by Jaeel | Apr 2, 2025 | Halloween, horror, Romance, romance anthologiesm romance eBooks, Romantic, Submissions, submissons, Uncategorized
The nights are longer… the air has a chill to it… everything is a little scarier in the fall, especially with Halloween and all that is spooky at the heart of it! Join DCL Publications and our Call for Submissions for the 2025 Halloween anthology ‘Toil and Trouble!’
The task is simple – weave a spooky theme with a believable romance into a well-written and plot-driven short story. Choose your favorite aspects of spookiness, whether they be classic creatures, magic potions, a bit of magic or voodoo, zombies, witches, creepies and crawlies… The possibilities are endless.
The romance should also be prominent… evident. Don’t rush it. Let it happen. Look at it as a ‘one shot’ – a stand-alone story that you can end in any way you like. Your ending can be shocking, a happily-ever-after, one that leaves the reader with a sense of wonder or even doom… perhaps you want to leave the reader with a cliffhanger that – if intended – will allude to an actual ending but never actually deliver one.
There are a few standard ‘don’t’ things to steer away from.
- No beastiality.
- No necrophilia.
- No incest.
- No rape.
- Keep the use of profanity to only moments of necessity.
- Sex is allowed, but it must serve a purpose and remember it is okay to leave some things up to the imagination. Your wording is your power in writing.
- No copyrighted creatures, monsters, killers, or fan fiction.
These are a few ‘do’s’ to keep in mind.
- Must be set in the Fall season
- Can be set in any period of time – past, present, or future.
- Must involve a protagonist who is human and alive.
- Must take place on the planet Earth.
- Must have a continuous strong spooky theme and romantic theme
- Must be longer that 7500 words and less than 15000
- Must be a fully developed short-story
- Usage of popular creatures – witches, vampires, mummies, etc. – should be given a fresh spin
- Usage of science fiction or dystopian themes should have a ‘Twilight Zone’ feel to keep with the spooky theme
- Must be a finished work – not a draft
- Must be thoroughly read through and checked for errors before being submitted
Each author may submit up to two stories for ‘Toil and Trouble.’ If submitting two stories, your stories should be different from one another, focusing on different characters and plot. Locations can be the same if you tend to write in specific locations.
‘Toil and Trouble’ will be released in eBook. Consideration to release in print is available, once the book has sold 100 electronic books (ebooks). Authors will be paid royalty-share quarterly, with royalties split between the different authors included in the published anthology. Royalties are dependent on sales, and DCL Publications will help promote. Authors included in the anthology are also encouraged to promote the book upon release and leading up to Halloween – the period of its best selling window. Authors included in ‘Toil and Trouble’ will receive several promotional graphics to share on their social accounts.
So, go ahead. Scare us. Send us your best and join us as we stir up a little mischief in ‘Toil and Trouble.’
Send submissions to anthology editor Jae El at: jaeelbooks @ gmail.com with the subject Toil and Trouble.
Deadline for submissions is Friday, May 16.
Release Date will be Monday, Sept. 22 – Fall Equinox
Current and Alum DCL authors may reserve their space in the anthology by submitting a well-rounded blurb for their story. The deadline for the full story remains Friday, May 16.
by admin | Jun 10, 2018 | Anthology, Promo, romacne novels, Romance
Amazon / Barnes and Noble
Blurb:
“As I Follow”
Princess Orla must first learn to follow if she is to lead her homeland once her evil step mother is dethroned. Who better to teach her than Prince Darcy, the leader of the rebellion against Queen Ena and a strict but fair Dominant who would love nothing better than to take the beautiful Orla in hand and return the kingdom of Athas to its former glory.
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The Man With the Kind Eyes:
Bridgette Mahoney just wanted a better life for herself and the people suffering under a corrupt president. What she gets is nominated to be Queen of the country whether she wants the position or not.
by admin | Jul 1, 2016 | historical romance novel, historical romance novels, Love, New Release, Promo, Romance
Teaching To Love by Anarie Brady
Carrie’s goal is to memorialize her grandmother and her home with a new business venture…a tea house and museum. When some old family friends drop in, she learns more about her great grandmother’s um…adventures…such as when a local Sheriff threatened to shut down the brothel. What was her grandmother to do? Take control, of course!
Excerpt: Since arriving in town a month ago, Betsy had learned much about her new home. On the surface, Mt. Carmel appeared to be a sleepy river town filled with church going folk, kindly neighbors, and law abiding citizens. Beneath that quaint veneer, however, lay a secret society filled with speakeasies, jazz music, and fast dancing. Between the Great War and the influenza epidemic during the previous decade, the still recovering town desperately wanted an infusion of life and carefree fun. Betsy also noticed quite a few middle aged single men along with injured veterans in need of female companionship. Sadly, most of the young ladies were too spoiled to settle for “damaged goods.”
Sighing, she thought of Sheriff Brighton. Uncle Liberty had told her all about the man’s sad history. Apparently, he married his brother’s widow, his brother having been killed in the first year of the War. The couple had produced one child, a son, a year after they had wed. Despite this, it was said that Mrs. Brighton had deeply loved her first husband and had never stopped mourning for him. Between the pain of his loss and the difficult birth of her only child, Mrs. Brighton had lost her mind, confined herself to her room and refused the good Sheriff entry. She also disdained the company of her child, leaving the sheriff alone to raise the boy with only the help of a housekeeper.
Purchase on Amazon & Barnes and Noble & All Romance
by admin | Apr 24, 2016 | Promo, Romance
UNCLICHE YOUR ROMANCE
May 1-31 2016
Your first draft is probably littered with clichés. Your hero has a heart of gold. Your heroine has the patience of Job with the hero. He saves her in the nick of time from the terrible, horrible, evil serial killer villain. Clichés are more than just dead-beat words and phrases that have lost their original meaning and their cleverness in making comparisons. Genre fiction has clichés in characters and plots that most readers expect and some complain about. How can a writer please all readers?
This workshop isn’t about shredding that draft and starting over. MM Pollard will give you lots of ways to create fresh characters and plots from those clichés often found in genre fiction.
INSTRUCTOR BIO: MM Pollard puts her training as a certified copy editor, her skills as English teacher extraordinaire, and her experience as editor with Black Velvet Seductions to good use in presenting workshops for writers. She has helped many writers improve their language and writing skills through her fun workshops sponsored by Savvy Authors,Writer U, many RWA chapters, and in her virtual classroom. MM is sure she can help you, too, master the fundamentals of English composition.
MM presented her first face-to-face workshop during the Florida Romance Writers’ Conference Cruise in February, 2015, and lived to show pictures! She would love to present at more conferences in the future as well as continue her online workshops.
Workshop: http://wp.me/P2Ce6X-lu
CRAFTING COMPELLING AND REALISTIC SETTINGS
May 16-27, 2016
As a writer of historical fiction, you will find yourself needing to create settings that do not typically still exist—unless you’ve discovered time travel, that is! How do recreate a pirate ship, a Regency ballroom, a medieval battle, a bedchamber, a kitchen, a wardrobe, a feast, a tournament, a walk in the park, a ride through the woods—you get the point. There is setting in EVERY SINGLE scene we write—even if its pitch black. How can you craft a realistic setting that works for your book and stays true to history? How can you create settings that come alive in the readers’ minds?
This class will teach you:
· The ins and outs of conducting research in order to create settings that are compelling and realistic.
· How to open your mind and imagination and use everyday places you visit now.
· How to write scenes with setting descriptions that flow easily on the page.
· How much is too much, or too little.
Combined with each lesson, there will be an assignment and an opportunity for you to submit a short setting excerpt from your manuscript for critique.
PRESENTER BIO: Eliza Knight is an award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of historical romance. Under the name E. Knight she pens riveting Tudor and ancient historical fiction. She operates the historical blog, History Undressed. In 2013, she was named RWA’s PRO Mentor of the Year. Eliza lives in Maryland with her own hero, three princesses and one very naughty puppy.
Workshop: http://wp.me/P2Ce6X-lr
by admin | Aug 21, 2015 | eBooks, Miriam Newman, New Release, romacne novels, Romance
Purchase on Amazon/Barnes and Noble/All Romance
Blurb:
What do you do when you are alone in the world? If you’re a nice middle-aged lady with a social conscience, you go to your local shelter and adopt a rescue dog. Of course, sometimes it isn’t only the dog who needs to be rescued. That’s when life might send you a Dancer-Dog.
by admin | Aug 16, 2015 | contemporary romance book, contemporary romance books, eBooks, Love, New Release, Promo, Romance, Series
Purchase on Amazon/Barnes and Noble/All Romance
Blurb: Carrie Benson is recovering from her great grandmother’s death with the help of Stephen Benson and her friends. Stephen was her great grandmother’s nurse at the nursing home. Carrie is drawn to his good nature, compassion, not to mention drop dead good looks. The kind of relationship Stephen wants is one she never experienced. Can she overcome her reservations and possibly find love?
