Since I haven’t objectified a (mostly) naked man on here lately, I thought it was high time I remedied that situation. Behold the beautiful hairiness of one Mr. Lance Parker. I hear he plays soccer. I don’t watch soccer, and even if I did, he wouldn’t look like he does here, lounging around in his undies on a bed, perfectly mussed, with his shirt open, so I don’t think I’ll bother. Besides, soccer’s not violent enough for me. Sad, but true.
I thought the objectification apropos since I have some writing news to share about Sex Objects: Erotic Romance For Women. More specifically, I’ve had a story accepted by the lovely and talented Ms. Delilah Devlin, who’s editing the project for Cleis Press. *Insert undignified happy dance here.*
Have I said lately how much I love being a part of a Cleis anthology? First of all, their contracts are for the “non-exclusive” rights to your work. I can still publish the story on my own if I choose to do so. My writing buddies, Lucy Felthouse and Annmarie Hartnett, are two gals who have bundled a few of their short stories together and self-published them. You should go buy them now! I have every intention of doing this same thing later this year, tossing in a new short as part of the package.
The second reason I love working with Cleis is the quality of the collections being produced by editors such as Delilah Devlin, Violet Blue, Alison Tyler, Kristina Wright, and Rachel Kramer Bussel, just to name a few. These ladies know what they’re doing when they put together an anthology, which makes it that much more of an honor to be picked for inclusion.
Lastly, as part of the payment for your story, you receive two copies of the book. I think this is extra special because some of us might never see our single titles in actual print format. This gives you a nice little memento to fondle proudly put on a keepsake writing shelf. Yes, I have one! Don’t mock me.
Back to the anthology. The name of my short is Diving Deep, and I gotta be honest and say that after I sent it off, I thought, “There is no way she’s going to accept it.” Typical, I think for us rookies, but the story starts out with the heroine seeking some peace and quiet from her boisterous family by sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool, WITH the water in it. Soooo, yeah, a strange opening.
I spotted him looming above me on the edge of the pool deck, his body silhouetted by the landscape lighting surrounding the trees and shrubbery. The rippling water distorted his shape, but I’d still recognize Jake blindfolded. The wide shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, the imposing height and size of him.
He hadn’t yet arrived for the party when I’d slipped away. I should probably be flattered that he’d sought me out over the company of my brother, his best friend. I would be if I didn’t know that his visit was only going to lead to more misery for me in the end.
She asked for hot, he-man stories so I went with a Navy SEAL. I broke my military hero cherry, y’all!
“What the fuck, Katie?” He passed a hand over his wet face in agitation. “Were you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“You practically have gills.”
Jake glared. Tiny droplets clung to his obscenely long eyelashes and sparkled in the light. He was so handsome it gave me heart palpitations when I looked at him. “That’s not even remotely funny. You know what I meant.”
“I’m sorry,” I lied.
“No, you’re not. But you’re about to be.”
Any guesses why I named him Jake? 
The anthology will be out August 13, 2013. I’ve made a page for it here which includes the list of writers and their story titles. I’ll post more info like cover art and purchase links as soon as it becomes available.
Okay, one more thing and then I’ll stop being obnoxious with the writing news. I also had a 100-word essay titled Confession accepted by Alison Tyler for her forthcoming Never Say Never Guide. It’s being published through Cleis as well, but that’s all I know about it at the moment.
You guys would tell me if I’m being an ass about sharing this stuff, right? You’d better!
Have a great weekend!
xoxo
Jenny
Cleis does have great terms and always has a great roster of authors and editors. I was absolutely floored when an editor recently commented on the lack of submissions she’d gotten for her anthology — really?!?! so many wetting themselves to become published in the ER realm and she’s begging for submissions for a Cleis anthology?
That is strange, but then again it seems like there’s been a LOT of calls lately. Perhaps there’s an oversaturation? I dunno. I can’t write fast enough to send something off for every one I’d like to submit to. I have to find the time to write some full-length stuff too.
Some folks also turn their noses up at short fiction, as well.
I had to bow out of a couple this month as well. Luckily I always keep a stash of back-up stories I can work with just in case :p
A lot of the recent calls I’ve run across have been for *really specific* subjects. That might be part of it, too.
it could also be that if you go to the clies website and look for a place to submit you can’t find one. or at least i couldn’t. Maybe they take their whole quest for intelligent erotica too far?
I think they turn the erotica and erotic romance submissions over to editors to handle the gathering and sorting. The calls always come from an editor, not Cleis as far as I can tell.
Congratulations on Diving Deep and Confession! I don’t mind you sharing information about your publishing wins. Really… I think that’s the best part about the post (OK maybe Lance Parker was good too).
I’ve never submitted to Cleis, but I love and respect all their editors.
Thank you, Sopphey!