Who’s in Charge Here?
It's up to us to decide when we'll write
“Am I going to write today?”
This is a question which I hope you can answer in the affirmative. If you are serious about being a writer and if writing is important to you, then I know that you at least TRY to make an effort to get some writing done for as many days as you are able to.
Even so, I also understand that there are times that we can’t write. My business partner has been hospitalized since December, and she hasn’t been able to write. I recently had to deal with headaches and dizziness that pulled me away from my writing, and those were things which took priority. Our health must come first.
But if you are otherwise capable of writing and can actually set aside that time to write, then do so.
Think about how you spend your time compared to how often you are able to write.
If you are able to write instead of doomscrolling on your phone, then make the choice to write.
If you are able to write instead of watching TV, make the choice to write.
If you are able to write instead of sitting around and complaining about being bored, then, hey! Make the choice to write!
In other words, act with purpose. Your choices of how to spend your free time reflect what is most important to you. And if you already wrote for the day and still have free time, then enjoy your free time doing something else that you enjoy!
But if you haven’t been able to write all day and you suddenly have the time to write? Use it to write. It’s your time, and you get to decide how best to put it to use.
I’m not one of those people who believe that you MUST write every single day. I know that’s not possible for some people. However, I believe that we must write whenever we have the time to write.
In the past, when my kids were little, I would grab those free pockets of time to write. And even when I didn’t have free time, I would write while taking care of them. Now that they’re adults and doing their own things, I do have those spots of free time to write in between everything else that I’m doing, so I use that time to write.
It’s easy to look at your busy life and say, “I don’t have time to write!” But if you really look at what you do with your time, along with your free time, it’s possible you can squeeze in time to write.
Even busy people find time to write. They have been known to write first thing in the morning before getting ready for work, while taking a bus to work, or during their lunch breaks. I once read about a successful romance author who was also a teacher, and she pointed out that she wrote every morning before she went to work.
It’s your time and you are in charge of how you spend it. If you want to include writing time in your schedule, take a few moments to really think about how you can squeeze that time in there without sacrificing anything else. If you want to write, then make the time to write.
You are in charge of your time. Make sure that you use some of it for writing.
Book Review
I recently reviewed the horror poetry collection More Regrets Than Glories: A Collection of Dark Poetry by Rick Powell at Dawn Reviews Books
I recently reviewed the collection of horror stories All That Slithers: 13 Stories to Squeeze Your Brain by Fionna Cosgrove at Dawn Reviews Books
I recently reviewed the collection of horror poetry War of Dictates by John Baltisberger at Dawn Reviews Books
What’s New at SPARREW?
Check out my interview with author Eric Butler, which appeared in the March 2026 issue of the SPARREW Newsletter!
Read it here.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!
Week of Terrors Anthology series
Twisted Dreams Press is now accepting submissions for a new anthology series! It is seven books with ten stories in each book.
The first anthology will be published in June. The others will follow in the subsequent months. Submissions of stories for all anthologies opens the beginning of April.
Open until each anthology has ten stories. We will announce when an anthology is no longer accepting submissions.
Series Name: A Week of Terrors!
Here are the themes:
Monster Monday: Creature Horror Stories
Terrifying Tuesday: Evil Clowns
Werewolf Wednesday
Thriller Thursday: Zombies
Frightening Friday: Mix of horror subgenres: psychological horror, eco-horror, cyberpunk horror, erotic horror, etc.
Slasher Saturday: Slasher horror
Spooky Sunday: Ghost stories
Payment: One print and digital copy.
Submit your stories today!
Length: 3K-10K words
Reprints welcome! Simultaneous submissions welcome but please let us know if your story is accepted elsewhere.
Email your stories as a Word .doc or .docx file. Google Docs are okay as long as you grant Dawn permission for access.
No PDF submissions, please.
Stories written with AI will NOT be accepted!
When you submit your story, please put the following in the subject line:
Submission: WOT Anthology, (Title), (Day of the week your story is for)
Please include in your email if the story is a reprint as well as your bio.
Please send your stories to Dawn at submissions@twisteddreamspress.com
We look forward to reading your story!
An Update on An Old Anthology Call!
If you missed out on the anthology call for the Friday the 13th Summer Camp Horror anthology, you’re in luck!
This anthology is reopening to submissions!
Learn more about that on the Twisted Dreams Press blog here.
BONUS CALLS FOR SUBMISSION
Dead Fox Publishing
The website suggests writers interested in submitting to this anthology should refer to their Duotrope listing. Here is what it says in the About section on Duotrope:
“What Defines a Spirit In This Instance?
· Shade: A ghost, from the Latin word umbra for “shadow”.
· Wraith: A Scots word for a ghost or specter, often associated with a portent of death.
· Revenant: A person who returns from the dead, often to haunt or seek vengeance. (From the French for “one who returns.”)
· Gast: An Old English word for “spirit” or “soul”.
Spirits have a wide definition! They could be the remnants of living beings, human or animal. In a creative twist, it could also be the remnants of objects or places where a lot of bad stuff has happened. (A house that has a consciousness, for example.) These things would still work because they would not be technically ‘living.’ We would also accept stories where people made up ghost stories and they were told so often that the ghosts ‘came into being.’”
On their website, it states:
“Dead Fox Publishing focuses on dark fiction across multiple genres. Horror, gothic, dark romance, thrillers, grimdark fantasy, you name it. Give us your unsettling, your morally gray, and your taboo. We accept short and long fiction, and for our anthologies, we also accept poetry and illustrations.”
Reprints accepted. Multiple and simultaneous submissions are allowed. No generative AI.
Length: 4K-8K words
Payment: Royalties
Deadline: April 30, 2026
Flame Tree Press
“Women’s ambition is not always welcomed, let alone encouraged. Speculative fiction is a context that offers other possibilities (and worlds), where writers and readers imagine what could be. Climbing High: Speculative Stories of Female Ambition will feature stories exploring contexts where female ambition is treated differently, aspiration and achievement in the face of adversity, and ambitions that extend beyond what’s possible in our contemporary world. This anthology takes an empowering stance of embracing ambition while being unafraid to explore the costs and consequences that characters may face in doing so and the impacts of ambitions pursued or fulfilled.
Stories may engage with the question of navigating disparate values and commitments (the often-asked and often-sexist question of “How do you balance x and y?”), or they may abandon all that, with characters who prioritise their desires above all else. Whether characters are reshaping the world(s), themselves, or aiming to brew the best cup of tea, their drives are the driving force of their stories. Contributors may feel free to question assumptions or norms related to women or gender while they’re at it. Authors are encouraged to explore spaces between representation and aspiration and be as bold as they like in imagining what could be.”
Original work only. Simultaneous and multiple submissions accepted. “Stories that used AI for planning, editing, modifying or generating text will not be accepted. Please declare in your submission email if you have used AI in any way.”
Length: 2K-4K words
Payment: “For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories.”
Deadline: May 3, 2026
Scryptid Games
“Tales from the Cryptids flips the lens on conventional cryptid lore. In this book, cryptids are beings with vivid lives, goals, and stories of their own to share. We are more interested in thoughtful tales of transformation, self-discovery, and embedded interrogation than stories centering cryptid hunting, categorization, or collection.
Don’t solve the mystery. Be the mystery.
For the purpose of this anthology, cryptids are beings of real or imagined folklore who “could be real” and exist on the fringes of our world. We welcome thoughtful submissions featuring documented cryptids like Bigfoot, Mothman, and Nessie, and we also love new takes on cryptids and creative reflections on the wondrous in the everyday. Could a cryptid be a song, a memory, an entire town? We are excited to read expansive, imaginative perspectives on this theme.”
Reprints accepted. They are accepting micro-fiction, fiction, and poetry.
Length:
Micro-Fiction: Not specified
Fiction: 1K words max
Poetry: “Up to 3 poems, no more than 5 pages”
Payment:
Micro-Fiction: $25 for each accepted piece
Fiction: “10 cents a word for originals, 5 cents per word for reprints.”
Poetry: “We pay $50 per accepted poem, and $25 for reprints.”
Deadline: May 15, 2026
Strange Vibes Weird Fiction Anthology Volume 2
Scribe Vibes
“We’re big fans of horror and weird fiction maestros like Lovecraft, du Maurier and Kafka. An intriguing paranormal romance, a good adventure with “strange” or “uncanny” theme, sci-fi horror, ironic dark comedy can also push our happy buttons.”
Reprints welcome. Simultaneous submissions accepted. No multiple submissions. Requires one month of exclusivity. They are interested in stories of weird fiction but also sci-fi/horror, dark comedy, and stories that are considered speculative.
Length: 2K-5K words
Payment: $2 CAD plus a copy of the ebook
Deadline: May 15, 2026
Calendar of Fools
“The idea for Missed-Fits is born of two central motivations at Calendar of Fools: the desire to create truly unique books and reading experiences for our readers, and the desire to provide a service or fill a gap we see in the professional short fiction space. In this case, the gap we saw was a relative dearth of stories of a certain length (1,200 to 2,100 words), and once we settled on that, the “unique books” part presented itself: stories with elements that are out of place, that don’t fit, that are missing.
We wondered: what would happen if we created a space that was exclusively for these odd-length oddities? What if we set writers the task of purposely writing a story that tends to be too long for flash fiction markets yet is on the short side for short story markets? What stories will innovate narratively in ways unique to this story length? We plan to find out.
Theme: Your story should have an element of someone or something that doesn’t fit, that is missing, that is out of place.”
Original work only. Simultaneous submissions accepted. No multiple submissions. They are only accepting submissions of stories, in the following genre: “Speculative short stories (science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.).” Also note: “We do not ever accept stories where AI wrote or generated portions of the text.”
Submission period: April 16-May 16. “Stories submitted outside this period will be deleted unread. Stories must be submitted via our submissions form, which will become available on April 16th. Do not send your story to us via email.”
Length: 1200-2100 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: May 16, 2026
This Week’s Book Promo
This week, I promoted my poetry book, Yesterday’s Words.
An interesting thing about this book: It was published three days before my dad passed away. So after I uploaded it and published it, I added that dedication in his memory.
Also interesting is that a poem I included in this book is one which I read at his funeral.
And because today is my dad’s Heavenly Birthday, I am going to include that poem here.
Here is the book’s blurb:
“Yesterday’s words are like butterflies on the wind. The moments we capture with words kept within our hearts. The good moments, the bad moments, the sad moments and the moments that touch the soul. The little things that we see, hear and experience that make us think, Yes, life is like that. These snapshots from life have been captured into verse.”
And here is the excerpt!
Excerpt from
Yesterday’s Words
Copyright © 2015 by Dawn Colclasure
If I Could Be You
Sad heart, why do you weep?
Sad heart, why do you sigh?
Sad heart, where do you plan to go
If you let the world pass you by?
Sad heart, it’s time to fly.
Look down deep inside.
Past all the tears that you have cried.
Look down for that tiny light shining through.
That is the light I give to you.
If I could be you, I’d find a way.
Find a path to walk each day.
If I could be you, and not just me,
I’d find the strength to break free.
Life may be hard but we can’t fall.
Got to stand up to it all.
Got to keep on going though it’s hard.
Though our way looks dark and marred.
If I could be you, I’d grow some wings.
If I could be you, I’d think good things.
If I could be you, I’d keep going on.
Find some faith to draw upon.
Don’t let sadness keep you blue.
Oh, it won’t mend the sad heart in you.
It won’t help you find the way.
It won’t let you see the light of day.
If I could be you, I’d erase the pain.
If I could be you, I’d stand again.
If I could be you, and not just me,
I’d find the strength to break free.
Break free. Break free.
Find a way.
Sad heart, grow some wings.
Make your life brand new each day.
If I could be you, I’d find a way.
Wipe away your pain and see.
Grow some wings and break free.Thanks for reading. See you next weekend.
What some writers may not realize is this: a day that you don't feel like writing NEW material is an excellent day to focus on REVISIONS. Review poetry or short fiction that has been rejected and then revise the piece substantially. 🖊️ I don't mean "change three commas" - - - - I mean roll up your sleeves and make the writing shine. Polish the manuscript enough so that when an editor comes across the first few lines on the page, s/he is beyond impressed. Time away from any manuscript will give you a sharper eye. Don your editor's cap and go to it. Revising is more important than writing sometimes.