Online Color Thesaurus

HP has an online color thesaurus which does a couple of neat things when you search the name of a color, like blue:



Aside from the helpfulness of providing those color codes, it shows you a swatch of the color, four close matches, and four that are opposing.

This color searcher could be particularly useful when you need to see the color that goes with the word, like chestnut:



Or celadon:



You can also find out if what you think the color looks like is correct; I've always assumed citron meant strong/citrusy-yellow with a slight greenish tinge, when HP tells me it's actually strong citrusy-green with a slight yellow tinge:

For Kindness and For Love

Instead of the usual Friday video I have a slideshow of a Victorian American scrapbook and poetry journal I recently acquired for pretty much a song off eBay. The poems, written by Rose Bremermann on the last handful of pages, date back to 1889, and are written in that glorious old copperplate calligraphic style.



Rose likely never imagined that her sweet verses -- written for kindness and for love, according to one of them -- would survive 125 years to give hope to another devoted journaler, but they did. Thanks, Miss Rose.

Dark Sub Op

UK E-publisher Ghostwoods Books would like to see "new and interesting dark fiction novels or cleverly interlinked short stories. Dark fantasy, gothic fiction, dark historical, creepy (but not mindless) horror. No slasher novels, no zombies, probably no YA. Let it be sinister and clever or enchanting yet creepy. Examples of books we would have taken for this call: Frankenstein, Dracula, An Interview with the Vampire, The Night Circus, The Throne of Bones. Note that historical novels must be somewhat updated in writing style to accommodate the tastes of modern readers. (No lengthy, needless exposition or purple prose.)" Length: "mostly between 70,000 and 100,000 words." Payment: 50% royalties. See submissions page for more details.

Other Than Writing

I should have mentioned last week that I finally finished my Picasso project. Here's how it came out:



I must admit, it's not perfect by any means, but when you experiment you take risks not only to try things and grow but to make mistakes and learn from them. Which this project did for me pretty much every time I worked on it, but that was part of the fun. I also said I'd give it away here on the blog if it came out well, but I have to welsh on that. Picasso's lady had her own ideas about where and to whom she wanted to go (and I never argue with my projects, especially when it turns out they were right and their timing was eerily perfect.)

I've started on another for-fun quilt project, and I've also been making an effort to shoot some birds (with the camera, of course.) I bagged all of these on the same day:









I also finally got a shot of a bunny, plus the bunny's Mom, which any shutterbug will tell you is almost impossible to do:



So what are you doing creatively that isn't about writing? Let us know in comments.

Vizit

According to their website, Visuwords™ is an "online graphical dictionary — Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate. Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a node to expand the tree. Click and drag the background to pan around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over nodes to see the definition and click and drag individual nodes to move them around to help clarify connections."

I gave it a whirl by entering the word blue, and it immediately built a nice big web of associations:



The service is also free for use by anyone with an internet connection; no membership or other access fee involved. I also noted this on the website -- "Visuwords™ uses Princeton University’s WordNet, an opensource database built by University students and language researchers" -- so that's a fairly respectable source.

Sub Op Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Apex Magazine wants to see dark spec fic that is "sheer, unvarnished awesomeness. We want the stories it scared you to write. We want stories full of marrow and passion, stories that are twisted, strange, and beautiful. We want science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mash-ups of all three—the dark, weird stuff down at the bottom of your little literary heart. This magazine is not a publication credit, it is a place to put your secret places and dreams on display. Just so long as they have a dark speculative fiction element—we aren’t here for the quotidian. Keep in mind that the search for awesome stories is as difficult as writing them. If you are rejected, don’t get angry—instead, become more awesome. Write something better, and better, until we have to accept you, because we have been laid low by your tale. It really is that simple" Length: up to 7.5K (firm); Payment: $.06 per word; no unsolicited reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

Cohesion Press has an open call for their upcoming horror antho: "Blurring the Line (working title) is seeking to blur the line between what is fiction and what is non-fiction. We want horror stories, tales that are serious and frightening, hard-hitting and imaginative. We want monsters; vampires and zombies and werewolves and the mummy and creatures from the Black Lagoon and giant killer plants and mutated ants and demons and devils and Mothmen and everything else you can think of or that hasn’t been thought of yet. But we also want your serial killers and demented and depraved humanity. We want it all. Push your imagination and take us into the far reaches of your darkness, without letting go of reality. Make us believe. BUT, we want to be scared, made to feel uneasy and uncomfortable. We do not want to be shocked for no reason; if you’re going to eviscerate someone, there needs to be a good reason for doing so. We want style over shock value. We do not want supernatural romance, or weird fiction. We’re not looking for tales about a monster hunter or a covert monster hunting team (we love these stories but they’re not what we’re looking for here)" Length: up to 5K; Payment: 8¢/word; no reprints, electronic submission preferred, see guidelines for more details. Submission period opens August 1st, 2014; Deadline: October 31st, 2014.

FictionMagazines.com has a whole page of mag sub ops here, including one for romance: "Reflect on Traditions; Challenge Convetions
Love, lust or heartache, we want it all! We aim to capture the diversity of romantic experience, be it modern or dated, unconventional or relatable, or something entirely new. Tell us a story; how do we connect, how do we feel love? Fiction, poetry and book reviews accepted. Pieces will be chosen by the editor with consideration of reader responses and voting processes." [PBW notes: I'd check into that mention of voting process and get more details before submitting.] Length: up to 10K; Payment: lifetime royalty of 50%, no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Ghostwoods Books is looking for dark fiction novel submissions: "Ghostwoods Books, a small fair-trade press located in London, UK, would like to see new and interesting dark fiction novels or cleverly connected short-story collections. Dark fantasy, gothic fiction, dark historical, creepy (but not mindless) horror. No slasher novels, no zombies, probably no YA. Let it be sinister and clever or enchanting yet creepy. We'll know it when we see it. Examples of books we would have taken for this call: Frankenstein, Dracula, An Interview with the Vampire, The Night Circus, The Throne of Bones. Note that historical novels must be somewhat updated in writing style to accommodate the tastes of modern readers. (No lengthy, needless exposition or purple prose.)" Pays 50% royalties; see guidelines for more details.

Ghostwoods Books is also looking for romance novel submissions: "Ghostwoods Books is planning a new romance imprint. We'd like to start with a slate of books. Books must be complete and in a finished state, meaning that the book has been revised and errors removed to the best of the writer's ability before submission. If possible, writers should enlist the aid of beta readers or an editor. Think of this like submitting to a literary agent. Impress us. Length will be between 60,000 and 90,000. We're looking for well-written books that evoke true romance. Other aspects of the work may vary. The key to a good romance is romantic tension." Pays 50% royalties; see guidelines for more details.

Simian Publishing has an open call for their upcoming Apotheosis antho: "Stories of human survival and defiance in a world subjugated by the return of the Elder Gods. Humanity struggled to grow and evolve as a species for thousands of years forever caught in the shadow of a dread threat known only to a devoted few. When the stars are right, the Old Ones will return to claim utter dominion of the world. Lovecraft Mythos stories often climax at the moment of the fateful return of the Elder Gods and the audience is left to ponder what might happen next. This anthology features stories about humanity under the reign of the Elder Gods and ancient terrors. We’re looking for stories inspired by the stories of H.P. Lovecraft and associated writers such as August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smit , Robert E. Howard , Robert Bloch , Henry Kuttner, and Frank Belknap Long. We’re also interested in writers that inspired Lovecraft such as Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood and Lord Dunsany. We’re interested in classic mythos gods and monsters and originals that have inspired by the mythos" Length: 2-7K; Payment: "3 cents per word (or 1 cent per word for reprints)" Reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Submissions open November 1st, 2014. Deadline: December 31st, 2014.

Sekhmet Press has an open call for their upcoming third Wrapped antho, which appears to be witches and occult-themed, but the only mention of what they want to see on the guidelines page is this: "We are not looking for stories reflecting religious dogma." Length: 2.5-5K; Payment: $0.01 per word + contributor copy; no reprints, electronic submissions only. Submissions period open May 18th, 2014; Deadline: June 8th, 2014.

Storm Moon Press has several open calls for upcoming unusually-themed anthos, and among them is one for bisexual steampunk: "Advanced technology is essential in good cyberpunk, but what really sets it apart is the way it showcases that technological achievement while also exposing the seedy underbelly of society. Has technology polarized society, created an underground counter-culture? There is infinite potential for adventure, especially when you have a bisexual hero/heroine in the cyberpunk setting. Are they jacked into virtual reality to express themselves, or do they have some other way of blazing a trail through high society or the downtrodden? For our Surfing the Aether anthology, we want to see what makes your bisexual characters stand out from the world they inhabit. Cyberpunk protagonists are often misfits and anti-heroes, so we'd love to see where your characters fit in the hierarchy. How do they use the technology at their fingertips rather than letting the technology use them? Have the advanced tools changed the sexual climate, and if so, how does it impact your hero/heroine's identity and expression as a bisexual? We want to discover the darker consequences of the time's industrial successes through your characters' eyes" Length: 10-20K; Payment: .0075 per word [PBW notes: this is flat free; no royalties offered]; no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Whippleshield Books has an open call for their upcoming Venus-themed antho: "To put it bluntly, if you think your story is a good match for a science fiction magazine, it may not be for me. I’m looking for stories that are realistic, but that doesn’t mean they have to be science/space fiction. However, the planet Venus has to feature in there somewhere. Your story could be about the first attempt to land on Venus, or life in a habitat on the surface. It might describe a present-day group of engineers and scientists controlling a probe on the surface of Venus; or perhaps a journalist discovering evidence of a past secret mission to the planet. There are plenty of tales that can be told about Venus. Surprise me. I’m big on realism, so I’ll be looking for that. And good literary prose too." Length: up to 6K; Payment: 0.03£/word (>5¢/word); no reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: May 31st, 2014.

World Weaver Press has three upcoming antho open calls for 2014 that have not yet opened, but include themes of dragons, corvids and scarecrows -- stay tuned to their guidelines page for more details and opening dates.

Wishing You

(Please note: I'll be out of town for a couple of days, and (probably) not able to access the internet, so comments may not be posted until I get back to moderate them.)