Jeff Patterson, one of the authors in our new anthology, Fantastic Detectives, has been interviewed on the HOURLINGS PODCAST PROJECT podcast. In this wide-ranging interview, Jeff discusses the anthology, his anthology contribution (“Sister Autumn and the Angel’s Blade”), his writing process, and more. Check out the interview now!
Anthology
Past Calls for Submissions
We’ve been producing anthologies for a while. If you’re curious, here are some of the previous “Calls for Submissions” (now closed) that we have issued for our anthologies:
Fantastic Defenders
The Forever Inn- Fantastic Detectives
Cover Reveal – Fantastic Detectives
In our last post, we revealed the names and stories of all the submitters who were accepted into the Fantastic Detectives anthology. And let us assure you, w
Of course, such great stories needed a great cover, too. We were lucky procure this awesome cover from Ivan Zann.
We think it’s a great cover that truly champions both the fantasy and mystery aspects of the anthology’s theme.
We’re planning a March 2023 publication in
Author List for “Fantastic Detectives”
The final selection has been made and the following authors will be appearing in the anthology, “Fantastic Detectives”:
- Reed Bonadonna – “Perchance to Dream”
- Gregg Chamberlain – “This Sword for Hire”
- Robert Finegold – “A Madness Most Discreet”
- David Keener – “Jonelle Crosse”
- Emma Melville – “Penance”
- Jeff Patterson – “Sister Autumn and the Angel’s Blade”
- Maria Prokopyeva – “Worshippers of Baser Stuff”
- Daniel Robichaud – “Out Among the Pecan Trees”
- Donna Royston – “The First Censor’s Statement”
- Shannon Taft – “The Codicil”
- David Tatum – “Tumbling the Lord”
- Martin Wilsey – “Justice in the Mist”
- Austin Worley – “The Skull in the Tree”
There you have it…a solid baker’s dozen of awesome fantasy detective stories! We’re anticipating a March 2023 publication date.
Fantastic Detectives – Reopened for Submissions
Everybody,
We have determined that Worlds Enough experienced an email issue during the submission time period for our anthology, Fantastic Detectives. During this time, we were forced by our web host’s unexpected closure to move our website and email services. Our “submissions@worldsenough.com” email address was re-directed to a Yahoo email account because of this unexpected move. It looks like Yahoo’s spam filter zapped some of the submissions. Unfortunately, Yahoo also removes spam entries after 30 days, so we can’t go back and determine what was lost.
We’ve confirmed that at least three people were impacted, and possibly two or three more based on queries we’ve received. There are likely more.
We feel that we put enough pressure on authors when we ask them to write a good story that adheres to a specific theme. It’s a bridge too far to also randomly zap them with a spam filter when they’re kind enough to submit their work to us.
Everybody that submitted deserves consideration. Period.
Accordingly, we’re re-opening for submissions. All stories that we have actually received have either been notified of being “Not Accepted” or having made it into the “Final Round.” If you have submitted and not received a notification, then your story got lost. Send it again and we will expedite the review process so that you get the consideration you’re due.
All stories need to be received by April 30, 2022. The same email address will work (this time), submissions@worldsenough.com. We will also provide a manual email response acknowledging that we received your story.
We apologize sincerely for the inconvenience. Given the situation, we feel this is the only way we can deal fairly with this mess and ensure that all submitters receive due consideration for their stories.
— David Keener —
Call for Submissions
The Call for Submissions for Fantastic Detectives, our next paid fantasy anthology, just dropped today. It’s a sequel to Fantastic Defenders, and curated by the same editing team, Donna Royston and David Keener. The due date for submissions is the end of the year, with expected publication in March, 2023.
Check out the PDF for more details.
Welcome to the Forever Inn
Welcome to the Forever Inn, the finest cross-dimensional tavern in existence. Our 5-star chef is a reformed eldritch horror, our top bartender is a refugee combat mage with PTSD (don’t even THINK about messing with her), our bouncer is an orc, and one of our waitresses is a hominid. We carry beers from across the timelines, and you never know who will be stopping in.
So, join us in September when The Forever Inn anthology is released. The volume is edited by Donna Royston and David Keener. They’re both experienced editors who previously produced the anthology Fantastic Defenders.
Contributors include: Cora Baker, Evan Friedman, C. M. Frost, Jerrik Hjort, David Keener, Stephanie Mirro, Sheila O’Shea, Martin Wilsey, and more.
Fantastic Defenders: Hardcover Preview
There’s a hardcover of the anthology, Fantastic Defenders, coming out in March. The anthology was edited by David and Donna
So, above, you’ll see a preview of the full wraparound cover, including flaps, for the hardcover edition of the book.
Pre-Announcement: Worlds Enough, Volume 2
The second volume of the Worlds Enough anthology series is now in the planning stages. The series was always envisioned to span the different sub-genres of the speculative fiction field. Since the first volume, Fantastic Defenders, covered fantasy heroes, the second will be targeted at the fantasy/detective sub-genre.
The title for the second volume will be “Fantastic Detectives.” We’re looking for stories about crimes in fantasy settings, ranging from urban fantasies to “second world” settings. The fantasy detective sub-genre can obviously lead to some dark stories, which is fine, but there should be at least a little ray of hope somewhere in each tale.
With this volume, we’re adding more variety to the story lengths, so stories may range from 5K to 20K words. Since we’re targeting 100K words for the entire volume, longer stories are welcome but will need to hold up under harder scrutiny.
Note that this is a pre-announcement. The official Call for Stories has not yet been released, though the schedule for the Call for Stories, submission deadlines, and anticipated publication dates are already available on our Schedule page.
Packaged Up “The Curator”
Worlds Enough has done the packaging for The Curator, the new anthology from the Hourlings writing group. Although not responsible for editing, we formatted the print edition, created the ebook, and did the cover design. The cover painting, of course, was licensed from the incomparable Luca Oleastri. The cover design was commissioned from Don Anderson.
The anthology will be published by Tannhauser Press around the end of December, 2018.