Some news items from elsewhere on the web

Something a little different on the blog this morning. We’ve picked up a few submission calls to share with you all.

The first is for a Leicestershire charity that seems like a pretty good cause, so we said yes to giving them a signal boost.

Since 2013, The Big Care Sign-Up has been raising money for Leicestershire based care charities via celebrity charity events and memorabilia auctions.   Following the success of our 2015 event at Leicester’s Guildhall, we are now launching The Big Care Write-up.
 
In September, The Big Care Write-Up will be releasing it’s debut charity short story anthology eBook, “Carers of the Cosmos” and we are currently seeking submissions for our consideration from local writing talent.
 
We would like 1,500-5,000 word stories which use the theme “Carers and Science Fiction” as a starting point for a unique and interesting idea.  There is no limit to the number of stories one writer can submit.
 
Successful stories may also be recorded as audiobooks at a later date so we ask that all submissions are original pieces that have not been published elsewhere.
 
All finished short stories should be sent to Dale Anthony Church at submissions.bigcarewriteup@gmail.com in either DOC, TXT or RTF format and should also be accompanied by a 200 word biography of you and your previous work to be published with any chosen pieces.  The closing date for all submissions is midnight on31st August 2015.
 
The eBook will be available from September as a free download to anyone who donates to our chosen charity, The Carers Centre: Leicestershire and Rutland (Registered as a charity no. 1043956), via our book-specific donations page.”
 
We also have a website with further information about our chosen charity, our previous events and links to our social media at bigcaresignup.wix.com/celebcharityevent.
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Next up a kickstarter highlighted by Juliet E McKenna, blurb taken direct from the site. 

‘This project will fund TWO science fiction and fantasy anthologies, titled ALIEN ARTIFACTS and WERE-, containing approximately 14 all-original (no reprint) short stories each from established SF&F authors in the field—including Phyllis Ames, Jacey Bedford, Patricia Bray, David B. Coe, Walter H. Hunt, Faith Hunter, Gini Koch, Gail Z. Martin, Seanan McGuire, Juliet E. McKenna, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Steve Miller & Sharon Lee, and Jean Marie Ward, plus others. The books will be edited by Joshua Palmatier & Patricia Bray, both editors of the DAW Books anthologies “After Hours: Tales from the Ur-bar” and “The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity,” and the Zombies Need Brains LLC anthologies “Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens” and “Temporally Out of Order.”

Unlike the previous two Kickstarters run by Zombies Need Brains, we are NOT using the Kickstarter to help set up and solidify the small press. Backers of this project will essentially be generating the base funds needed to produce these two anthologies—including payment for the contributing authors, payment for the cover artist, production costs for producing the anthology, etc. Because of this, the reward levels for the anthologies have been lowered to more closely resemble the cost of the final product when it goes on sale to the general public. In essence, backers of the project are simply “preordering” the anthologies, although there will still be aspecial mass market Kickstarter edition produced for backers who help fund the project at the paperback level. This special edition will have a limited print run to cover the orders made by the backers and will not be printed again after the Kickstarter print run. After that, there will be a trade edition issued to the general public that will have an unlimited print run. So get in on the Kickstarter now and get the special mass market Kickstarter edition! Help the new small press Zombies Need Brains LLC expand!’

Thinking of the fox

Every Christmas in lieu of sending cards out to the skulk, here at the fox den we sponsor a fox.

With the re emergence of the hunting ban debate we wanted to take the opportunity to suggest that you consider supporting one of the very worthwhile wildlife charities near you.

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All over the world wild things need a little help sometimes and these charities do great work with injured and orphaned animals, getting them healthy and back out into their habitats. We think that’s something everyone can get behind.

We take out our annual fox sponsorship with Wildlife Aid, but I am sure you will find a suitable charity wherever in the world you are if you want to participate.

Foxy thanks you for your support and kindness to wild things.

Final Call for Fantastic Treats

Final Call for Fantastic Treats

It’s been ongoing for some time since our original Instigator Andrew Reid put the idea of a charity cookbook forward. Still, the time has come. We are closing submissions on the 1st May.

The book will be under the creative control of our adored Mutherfudger, Nadine Holmes whose remarkable baked goods have supported book events nationally. Mutherfudger  will also be creating some of the recipes and providing photos for the book.

This one is for Cancer Research so there is no payment beyond a print copy for all participants. All income will go to the charity as Fox Spirit are not taking anything from this for costs. We are seeking submissions of a short or flash length story with a related dessert or treat recipe. The treats can be sweet or savoury, but savoury items should be snacks or tapas style, not main meals.

from cakelady247 at cakecentral.com
from cakelady247 at cakecentral.com

The stories can be sci fi, fantasy, horror or crime. The stories can be heavily involved with the recipe or merely mention it. We will also accept poetry or drawings as submissions to accompany the recipe, if they are in keeping with genre fiction spirit of the book.

We are accepting submissions from writing/cooking teams. Recipes should be original or personal versions, please do not submit recipes as found in existing books for copyright reasons.

We are hoping to release the book November 2015 although given the added complexity of including photos and trialling recipes we are allowing some flexibility in that.

Please send all submissions to submissions@foxspirit.co.uk

For more information on our editor/hostess please visit http://www.mutherfudger.co.uk/