Ferrets are kind of cool. I've never known one, but heard of people who had them. When I was in kindergarten (yes, that long ago) the school librarian had a de-scented skunk. Brought the skunk in to show us, too. They are rather lovely animals if you leave aside the whole naturally evolved chemical weapons thing.

With two weeks to go until Halloween, it is fitting that Author's Publish for this week is a list of markets for your spookiest, creepiest, and scariest stories. Some are specific to horror, some are more general speculative fiction and take sf and fantasy, too. Of course, dark fantasy and horror overlap heavily so some of the horror markets tread that line. Here you go. Have a look ... IF YOU DARE!!!! Mwahahahahaha!!!!

» 35 Horror Fiction Magazines and Anthologies that Pay

There's an interesting discussion about time travel happening on another site I am on and that's a genre of SFF that could be fun to play with in a comp and isn't confined to SF, even if that's usually the genre for it. Fantasy time travel is an option (magical time travel), even horror (a gateway to the past where some horrible thing or event awaits). Could even be a dream in a non-fantastical setting. One could even put the actual methodology as background and focus on the drama or romance or whatever that happens when people from different time periods meet up (think Outlander). So time travel in a broad sense of what happens when someone from one era visits or meets someone from another. Just a thought.

Throwing on some dark roast coffee from some bag. It's a bit of a "try your luck" day.

Teas? Hmm. Maybe this one and that one. One is definitely black, the other definitely green. Beyond that, let's see.

And for munching, here's some healthy stuff.

Way ahead must be found.

Have never had Galas and wasn't aware of Golden Gala but might give them a look. My apples of choice tend to be McIntosh and Empire (hybrid of Macs and Red Delicious). Thanks for the tip, Bear. And for getting things spun up for the weekend.

Quote by JamesPBear
I'd like to see more humour stories. They're not easy to write, especially for someone like me who has no sense of humour.

Funnily enough, I have a sense of humour, albeit one that leans to the goofy, weird, and absurd at times, and find humour very hard to write. I think the only really funny stories I have written have been micros just because 100 words is basically enough for a long joke or short sketch.

Almost 3 years ago, Floor Jansen launched "Fire", her first original solo single after a 20+ career spent in bands. The song ended up being one of my favourite tracks on the eventual solo album.

And now she has a very nice new version, the "Stripped" version which cuts back on the instrumentation in favour of the one instrument that matters: her magnificent voice. It dropped on the streamers today and she will also be debuting it on Dutch television (given the time difference between here and Europe, probably already has).

Best to move things forward.

Quote by Cora
Ideally, a short story between 1,000 to 5,000+ words I would prefer.

Flash is actually 100-1000. I kind of like that length for some themes and ideas. Forces me to rein things in and focus more tightly, but can still tell a full story, vs. a micro where you're really just giving the bare bones.

Genre-wise, I am generally open to anything. Some of the best comps I have been in are ones where there is a broad theme that can cut across genres rather than a specific genre. So there was a "punk" comp I was in one time that was basically open to anything themed around "punk" genres like cyberpunk, steampunk, dieselpunk, and so on. And, of course, just punk culture and music. I think for a comp that works better as a focus than genre. Even a "space" themed comp could work that way. Even if it leaned heavily to SF, you could also have stories about modern space exploration (e.g. something involving astronauts on the ISS or its Chinese counterpart), astronomy, and such.

Way back, I was young.

Good afternoon! I survived a meeting that ran way over. Latest I have eaten lunch in quite a while. Fortunately, a nice person from corporate HR who came for a meeting brought muffins. 😊

More meetings to come. Fortunately, I have a mug of oolong at hand.

Good morning!! Very frosty here today. Almost everything had a sheen of white as I was driving to the office. And there was a mist over the intersection where I turn to go South. Not enough to be a problem for driving, but a very visible presence. Definitely Fall.

I shall put some Ethiopian Yirgacheffe on for the coffee crowd.

For teas we have Yorkshire Gold and Duke of Earl (vanilla Earl Grey).

Washed up the pitchers and put iced tea and lemonade.

Hope you're all doing well. Special good thoughts for Gil as she deal with her grief and her father.

Quote by gillianleeza
My Mom died on Sunday, which by then was a relief.

Condolences to you and your family.

Quote by gillianleeza
I'm drowning in paperwork related to dealing with death and trying to arrange a funeral and my father's upcoming move to memory care.

I have dealt with both a death and a move to longterm care, but it was same person so at different times. Can't imagine trying to do both at the same time. Vibes.

We're here if you need to vent, Gil.

Forgotten tales brought to light.

Quote by JamesPBear

(checks cookie jars) Anyone been in touch with Sara recently? I sent her a couple of things, but haven't heard anything back.

Cora's been doing the cookies of late but she's scarce these days, too (active, just not as active). I have not seen or heard from Sara in quite a while. Hope she's okay. Her profile here shows last visit 2 months ago.

Thanks for getting the drinks going. pours a Darjeeling tea

Quote by verbal
My fear now is having to face the Yankees in the World Series.

An all New York World Series sounds kind of fun, though. But, yeah, facing the Yankees in a World Series will be rather nerve wracking, eh.

Tea and coffee

Tea and coffee

Keep us going wide awake!

Good morning, folks. Ape has some nice Deathwish Dark Roast coffee brewed. In the teapots, we got Darjeeling and Raspberry Royale.

Cool and sunny here now, the kind of Autumn weather than I like.

How's things?

On a more upbeat note, here's some Sunday morning fuel. Rocket Fuel, in fact, from Remarkable Bean.

For teas we have Sunday Tea (black tea w. Bourbon Vanilla) and Cream of Earl Grey.

Grey and wet here today, as predicted. Oh well, it is October so nice weather is more of a treat than a regularity now. Cars are both indoors now. Other than raking leaves when they finally come down, I have done as much as I can with the yard to prepare for the winter.

How's your weekend going?

Yeah, been there, done that with Dad. Coming up on ten years since he died. That Fall, I took him to one of his medical appointments on the Thanksgiving long weekend and we went for a walk in Victoria Park in Kitchener, Ontario. He was fascinated (to be fair, so was I) to see not one, but two, great blue herons. A month later, I was into funeral planning and estate business. Sigh. Time flies.

Places we visit become memories.

Finnish rocker Marko Hietala is the latest Nightwish member/ex-member to appear in a version of the European Best Singer franchise. Of course, it's the Finnish version. And his latest performance rocks (as is to be expected of Marko).

The other, by the way, is current Nightwish lead singer Floor Jansen who has appeared on both the Dutch and German editions.

Spinning up some morning java. How about some Jamaican Blue Mountain?

Teas? Organic Assam and Buddha's Blend.

Washed the pitchers and mixed up fresh iced tea and lemonade.

Hope all are having a good weekend. It's a long weekend here in the Great Not-Yet-White North (it'll come in time). Canadian Thanksgiving. Which is rather like American Thanksgiving minus the Black Friday nonsense. Turkey, pumpkin pie, football (CFL mainly).

Starship Trooper(s) - Robert A. Heinlein

The Robot(s) of Dawn - Isaac Asimov

The Star (s) My Destination - Alfred Bester

Quote by verbal
A combo of Henry 4 and Henry 5. Two and a half hours long, but it’s combining 3 plays, so we shall see what we see.

Wow, combining those into 2.5 hours? Lots of editing involved, I suspect. As long as the St. Crispin's Day speech that precedes Agincourt remains. One of the best speeches in Shakespeare IMHO. Branagh delivered it beautifully in his film version of Henry V.

First frost. Um, yay?

Good (brrrrrrr) morning! Had to scrape frost for the first time this Fall. A fairly heavy one, too. Usually first frost is lighter.

Vibes to the Floridians. Milton was as nasty as expected I am hearing.

Coffee for today is Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Teas are Yorkshire Gold and Buddha's Blend.

Take care, folks.

Nature is full of beauty.