this week’s prompt:
A 500-word story that takes place among the trees.
Happy writing!
musings
My birthday is this weekend, and as I’ve gotten older, it’s gotten harder to go through the birthday motions. It’s lonelier and sadder, not the least because I lost my aunt right around the time of my 30th birthday, almost 7 years ago. And lost my grandfather just last week.
I tend to withdraw in grief and self-destruct internally. I’ve been fighting that impulse this week by being ultra-productive, sticking to my half-marathon training, and generally not giving myself any grace.
But writing has taken a backseat. Add that to the guilt pile in my brain. I wonder when it’s all going to start rotting and oozing from my orifices.
In less depressing news, I did get myself a GIANT dry-erase wall sticker for my office so I can better visualize the timelines and POVs in my novel. I look forward to drawing on the wall this weekend.
things that caught my eye
deadlined stuff from previous weeks
🎥 Scriptation Showcase TV Script Competition deadline is March 23, 2025.
✏️ Fractured Lit Ghost, Fable, and Fairy Tales Prize — submissions open until April 14, 2025.
✏️ Call for submissions from the League of Canadian Poets for poetry reflecting the theme of Love Loves Our Loving for an upcoming chapbook. Deadline Tuesday, April 25, 2025.
✏️ Applications Open for 2025 Writers-in-Exile Humber Scholarship (applicants must be members of PEN Canada’s Writers in Exile program) — Deadline June 2, 2025.
open submission calls
✏️ Cursed Morsels has a submission call for single-author horror and weird fiction short story collections by BIPOC writers only. Open until 2026 calendar is filled.
✏️ Seize the Press is looking to publish dark speculative fiction, strict 7,500 word limit.
✏️ Okay Donkey is open to poetry and flash fic submissions, no deadline but there’s a monthly cap on free submissions.
pitches and submissions
I’m accepting pitches and submissions for Prompted! Read more here. (but TL;DR: email me with pitches and fill out the form for creative submissions inspired by prompts from the newsletter. Rates start at 25 cents per word for up to ~500 words).
I’m also looking to commission artwork for the newsletter. If you’re an artist/illustrator who would like to contribute to Prompted, get in touch with your rates!
write with your heart because it will never run out of things to say
artwork by Angela Miklos Creative