ABOUT Notch Publishing House
• What is
Notch Publishing House?
I created it when I started as an indie writer using the pen
name of Wren Cavanagh. But I’ve always wanted to add more writers. I love
reading, love hearing different voices and interpretations on established
mythologies and of course, love being entertained as a reader. It’s why I have just launched our first
anthology / contest event.
So that we may hear new voices and establish a relationships
talented writers.
• What is
the anthology event about?
It’s built on Lovecratian Mythos. But I wanted fiction that
transports that mythology to a recent world. Nowadays we wear fitness trackers
or phones that know where we are. Can
remember and anticipate our habits. We connect and access our devices across
networks on multiple platforms. Cameras are everywhere. Can old monsters keep
their mystery? Do they have any more privacy that we do? We could have space
stations on faraway planets in decades.
And as for humans, things and attitudes have changed since
the times Lovecraft created his works. How many people would slap a video of
Innsmouth odd citizen waddling into the ocean faster than you could say Dagon.
Vlog ghouls or do or maybe use AIs to trap an elder God. Or are we too jaded
for them, who cares about Cthulu when are off to an hospital visit without
insurance. When you see climate changes take out your farms.
• What are
the payment, or prizes?
The anthology pays out anyweher from $10 to $25, depending
on length and quality. I’d like to assume the quality will be good all around.
So it’ll be down to length and originality. I hope we’ll have a lot of diverse
voice. And there’s no charge to submit the fiction.
• The
Contest?
The contest has multiple awards:
1st place: $500, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
2nd Place: $200, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
3rd place: $100, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
4th place: $50, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
5th place: $30, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
All others: $25.00 and 1 paperback, a digital copy of the book.
2nd Place: $200, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
3rd place: $100, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
4th place: $50, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
5th place: $30, 2 paperbacks and a digital copy of the book.
All others: $25.00 and 1 paperback, a digital copy of the book.
• But it has
a fee.
Yes it does. Notch Publishing House it still a small
business and it’ll help defray some of the costs. I kept the fee as low as I could to allow as
many people as possible to enter the contest. Realistically a couple of fancy
Starbucks drink could be more expensive than submitting a manuscript to us. And
I think the prizes make it worth it.
Some writers are not fans of the fees. And I understand that
point of view. I have entered contest that had fees. You really feel like
you’re putting yourself on the line. Conversely, I read comments from other
writers who say it motivates them.
• Who do you
hope will contribute, to the contest or the anthology?
Anyone with talent and a love for the genre of course. But
I’d love to read fiction from folks who are not commonly heard. Minorities,
artists and writers from underserved communities. Straight as well as LGBTQ
writers. I’d love to hear their take on the Lovecraftian mythos.
For the contest contributors we have special prompts.
• What are
Notch’s Publishing House’s next projects?
We have coming up the Honeycomb novel. Sci-fi horror,
combined with plantary colonization. The sequel to “The Last Flag” a zombie
novel. And of course Jericho the cat from heaven who fights the supernatural in
a quaint Oregon coastal town will make a comeback later in the year.
• Who is
Notch?
A feral cat I rescued some years back. He loves to read.
What
would you do to pay the bills; to survive, or to just get rich, would
you compete against other teams in a quarantined town filthy with
zombies wanting to bite out your throat?
Emma
and Lewis sign up for the race, they need the money to save his life.
But they won't just be racing the dead, the surprise blizzard or the
other contestants.
Because
anger and vengeance know no bounds and like everyone in the blighted
town they become pawns in a game of retribution.
The
contestants become nothing more than live entertainment to viewers
who watch and judge their every move in the town of Prideful as they
race each other to arrive alive to a final flag. The team that makes
will get airlifted out alive and go back home richer for it, the
others walk back to a pittance and if they are not careful. They
won't get out at all.
Wren
Cavanagh, that would be me. Also writes under the pen name Junior
Sokolov.
An
artist and writer from great North West.
I
am grateful that I have this opportunity to share my work and
imagination with you. Growing up my head was always stuck in a book
or a comic book (before they got fancy and got the moniker "graphic
novels").
More
often than not those books were filled with monsters, werewolves and
vampires.
Then
the likes of Godzilla showed up along with their brethren, born from
the very justified fear of the atomic bomb and its consequences.
And
that is what I love. Escaping into worlds of monsters and heroes, and
sometimes they are one and the same!
Letting
my imagination run along and bring into the narrative what I see
around me everyday.
I
hope that you will enjoy my stories. Find in them a temporary and
enjoyable escape of your own.
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
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