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| SFReader Forums > Book, Magazine, and eZine Publishers > Ricasso Press > Black Dragon, White Dragon: Updates | Forum Quick Jump
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Rob Santa
Forum Moderator
      
Date Joined Apr 2004
Total Posts : 1420
| Posted 3/12/2007 3:00 PM (GMT -4) |   | |
EDIT ADDED WEDNESDAY, MAY 23: The reading period has concluded for the "Black Dragon, White Dragon" anthology. Thank you for your interest.
News and notes about the anthology will appear in this thread.
First and foremost, I am receiving plenty of submissions: 43 to date. Not bad for a week or so. What's surprised me even more is that I've made 3 acceptances.
"Li Tien and the Nian Monster" by Eugie Foster,
"Hardcastle's Dragon" by Martin Owton, and
"Azieran: The Travelers Four" by Christopher Heath
All three are very short pieces, with a total word count of about 5,400 words. Lots of room left in the table of contents.
Both Christopher's and Eugie's stories are fairy tale-ish in the style, with very serious and monstrous dragons. Martin's is humor through and through, a delightful bit.
What I'm not seeing much of is down and dirty action, what I figured the majority of these stories would be. I am amazed at the wondrous variety of ideas and am reminded again how odd it is that some editors would not want to see stories featuring this most malleable subject matter.
Two novellas are in my Inbox, one at roughly 11,000 words and the other at 20,000. I'm looking forward to reading them and seeing what the authors can do with greater storytelling latitude.
More news will follow shortly.
Rob Santa Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction
and CEO of Ricasso Press | | Back to Top | | |
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Christopher_Heath
Eternal Champion
Date Joined Oct 2005
Total Posts : 1156
| Posted 3/13/2007 10:19 AM (GMT -4) | | Total word count of 5400 words? Wow! Mine was half of that at 2700 so the other two must be incredibly short, bordering on flash fiction.
Christopher M. Heath
"Azieran: The Travelers Four" in Black Dragon, White Dragon by Ricasso Press
"Azieran: The Breaking of Hell's Bones" in Black Sails by 1018 Press
"Azieran: Distilling the Essence" in Sails and Sorcery by Fantasist Enterprises
"Azieran: The Conquerors" in Chimaera Serials
"Azieran: Pawn of the Serpentine Witch" in Chronicles of Fantasy by ComStar Media
"Azieran: Sentinel of an Ageless Reign" in Chronicles of Fantasy by ComStar Media
"Azieran: The Lakeshorn Mirrors" in Chronicles of Fantasy by ComStar Media
"Azieran: Crestfallen in Mal'kyrrik" serialized novella in Forgotten Worlds
"Azieran: Wyrd Sins" in Rogue Worlds
"The Coruscate King" in Freehold: Betrayal - Ghourlesh Book I
+ others
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Rob Santa
Forum Moderator
Date Joined Apr 2004
Total Posts : 1420
| Posted 3/16/2007 3:38 PM (GMT -4) | | I've read all the submissions received to date: 64 of them. I'm sitting on a couple of manuscripts trying to decide about them, one of which is novella-length. I've also made rewrite suggestions to two authors, and should they give their pieces a second shot, they'll be undoubtedly accepted (for an additional 10,000 words to the total).
This one's a sooner-than-expected update because I've added another story and didn't want to wait the week out to talk about it. "I Dreamed of Griffons in Flight" by Jeff Crook, like "Hardcastle's Dragon" doesn't actually have a dragon in the story. Yet the characters refer to it, and were it not for the actions of the dragon there would be no story in both. While I didn't want to populate the entire anthology with stories that involve this kind of secondary plotline, they certainly fit the bill with room for more.
Mr. Crook's story involves a group of dragon hunters in full retreat, caring for one of their own after being overwhelmed by the beast. It's a solid character piece. It's also relatively short, roughly 2,500 words.
Current Table of Contents: 5 stories, 16,000 total words (with a possible 7 stories, 26,000 words update soon).
Rob Santa
Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction
and CEO of Ricasso Press | | Back to Top | | |
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Rob Santa
Forum Moderator
Date Joined Apr 2004
Total Posts : 1420
| Posted 3/20/2007 10:22 AM (GMT -4) | | Which means, what more am I looking for?
I still don't see enough heart-pounding action and will freely admit those stories will get preferential treatment. While 4 of the stories in the ToC contain action scenes, I would only call "Otrossius" an action story. The other three are certainly fine pieces with climaxing action scenes; "Otrossius" has more than just that one.
With 3 pieces that qualify as humor (yes, "Otrossius" fits that bill, too), do I need any more? Probably not, but that shouldn't hamper anyone from sending them along. Both the other humor pieces are very short, which, if they don't have anything else going for them other than laughs, is exactly the right length.
What more? I don't know. I can say that the ToC will be full at about 75,000 words to accomodate requested rewrites and commissioned pieces (should I get them). So keep 'em coming everyone. I'm enjoying reading these stories.
Rob Santa
Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction
and CEO of Ricasso Press | | Back to Top | | |
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Rob Santa
Forum Moderator
Date Joined Apr 2004
Total Posts : 1420
| Posted 3/22/2007 2:46 PM (GMT -4) | | Very next piece I read was about St. George. Go figure.
Added another story to the anthology. "Dragon's Hide" by Armand Rosamilia is a less-than-typical encounter between a Champion and a dragon, beginning with the townfolk living underneath the dragon's threat. Had this been a longer piece, the skewed happenings may have become tiresome: at 3,600 words, it's perfect.
Current Table of Contents: 9 stories, 33,000 words (and still holding on a 4,000-word requested rewrite). We're on a pace to have a collection of about 25 stories, maybe more if I keep receiving these outstanding shorter works, less if I find a suitable novella. Turned down two that I really liked, probably the two hardest calls I've made to date.
Rob Santa
Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction
and CEO of Ricasso Press | | Back to Top | | |
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ScrewMoonshine
Adept
Date Joined Aug 2005
Total Posts : 862
| Posted 3/22/2007 4:13 PM (GMT -4) | |
Rob Santa said...
And in honor of that 100th sub, I thought I'd have a little fun...
Most common title: "Here Be Dragons" (or variations thereof) with 6 occurences  Jeepers, you'd think people would think twice before sending a title like that to a market whose common theme is dragons! Makes me wonder how many submissions the editor at Dreams of Decadence gets with titles like "Fangs in the Night" or "The Eternal Thirst".
Robert Orme
Out now: "On the Tree Top" in Ultraverse vol.3 #5 (www.ultraverse.us) "The Scab, the Man, and the I.V." in Mount Zion Speculative Fiction Review #3 (www.mountzionpress.com) Coming soon: "More Than One Way to Protect" in Lords of Justice (www.carnifexpress.net/blogs/) "And Afterward" and "Candy Lover" in Flashshot, April 30 and May 23 (www.gwthomas.org/subscribe.htm) | | Back to Top | | |
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Lindsey Duncan
Stablehand
Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 4
| Posted 3/22/2007 5:42 PM (GMT -4) | | Or maybe they're just desperate like me and wish you could title stories by throwing Scrabble letters at your enemies. :wink:
That is pretty funny, though. | | Back to Top | | |
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Lindsey Duncan
Stablehand
Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 4
| Posted 3/22/2007 11:56 PM (GMT -4) | | Thanks for the welcome! I've been lurking and reading for a bit. I'm tinkering with a (much) shorter third, and then I do believe I'm out of dragons  - but best of luck with this project. | | Back to Top | | |
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Firlefanz
Sage
Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 1193
| Posted 3/23/2007 10:06 AM (GMT -4) | | Hi Rob,
I just signed up, but I sent you a story on the 20th and have not received a reply. Should I send it once more, as well?
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Christopher_Heath
Eternal Champion
Date Joined Oct 2005
Total Posts : 1156
| Posted 3/23/2007 8:37 PM (GMT -4) | | Least common dragon color: white (not once, and pretty much have seen everything else including polka-dots)
"Azieran: Frost Scarab of Luunhaat" has a kickass battle scene at the end with an ancient white dragon. I must've lost your attention somewhere along the way. :)  
Christopher M. Heath
"Azieran: The Travelers Four" in Black Dragon, White Dragon by Ricasso Press
"Azieran: The Breaking of Hell's Bones" in Black Sails by 1018 Press
"Azieran: Distilling the Essence" in Sails and Sorcery by Fantasist Enterprises
"Azieran: The Conquerors" in Chimaera Serials
"Azieran: Pawn of the Serpentine Witch" in Chronicles of Fantasy by ComStar Media
"Azieran: Sentinel of an Ageless Reign" in Chronicles of Fantasy by ComStar Media
"Azieran: The Lakeshorn Mirrors" in Chronicles of Fantasy by ComStar Media
"Azieran: Crestfallen in Mal'kyrrik" serialized novella in Forgotten Worlds
"Azieran: Wyrd Sins" in Rogue Worlds
"The Coruscate King" in Freehold: Betrayal - Ghourlesh Book I
+ others
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Firlefanz
Sage
Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 1193
| Posted 3/24/2007 1:53 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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