Circlet Press: Welcome to Circlet 2.0

Call for Submissions for Up For Grabs 2: the Third Gender by Circlet Press

Up for Grabs 2: the Third Gender is the working title of the sequel to Up for Grabs, which has received a lot of attention in reviews.  While UFG had a focus on changing from one gender to another, I would like to see stories about people in between.  Gender is not binary.  These stories will explore modern and future expressions of third genders.  Some ideas I would like to see examined are:

• Protagonists using mechanical, surgical, magical, or VR to express a gender other than the standard two.
• Coming of age stories
• Stories about protagonists who may not be young and gorgeous, but who have age and experience.
• Stories where third genders are normal, even common.
• Descriptions of new ways to have sex beyond the traditional.

Originals only, no reprints. We purchase first rights for inclusion in the ebook anthology for $25, with the additional rights to a print edition later which would also be paid $25 if a print edition happens. Authors retain the rights to the individual stories; Circlet exercises rights to the anthology as a whole.

Submission Guidelines:

Documents that do not follow all guidelines may be discarded unread.

• All submissions will be emailed to lpbcirclet@gmail.com starting April 1 and ending on May 30. Submissions sent to other addresses/other editors at Circlet Press will not be considered.

• Email your story as an attachment to your email in either .doc or .rtf formats.
• Use a professional manuscript format.  If you are unfamiliar with manuscript formats, use this one.  Please note that this means your name, address, and email contact must appear on the manuscript itself and not simply in your email message.
• The preferred length is 2,000 to 8,000 words.  If your story is longer or shorter, send a query.
• No simultaneous submissions (that is, don’t also send your story elsewhere at the same time, and don’t send it to multiple Circlet editors, either), and no multiple submissions will be accepted.
• All stories must include explicit sexuality and erotic focus. Romantic content is welcome, but in a short story remember to keep the details on the action and its effects on the main character’s internal point of view. We favor a strong, singular narrative voice (no ‘head hopping’). For more details on our editorial preferences, see the general submission guidelines on circlet.com.  Following these guidelines, especially the “do not send” list, will increase your chances of sending us something we’ll love. Try to avoid cliches. Fresh and direct language is preferred to overly euphemistic. Sex-positive, please, no rape/nonconsensuality/necrophilia or other purposefully gross topics. We do not publish horror.

Peter Tupper is a journalist and writer in Vancouver, BC. He blogs about the history of BDSM at www.historyofbdsm.com, and plans on publishing a book on the subject. He is also the co-founder of Metro Vancouver Kink. His first professional fiction sale was “Subjective Lens” in Circlet Press’s S/M Futures anthology.  His most recent publication with Circlet is the story “The Pretty Horsebreaker” in Like a Corset Undone.

(Continuing the weekly serial of m/m high fantasy by Cecilia Tan…)

Part 28: Jorin

In the morning a commander came, and he and two other officers supervised our march from the camp. They hadn’t given us weapons yet, or orders, and I wondered how far we would be going. Not far on foot, it turned out, as they marched us down to the river and loaded us onto a barge. We were twenty four men in total, including the commander and his second, and two bowmen who took turns on top. From the way the other men eyed them I knew they were less there to protect us from the enemy than to shoot any of us that tried to flee.

We were on the barge all day, traveling on the river, and when night fell, the commander gathered us together to speak of our “mission” and of the pardon we would each be given for our crimes if we did this service to the crown.

If we survived, of course. He did not say that part, though I think every man there knew it well enough. I saw others casting their gazes about as if looking for escape, but there was none with the archers watching us from the barge roof. In the morning we would draw near Tiger’s Mouth, they told us, and we would be armed once we reached the encampment after sunrise.

We bedded down on the deck of the barge, and I found the motion of the boat and the rushing sound of the water enough to lull me to sleep.

I was wakened by the sound of a scream. Read the remainder of this entry »

Three Dollar Bill Reviews recently posted a nice review of “Up for Grabs.”

Read the remainder of this entry »

The Erotica Readers and Writers Association has a nice review of Wired Hard 4.

We now live in an era of ebooks and genetic engineering, instant messaging and cybersex, gender reassignment and gay marriage. The world has matured and many of the fantastic imaginings of Circlet’s authors have become familiar facts. In the second decade of the twenty first century, Circlet is still delivering some of the best speculative erotica available—appropriately in electronic form. Wired Hard 4 is a splendid example.

The eight stories in this collection are remarkably diverse. They are unified, first, by their raw sexual energy, and second, by the intimate mingling of human with other: machine, robot, animal, vampire, or god. Xan West’s lyrical introduction points out that most of these tales deal with transformations. Sex here is more than an avenue of pleasure. It is the gateway to new and different selves.

Starting today, microfictions will be accepted at a new Gmail inbox: circlet.microfiction@gmail.com.

As before, micros will pay in a free ebook of your choice. They should be short erotic sf/fantasy stories roughly between 250 and 1250 words. All sexualities accepted, of course. Submit in email WITH the tagline/bio you would like to run with the story if accepted.

Microfictions run on Fridays. Looking forward to your submissions!

(Continuing the weekly serial by Cecilia Tan.)

Part 27: Kenet

I wondered if the wagon would roll all night. Didn’t horses need to sleep, too? What about the driver? For myself, I was not sleepy at all. I was thankful for the summer night, as a chill stole over me that surely would have been unbearable had the air been colder. The creaking of the wheels and the sound of the hooves lulled me, but I did not sleep.

I could see little of what we passed. The road down the mountain was lined with trees, then at some point the way became flat. I could see from the stars above that now the mountains were to one side of us. East. We were going east, but I had no idea how far.

I thought about slipping away, leaping off the back of the wagon, before I could be discovered, but then how would I know where to go? How far away was the army? If that was where Jorin had been sent, then surely I needed to get there as quickly as possible. These thoughts battled back and forth like two fencers, until I felt the wagon begin to slow. I could not risk being discovered or I would surely find myself delivered back into Seroi’s hands in an instant.

But I had missed my chance. I heard voices shouting; it was too late to jump without being seen. Read the remainder of this entry »

(Continuing the weekly serial by Cecilia Tan.)

Part 26: Jorin

I was woken once during the night, when the driver stopped to urinate and urged me to do the same. He didn’t untie my hands, instead just pulling down the rough trousers I wore and telling me to crouch. Once back in the carriage, I stayed on the floor, afraid of being thrown from the bench if we hit a rough patch of road.

I woke again when the carriage lurched to a stop and I hit my bruised cheek against the floor. Daylight came through the narrow window and I could hear voices. I raised my head only to find my neck so stiff from having slept with my arms tied behind my back that I could barely get myself into a sitting position before the door swung open. I blinked, trying to clear my vision, then realized one of my eyes was swollen shut. The man standing there was wearing a military uniform.

It took me a moment to remember why I was in so much pain. Seroi. The king. The beating.

I flinched as the man reached for my face, but it turned out he was just probing my swollen eye with his thumb. Not a gentle touch, but not a painful one either.

“Get up,” he said. “You won’t be here long.”
Read the remainder of this entry »

(Continuing the weekly serial by Cecilia Tan…)

Part 25: Kenet

Don’t ask me what came over me. As they dragged Jorin away, and another scream was building in my chest, I suddenly became calm somewhere deep inside. I would not let them do this. It was as if in that moment the light shone on me for the very first time and I saw the world around me.

I screamed. And then I fell limp into Bear’s arms, feigning a faint, knowing that he would carry me straight to my room. Or at least hoping so. He lifted me into his arms as if I were half my size and carried me from the hall.

We came to a stop in what must have been the corridor just outside the banquet hall. I heard my father’s voice. “Is he well?”

“I’ll put him to bed, my king,” Bear said in a low voice. “Surely it’s just too much excitement for one day. It isn’t every day the prince sees such brutality.”

It was as close to a criticism as I had ever heard Bear make in front of my father. I was tempted to crack open one eye to see the expression on my father’s face, but I didn’t dare. I heard the rustling of robes as another person joined us.

I felt a cool hand on my brow. Seroi. I gave a great shiver then as if his touch were icy cold. Read the remainder of this entry »

Call for Submissions: QUEERPUNK

Circlet Press is searching for stories centering on GLBTQ experiences set against the backdrop of cyberpunk for an upcoming anthology. Cyberpunk incorporates advanced technology with a nihilistic bent that forms dark, futuristic settings. How does the understanding of the human body morph as technology allows greater alterations to the flesh? In a world that thrives on electronics and cyberspace, how are genuine connections formed? Cyberpunk is also characterized by radical upheavals of the social order. How would the breakdown of government, and the shift of power to mega-corporations, influence the GLTBQ population? In what ways does the reliance on virtual reality help or hinder the expression of these sexualities? What does it mean to be queer in a tech noir future? Explore the ways in which GLBTQ sexuality would develop in an advanced, information age dystopia.

Submission details: Read the remainder of this entry »