October 1, 2007

It's that month - the month of Halloween, Samhain, of walking between worlds and happy candle-lit pumpkins. To kick things off right, we have a sweet original fairy tale, Six Events in a Love Story, by returning Byzarium author Rochita Loenen-Ruiz. Rochita is also the author of Mistress Vogel, the Flash Fiction contest winner in the April 2006 issue. Mistress Vogel is available as a downloadable MP3 file.

Next, we have Gareth Powell's science fiction story, Pod Dreams of Tuckertown. Gareth is the author of the sci-fi short Sunsets and Hamburgers, which appeared in the January 2006 issue, won a Firebrand Great Fiction Award from SFreader.com. Sunsets and Hamburgers is also available as an MP3.

Last, but most certainly not least, is new-comer Jeremy Schneider's bizarre horror story Socks. Do yourself a favor and read this story! It is the most original horror story I've read in years and had me alternately shivering and laughing my ass off.

We also have a review of JoSelle Vanderhooft's dream-like fantasy novella The Tale of the Miller's Daughter. JoSelle is an incredibly gifted writer whose short story, To Sleep, Perchance, appeared in the September 2006 issue.

Our Bad-Fic Contest is still open, and will be until the end of November, so send in your entries! We are also still accepting entries for the Frida Kahlo painting that serves as our Fall inspiration for our Flash Fiction Contest.

I'll sign off with a gentle reminder to celebrate Banned Books Week this year. It runs from September 29th through October 6th.

September 25, 2007

I've been a little slow going through the slush pile. Things have been a bit busy, but I AM working my way through. I will be sending out a stack of rejections/acceptances this week. Feel free to inquire if you feel your story may have been lost in the shuffle, though!

September 4, 2007

Announcing the Annual Byzarium Bad-Fic Contest! That's right, people, we want to see it -- the most clichéd, stereotyped, all around bad speculative fiction you have to offer! Please don't go over 1500 words and make sure your Subject line reads "TITLE/LAST NAME/Bad-Fic" so we don't think you're a real bad writer! Please follow our normal formatting instructions. Normal pay rates apply. And please, we want to see some bad fiction, but make sure your grammar and spelling are correct!

The deadline for Bad-Fic Contest entries is November 30th.

September 1, 2007

We have three great fantasy stories this month: Junction Number 24, a story about the perils of the modern commute; Flames of the Butterfly, about what happens to a warrior who's outlived her usefulness; and Achilles in Purple, a beautiful modern myth that reads like poetry. We also have a new painting posted for the Flash Fiction Contest!

August 28, 2007

Thanks to my husband Gordon, we now have the subscriptions up and running.  Basically, from now on the three most recent issues will always be free.  Any issues older than that will be archived and available only to paying subscribers.  Please consider a subscription.  It's not much -- only $1.95 a month -- and the money goes directly to support the site and to pay our writers.  Thanks!

August 20, 2007 

I am in the process of archiving old content.  The three most recent issues of Byzarium will always be free; anything after that will be archived and require a paid subscription to access.  Gordon and I are in the process of working out the bugs: right now, if you click on an archived month, it will say that there are no posts.  The stories are there, you just have to subscribe to see them.  We are going to look into upgrading Drupal and see if there are some customizations we can do so this error message will not appear.  Please bear with us while we figure this out!

August 20, 2007

I've chosen the stories and I've picked a date -- the next issue of Byzarium will go live September 1st, 2007!  Mark your calendars!  Tell your friends!  I know it's been a long slog, and thanks to all the people who offered encouraging words and who understood why it took so long to get this going again.  Keep submitting and, just a heads up, we're very short on Flash Fiction pieces, so we'll give special attention to any of those that come in.

August 15, 2007

I'm back! I'm reading submissions! Please SEND US STUFF!!! I am also giving novellas reading priority right now. If you sent something to us before June, please send it again! Our old email server crashed wiped out and took all the emails from before that time period with it. Just visit the Guidelines page for the current Gmail account. Go, GMAIL! It eats spam and leaves only stories behind. :)

March 2007 

I'm really sorry about this, but I have to put Byzarium on hold for at least 6 months. There is no one to be blamed but myself - Barbara J. Webb has been just incredible -- a huge help, and I only held on as long as I did thanks to her. This all goes back to my being laid off in the Fall. My life is very hectic right now. I have a LOT going on. Anyone following my blog will have an idea. When it got to the point where I was just dreading anything to do with Byzarium, I knew it was time to stop. I really want to come back to this, but right now it just can't be a top priority. I wanted to thank everyone who offered so much support. I will update as soon as I can, and in the meantime, the archives will be there for everyone's enjoyment. :)

January 2007 

The February issue of Byzarium will go live in another week. Sorry for the delay, but I have been up to my eyeballs in freelance work and have simply not had the time this month to devote to this issue. Many thanks to Barbara though, who has been, as always, an angel at going through the slush pile. Again, my apologies for the delay -- these past few months have been very difficult.