“One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing—writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.” —Lawrence Block

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Entangled Publishing’s New Adult imprint, Embrace, has a wish list of stories the editors would like to see. Embrace stories feature characters 18-24 who are striving for independence and finding themselves (and love!) Among the types of stories editors would love to see:

Cowboys and/or a Western setting, men in uniform, sports and athletes, characters with unusual jobs, workplace entanglements, travel, struggles to support oneself, surfers, and the conflict of college vs. working world. Check out the complete list here.

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Shimmer Magazine pays 5 cents a word for fantasy short stories up to 7,500 words (though the preferred length is 4,000 words. ) The editors are interested in speculative fiction (especially modern fantasy) that features diverse characters and strongly emotional stories. Find their guidelines here.

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Blank Fiction is looking for noir and science fiction stories, up to 15,000 words. Payment is $50, and the deadline for submissions is January 15, 2014. Find out more here.

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The Midnight Diner publishes genre fiction — horror, monster, crime and paranormal — stories with a Christian slant. They’re open to submissions until the end of January for their next issue. Stories that blend genres are welcome. Payment for stories 3.000 to 6,000 words is $60. Find more here.

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Beginning February 3, I’m teaching an online class on “Editing and Revision for Fiction Writers”. The class runs from Feb 3 – Feb 23. Every Monday and Thursday I’ll post a new lesson, and we’ll have discussions throughout the week. You participate as much or as little as you like. The class is conducted through a Yahoo group, and is sponsored by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Cost is $40 for non-members and $35 for members. You can read all about it (including a course outline) here. 

As a bonus, I’ll send everyone who signs up for and completes the course a copy of my upcoming Harlequin Intrigue, Rocky Mountain Revenge, as a thank you gift.

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If you’re in the Denver area, I’m giving a FREE class on Tuesday, January 14 at 6 pm at the Ross-University Hills Branch Library. The class “Telling Your Story — How to Shape Your Ideas Into a Book” is designed to help you take your great idea, family story or other story you’ve always wanted to tell, and shape it into a novel. The class will be interactive and I hope students will ask plenty of questions and we’ll work together to answer them. Find out more here. 

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As always, feel free to share the information in this newsletter with others — repost, reprint, forward and share. All I ask is that you give me credit as the source for the information, and include a link to this blog. Thank you!  Cindi