Getting Published by Crystal Lake Publishing
A good friend of mine, Jennifer Carstens, pointed me in the direction of the Shallow Waters flash fiction competition by Crystal Lake Publishing, which they ran out of their Patreon page. Having never heard of them previously, I was intrigued to find out that the people behind the outfit seem to genuinely know what they’re doing, and care about the community. It’s run by Joe Mynhardt, and here’s what his LinkedIn profile has to say:
Joe Mynhardt is a three-time Bram Stoker Award-nominated South African publisher, non-fiction editor, and writing coach.
Joe is the owner of Crystal Lake Publishing (Publisher of the Year in the 2013 This Is Horror Awards), which he started in August, 2012. Since then he’s published and edited short stories, novellas, interviews and essays by the likes of Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, John Connolly, Christopher Golden, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Jack Ketchum, Graham Masterton, Adam Nevill, Lisa Morton, Elizabeth Massie, Joe McKinney, Edward Lee, Paul Tremblay, Wes Craven, John Carpenter, George A. Romero, Mick Garris, Joe R. Lansdale, Damien Angelica Walters, Taylor Grant, and hundreds more.
Just like Crystal Lake Publishing, Joe believes in reaching out to all authors, new and experienced, and being a beacon of friendship and guidance in the Dark Fiction field.
Joe’s influences stretch from Poe, Doyle and Lovecraft to King, Connolly and Gaiman. You can read more about Joe and Crystal Lake Publishing at www.crystallakepub.com or find him on Facebook.
Joe is also a member of the HWA.
Firstly, I’m a sucker for small, independent press, having edited and published Bastion Science Fiction Magazine a few years back. I’m also big on growing the horror community. Last year I volunteered teaching horror in literature classes with the King County Library System in Seattle, and attended StokerCon in Grand Rapids, where I was schedule to speak on two panels (one of which got cancelled).
So, Crystal Lake: small indie publisher with an interest in growing the community and exposing new writers? Yes, please.
Anyway I wrote a flash piece that came in around 955 words, submitted it, and was selected for publication on their Patreon page along with thirteen others for voting. Today, CLP announced that I would be sharing first place with another author, Denver Grenell. Neato! Congratulations to Denver.
CLP asked for a headshot, my answers to a number of questions, and a PayPal address. In addition, my story is going to be published later this year in their Shallow Waters anthology. While I can’t share the full story here, as CLP have the rights, I believe I’m safe to share the opening line of my story:
The man I have been living with does not know that he is my father. If he did, I would be dead.
Jenn will no doubt laugh because the story I ended up writing for this gets somewhat grisly at the end, while I’m often telling her about how much of a squeamish chicken I am.
There’s another competition starting up next week from CLP. If you haven’t, check them out, support them on Patreon, and maybe see about submitting something yourself. They’re good people over there, putting out good work, and they deserve your support. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.