An anthology series exploring the vast horizons of human possibility, from the great plains to the great galaxies, from the grubby hands to the clenched fists to the grasping claws, from slashing swords to sparkling starships, from the grime and muck of the stable to the splendor and desolation of alien worlds. The human story is one of pressure and tragedy and triumph in our pursuit of Open Vistas.
We are now accepting submissions for the second of our 2022 anthologies:
Fire, Iron, Muck, and Sludge
We know about Conan. We know about Captain Kirk. We know about Frodo and Aragorn and Gandalf, Adama and the Doctor and Captain Jack (Sparrow or Harkness). We know about Sarah Connor and Red Sonja.
But behind every successful barbarian, there’s a swordsmith. Behind every mercenary, there’s a barkeep. After every party at Jabba’s Palace, somebody has to clean up the mess.
Who are these people who keep the streets and castles clean? Who builds the weapons and rivet the warships? Who shear the sheep (or the griffins) whose fur makes the clothing of the arctic adventurers? Who catch the plesiosaurs that feed the pirates who sail the twelve seas of Arcturus Three? Who clean the oxygen recycling systems on the Lunar Base?
We want stories of the gunsmiths, the blacksmiths, the janitors, the garbage men, the midwives, the livestock inseminators, the septic engineers, the taxidermists, and anyone else with crud under their nails. We want to share a day with the blue collar folks that make your fantasy and science fictional worlds work. We want a look behind the curtain at the machinery they man, and how it makes their civilization possible. What are their struggles, triumphs, and heroic journeys? Dig down in the dirt and tell us about the dirtiest jobs you can imagine—and how your world would fall to pieces without them.
To submit your story, email editor @ everydaynovelist.com (be sure to use the phrase “Fire and Iron” in the subject line), or use the form on this page.
For payment and other business details, see this page.
jdsawyer
After a childhood in academia, J. Daniel Sawyer declared his independence by dropping out of high school and setting off on a series of adventures in the bowels of the film industry, the venture capital culture of silicon valley, surfing safaris, bohemians, burners, historians, theologians, adventurers, climbers, drug dealers, gangbangers, and inventors before his past finally caught up to him.
Trapped in a world bookended by one wall falling in Berlin and other walls going up around suburbia and along national borders throughout the world, he rediscovered his deep love of history and, with it, and obsession with predicting the future as it grew aggressively out of the past.
To date, this obsession has yielded over thirty books and innumerable short stories, the occasional short film, nearly a dozen podcasts stretching over a decade and a half, and a career creating novels and audiobooks exploring the world through the lens of his own peculiar madness, in the depths of his own private forest in a rural exile, where he uses the quiet to write, walk on the beach, and manage a production company that brings innovative stories to the ears of audiences across the world.
For news and free stories, sign up for his occasional newsletter. Or find his contact info, podcasts, and more on his home page at http://www.jdsawyer.net
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