Pre-order "Mountain Magic"

Woodland Press has Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia up for pre-order. You can pre-order your copy at the Woodland Press website.

If you haven't been there, check out the Mountain Magic website at readmountainmagic.com. Bios, news, and all the latest on Mountain Magic can be found here.

A First Look At Mountain Magic

Coming October 2010

Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia

Coming October 9th...

Table of Contents

I am proud to announce the Table of Contents for "Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia":

• The Scotsman's Fiddle, Story by William Meikle
• Top Hat, Story by Frank Larnerd
• Margaret Rose, Poem by Kelly Ramsdell Fineman
• Fiddlelegs, Story by Steve Vernon
• The Ascension of Mercy Grace, Story by Jean Rabe
• Sin Tax, Story by Stephen Couch
• And this came straight from my student's mouth... , Poem by Joyce Richardson
• Glory Hand, Story by Joshua Reynolds
• A Silent Supper, Story by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
• Dancing on a Stump, Story by Karin Fuller
• The Worm Conjurer, Poem by Wade German
• A Recipe for Rain and Rainbows, Story by Beth Cato
• The Passing, Story by Steve Rasnic Tem

More news on the way soon. Check back here or at readmountainmagic.com, the soon-to-be new home of "Mountain Magic".

Submissions

I've just sent out the last of the rejections as well as acceptances into the final round of consideration. If anyone has sent me a submission and hasn't heard from me, e-mail me at mountain_magic@verizon.net and let me know.

Thanks To Everyone

... who sent their fiction and poetry to "Mountain Magic". My plan is to have the last of the first round rejections sent out by the end of the week. Those authors with stories and poems that have made it to the next round should receive an e-mail from me by the first part of next week. I hope to make the final selections and have the Table of Contents set by mid-July. The decisions will be difficult, but I am excited about the quality of work I have to choose from.

Although the submission period is officially over, watch this blog in July for a special announcement concerning a possible second chance to submit to "Mountain Magic". Details coming soon.

"State of the Union"

We have reached the halfway point of the submission period. Just a little more than a month left to submit poems and stories. I've gotten some great submissions so far, but there is still room for more.

For those of you still working on stories, let me mention a few things:

1) I haven't received many stories that involve the performance side of magic. This could be a path for the writer who can explore this subject well.

2) Magic, in many of its forms, deals with themes such as transformation, secret knowledge, and initiation. Many of the submissions that have missed the mark also missed these themes.

3) When in doubt, it never hurts to re-read the submission guidelines.

Thanks to everyone who have submitted to me so far. I have some tough choices to make, but it wouldn't disappoint me at all if some other writers make it tougher. But the clock is ticking, folks, so let's see what you've got.