on the past who’s about to get a crash course in the future.

For years, Elise has been donning corsets, sneaking into castles, and lying through her teeth to enforce the Place in Time Travel Agency’s ten essential rules of time travel. Someone has to ensure that travel to the past isn’t abused, and most days she welcomes the challenge of tracking down and retrieving clients who have run into trouble on their historical vacations.
But when a dangerous secret organization kidnaps her and coerces her into jumping to the future on a high-stakes assignment, she’s got more to worry about than just the time-space continuum. For the first time ever, she’s the one out-of-date, out of place, and quickly running out of time.

Dun dun dun!

I acquired and edited this book for World Weaver Press, so yes, I’m biased, but whatever. It’s still an awesome book and I’ve got an excerpt to share!

Excerpt from The Continuum by Wendy Nikel:

The spinning slows. Suddenly, everything stops.

My legs flail, searching for solid ground, until I plunge abruptly into dank, smelly water. I gasp, and my mouth fills with brine. I’m being dragged in one direction, but instinct pulls me the opposite way. I kick against my heavy skirts and break the surface. For one dizzying moment I’m utterly confused. The concrete slabs of the nearby docks sharpen my fuzzy memory.

1912.

Southampton.

The Titanic.

I Extracted while on the gangplank—a gangplank that doesn’t exist in 2012. This is exactly why our travelers are encouraged to use pre-approved Extraction locations. The Wormhole dumps travelers at the same place they’ve left from, which can make for some awkward (or dangerous) entrances.

Across the way, Marie does a frantic doggie-paddle towards the steel rungs leading up to the dock. With labored strokes, I swim after her, clutching the sphere in one hand. When I reach her, she’s still clinging to the bottom rung, too exhausted to climb to safety.

“Hang on.” I slip my Wormhole Device into my handbag and pull my dripping body up to the dock. Water streams out around me, forming a dark puddle on the concrete. The evening sun, balancing on the very edge of the horizon, casts an eerie glow on the water.

“Okay. Come on up—”

My encouragement is drowned out by the sound of retching. Lovely.

I clench my jaw to stop my teeth from rattling and focus on retaining my professionalism—not easy, considering the mucked-up circumstances.

Finally, Marie starts up the ladder, ascending tentatively, with gasping breaths. When she’s close enough to grab my forearms, I pull her up with much grunting and tugging. Her eyes widen as she takes in the industrial warehouses, giant cranes, and sprawling parking lots that seem to have appeared instantaneously.

“What have you done?” Her voice rises in pitch with each word.

Even more ‘Dun dun dun!’ 🙂

If you like time travel adventure and think this book might be for you, you can pre-order your copy now 🙂

Paperback – $8.99

World Weaver Press

eBook – $2.99

Amazon
(US) (CA) (UK)

Kobo

iTunes / Apple iBooks

Barnes & Noble

Wendy Nikel is a speculative fiction author with a degree in elementary education, a fondness for road trips, and a terrible habit of forgetting where she’s left her cup of tea. Her short fiction has been published by Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Daily Science Fiction, Nature: Futures, and various other anthologies and e-zines. For more info, visit wendynikel.com or subscribe to her newsletter here!

Cover Reveal, Editing

Cover Reveal: The Continuum

August 23, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

I love this cover!

How can you not love this cover?

As you can see this lovely cover is for Wendy Nikel’s forthcoming time travel novella, The Continuum, which I had the pleasure of acquiring and editing for World Weaver Press.

The official description for The Continuum is:

Elise Morley is an expert on the past who’s about to get a crash course in the future.

For years, Elise has been donning corsets, sneaking into castles, and lying through her teeth to enforce the Place in Time Travel Agency’s ten essential rules of time travel. Someone has to ensure that travel to the past isn’t abused, and most days she welcomes the challenge of tracking down and retrieving clients who have run into trouble on their historical vacations.

But when a dangerous secret organization kidnaps her and coerces her into jumping to the future on a high-stakes assignment, she’s got more to worry about than just the time-space continuum. For the first time ever, she’s the one out-of-date, out of place, and quickly running out of time.

Does that intrigue you? Of course it does 😉

The book isn’t available for pre-order yet, but you can add it to your ‘Want to Read’ shelves at Goodreads and trust that I will keep you updated on news about it as we progress toward its January 23rd release date!

There’s also a Goodreads giveaway (US only)… but you don’t like free books, do you?

Oh. You do?

Well then.

Enter here to win an early review copy.

Good luck!

Mrs. Claus

CFS: Mrs. Claus

February 6, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Before my blog is completely taken over my dinosaur stuff I’d like to take a quick moment to announce this anthology I’ll be editing for World Weaver Press this year. Submissions will open in April which gives you a couple months to plot your tales before then.

Mrs. Claus

For a long, long time Santa Claus has hogged the spotlight relegating his wife to the shadows, but no longer. Now it’s Mrs. Claus’ turn to shine!

We’re looking for stories that let Mrs. Claus (or is it Ms. Claus?) take centre stage. Whether she more closely resembles Michelle Obama, Betty White, Shohreh Aghdashlooor or Maggie Smith, Mrs. Claus must be a developed, independent character and not simply an extension of her husband. She can help and support him—of course she can—but there needs to be more to her than only that.

What’s her role on Christmas Eve? What about the other days of the year? Is she into sleek red snowmobiles or is she more of an old-fashioned magic sleigh kinda gal? Does she prefer baking cookies or kickboxing? Betting on the Reindeer Games or Avon parties with the elves?

And what is her first name, anyway?

Stories are encouraged to re-imagine the North Pole in new and interesting ways (steampunk? alien? magically relocated to the equator?) and to explore a variety of other settings both real and imagined. Stories set in Christmas in 1940 Poland, Mars in 2050 or a rediscovered Atlantis in 2017 would all be welcome in this anthology.

Note: This anthology is intended for an adult audience, please don’t submit children’s stories.

Open submission period: April 1, 2017 – May 30, 2017

Length: Under 10,000 words

Submission method: Upload story as .doc or .rtf to niteblade.submittable.com/submit

Simultaneous submissions = okay. Multiple submissions = no.

Expected Publication Date: Winter 2017

Goals

2017 Goals

January 19, 2017 R. Parrish Leave a comment

2017

It’s that time of year again. When I set goals ~~in order to pretend that I have something resembling focus and not just magpie energy~~ for the year to come and share them on my blog here. At the end of each year I assess how well I did in accomplishing my goals and set new ones. It’s an important thing for me, this setting and sharing of goals. Setting them and having them written down in concrete language really helps me regain my focus when I lose it (which is often), evaluate progress, get things done and also, look back over time and see a bigger picture of things I’ve accomplished. Sharing them on my blog here with you is equally important because it provides a sense of accountability which can be a huge motivation at times when I need it most.

My Goals for 2017

Write the first draft of Deadmonton — my Winterknight Towers book
Participate in the release and promotion of Dream Eater to the best of my ability
Publish D is for Dinosaur in February
- Promote it to the best of my ability and hit my launch and sales goals
Have Equus ready for a summer publication
- Promote it to the best of my ability and hit my launch and sales goals
Announce [Top Sekkrit Anthology #1] and hit all the publisher’s deadlines for it. (Announce in February?)
Announce [Top Sekkrit Anthology #2] and have it ready for a November publication date
Have a successful open submissions period for Fire: Demons, Dragons and Djinns and hit all my deadlines for it
Announce E is for REDACTED and hit all my deadlines for it for a 2018 release
Take a vacation in July. For real.
Promote Haunted Hospitals to the best of my ability upon its release.
Read 30 books that are not related to work, including those on my partial reading list.
Spend at least half a day a week away from the internet, writing.
Create and release the Magical Menageries colouring book

I think that’s enough, don’t you? LOL

I have several other miscellaneous things that I’d like to do (acquire a book during WWP’s open submission period next month, participate in Advent Ghosts, participate in NovPad, do another charitable blog tour, self-publish Shadows…) but the stuff above, those are the things I feel a real need to do. The other things I’m being more flexible about. I’d like to do them, but I’ll be okay if they don’t happen.

Sirens

March 31, 2015 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Submissions are not yet open, but I’m excited to announce the fourth title in the anthology series which began with Fae* –>

Sirens

It’s going to be awesome!

For those of you who might be interested in submitting something I’m including the call for submissions below but submissions don’t open until August (AKA: Please don’t send me anything before August!). Also, to answer a couple frequently asked questions, yes, mermaids and harpys count and sirens of any gender, lack of gender, combination of genders or gender-fluidity are welcome.

🙂

I’m excited, August is going to be awesome.

[Call for Submissions] Sirens

(forthcoming)

Publisher: World Weaver Press

Greek mythology describes the Sirens as being charismatic monsters; part bird, part woman, with enchanting voices whose songs either lure men to, or foretell, their deaths. In Roman mythology they play a similar role but shift their domain to the sea and take the form of mermaid-like creatures. Mythological Sirens such as these come with a capital ess; there are only a small number of them, they have names, Godly parents and occupations. Those Sirens are welcome within the pages of this anthology, but so are their lower case sisters.

In Sirens, we will honor and share stories of historical Sirens, but we’ve equal room for modern re-imaginings and will be giving matching space to both avian and aquatic varieties.

Whether from the sea or sky, sirens are beautiful, dangerous and musical, and we’re open to works that exemplify as well as those which defy those expectations. Sirens will be a book full of tales that evoke a vast spectrum of emotions toward these maidens, empathy, disdain, sorrow, awe and anger. I want stories of wretched and cursed sirens who fight against the roles imposed upon them and tales of those who revel in them. I’m hoping for pieces re-telling or playing upon the traditional myths and others which create their own mythologies, and all the little niches in between.

We are looking for speculative stories up to 7,500 words long.

Rights and compensation: Payment: $10 and a paperback copy of the anthology from World Weaver Press. We are looking for previously unpublished works in English. Seeking first world rights in English and exclusive right to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date, after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for the life of the anthology.

Open submission period: August 15th – November 15th

Length: Under 7,500 words

Submission method: Email story as a .doc or .rtf attachment to fae [at] worldweaverpress [dot] com. Subject line: Sirens Submission: TITLE

Simultaneous submissions = okay. Multiple submissions = no.

*We’ve decided to call the series Rhonda Parrish’s Magical Menageries. Fun!

Books, Fae, Press Release

Fae Release (Press Release)

July 22, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

A more personal post tomorrow, but for today:

Contact:
Elizabeth Wagner
publicity@worldweaverpress.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

“FAE”

EDITED BY RHONDA PARRISH

Alpena, MI (July 22, 2014) – World Weaver Press (Eileen Wiedbrauk, Editor-in-Chief) has announced FAE, a new anthology of fairy stories from classic tales to urban fantasy, edited by Rhonda Parrish, is available in trade paperback and ebook today, Tuesday, July 22, 2014.

Praise for FAE:

“A delightfully refreshing collection that offers a totally different take on your usual fairy stories! I found it difficult to stop reading as one story ended and another began – all fantastic work by gifted writers. Not for the faint of heart, by any means.”

— Marge Simon, multiple Bram Stoker® Winner
“Anyone with an abiding love of Faerie and the Folk who dwell there will find stories to enjoy in FAE.”

— Tangent (C.D. Lewis)
“The Cartography of Shattered Trees’ by Beth Cato and ‘And Only The Eyes of Children’ by Laura VanArendonk Baugh are shining examples of what could be done with the subject of faeries that surpass tricks on the reader, that build worlds and characters worth knowing and exploring, that have something important to say about the real world.”

— Tangent (John Sulyok)
“Nibble on this deliciously wondrous collection of stories of fae one at a time or binge on its delights on one night, you’ll love the faerie feast this collection provides. I devoured it.”

— Kate Wolford, editor of Beyond the Glass Slipper; editor and publisher of Enchanted Conversation: A Fairytale Magazine

Meet Robin Goodfellow as you’ve never seen him before, watch damsels in distress rescue themselves, get swept away with the selkies and enjoy tales of hobs, green men, pixies and phookas. One thing is for certain, these are not your grandmother’s fairy tales. Fairies have been both mischievous and malignant creatures throughout history. They’ve dwelt in forests, collected teeth or crafted shoes. FAE is full of stories that honor that rich history while exploring new and interesting takes on the fair folk from castles to computer technologies to modern midwifing, the Old World to Indianapolis. FAE bridges traditional and modern styles, from the familiar feeling of a good old-fashioned fairy tale to urban fantasy and horror with a fae twist. This anthology covers a vast swath of the fairy story spectrum, making the old new and exploring lush settings with beautiful prose and complex characters.

With an introduction by Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, and new stories from Sidney Blaylock Jr., Amanda Block, Kari Castor, Beth Cato, Liz Colter, Rhonda Eikamp, Lor Graham, Alexis A. Hunter, L.S. Johnson, Jon Arthur Kitson, Adria Laycraft, Lauren Liebowitz, Christine Morgan, Shannon Phillips, Sara Puls, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, and Kristina Wojtaszek.

FAE is available in trade paperback and ebook via Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Kobo.com, and other online retailers, and for wholesale through Ingram. You can also find Fae on Goodreads.

Anthologist Rhonda Parrish is driven by a desire to do All The Things. She has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of Niteblade Magazine for over five years now (which is like 25 years in internet time) and is the editor of the benefit anthology, Metastasis. In addition, Rhonda is a writer whose work has been included or is forthcoming in dozens of publications including Tesseracts 17: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. Her website, updated weekly, is at rhondaparrish.com.

World Weaver Press is a publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction, dedicated to producing quality works. We believe in great storytelling.

Publication Date: July 22, 2014 €¢ Fantasy / Horror Anthology $12.95 Trade paperback, 247 pages €¢ $6.99 ebookISBN: 978-0692207918

Publicity/Reviews: publicity@worldweaverpress.com

Information:
www.worldweaverpress.com/books/fae

# # # # #

worldweaverpress.com
@WorldWeaver_wwp

B is for Broken, Editing

B is for…

March 13, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

I wanted to thank you all for helping me figure out the theme for the next book in the alphabet anthology series. It turns out that:

B is for Broken

I’ve sent invitations out to those people who participated in the A is for Apocalypse anthology (coming later this year) and I look forward to announcing our line-up in the near(ish) future.

If you are one of those authors and you didn’t receive your invitation let me know and I’ll correct that. If you are not one of those authors but you’d like to be added to the waiting list for any open spots, also let me know (rhonda@jofigure.com).

If you are a reader, get ready for a hell of a ride 🙂

Corvidae, Editing, Scarecrow

Sale: Corvidae and Scarecrow

February 25, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

I am incredibly excited to announce that Fae has officially become the first in a series of anthologies I will be editing for World Weaver Press!

Though submissions are not yet open for our next titles we announce their existence this afternoon on WWP’s month #SFFlunch chat on Twitter so I’m able to share the news with you.

Corvidae and Scarecrow will be the second and third titles I will be editing for WWP (and there may be more in the future, wait and see!)

Corvidae is going to be dedicated to stories about corvids, all kinds of corvids. Crows, ravens, magpies, bluejays, nutcrackers, treepies, choughs… you name ’em, I want to see ’em. I’m looking for fantasy stories (horror is okay as long as it’s not gratuitous) that span the spectrum of light to dark.

Scarecrow is going to be all about scarecrows. Having seen them in everything from The Wizard of Oz to Doctor Who I’ve developed quite a taste for the range of ways scarecrows have been portrayed in the past and want to explore even more new and exciting ones in this anthology. Again I’ll be looking for stories that cover a large spectrum in terms of mood.

Scarecrow and Corvidae are meant to be companion anthologies, in conversation with one another. One of the ways to make my job easier in that regard (and I’m always looking for ways to make my job easier) will be to have overlap between the authors included in the two anthologies. With that in mind I am encouraging people to submit to both anthologies. Not the same story, you understand, but if you happen to have a great idea for a corvid story and an incredible scarecrow story I would very much like to see them both. Also, before someone asks, it is not required to submit to both and submitting to only one will not hurt your chances of acceptance.

Submissions won’t open until July but I was too excited to keep this to myself any longer, and I figured the sooner I shared it the sooner people could start brainstorming stories for these two books.

Also? Can I just say “OMG YAY!”

🙂

Call For Submissions, Corvidae

[Call for Submissions] Corvidae

February 25, 2014 R. Parrish 8 Comments

[Call for Submissions] Corvidae

Anthologist: Rhonda Parrish
Publisher: World Weaver Press

Corvidae are the family of birds which include such iconic species as crows, ravens, magpies, rooks and nutcrackers. They are known for their high intelligence (they use tools and recognize themselves in mirrors!) and appear in fiction and mythology all through the ages and in a great many different cultures as well.

Corvids are seen as mystical creatures, known to be companions to both Odin and Apollo, believed by the Haida to have created the earth and credited (in the form of Raven the Trickster) for stealing fire and bringing it to earth, but they are also associated with death, disease and madness. According to legend, the Kingdom of England will fall if the ravens leave the Tower of London and so are a kind of good luck charm, but they are also associated with battle and war through their connection with The Morrigan and Badb from Irish mythology. Such paradoxical creatures, it’s easy to be fascinated by them, and a great many of us are.

We are looking for fantasy and well-written horror stories (nothing gratuitously gory or violent) of up to 7,500 words long.

Corvidae will be published alongside a companion anthology, Scarecrow. We intend for the two books to be in conversation with one another and so would like some overlap between the authors included in each title. Thus we encourage writers to submit to both anthologies. Please do not submit the same story to both books (if the anthologist believes a story is more appropriate for one than the other she will let you know).

Open submission period: July 1, 2014 – October 31, 2014

Length: Under 7,500 words

Submission method: Email story as a .doc or .rtf attachment to fae [at] worldweaverpress [dot] com. Subject line: Corvidae Submission: TITLE

Simultaneous submissions = okay. Multiple submissions = no.

About the anthologist: Rhonda Parrish is driven by a desire to do All The Things. She has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of Niteblade Magazine for over five years now (which is like 25 years in internet time) and is the editor of the forthcoming World Weaver Press anthology Fae.

In addition, Rhonda is a writer whose work has been included or is forthcoming in dozens of publications including Tesseracts 17: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast and Mythic Delirium.

Her website, updated weekly, is at rhondaparrish.com.

Updates

June 30, 2014 – New blog post about What I’m Looking For

Mrs. Claus

My Goals for 2017

Sirens

[Call for Submissions] Sirens

(forthcoming)

“FAE”

EDITED BY RHONDA PARRISH

[Call for Submissions] Corvidae

Updates

I write, I edit and I take a lot of naps.