Charlie has been working hard sorting through submissions for the upcoming Transformed anthology. She’s torn herself away from reading the entries to give us an update.
Hello again my lovely authors!
First let me say that I am incredibly happy with what I’m seeing in the slush pile thus far. It looks like most of you took the idea of shapeshifter culture and ran with it. I’m seeing foxes and snakes and mongoose, oh my! Almost all the submissions that’ve found their way into my inbox have challenged in some way the traditional archetypes of shapeshifter lore. Each piece so far has run along very diverse lines—lore, gender pairings, and shifter culture are all deliciously different, and all I can say is thank you! My mission is to give our readers a fresh and edgy perspective into what being on the fringe is really like and I think most of your submissions are perfectly in-line with that vision.
I am also extremely excited about the cultural element that most of my slush pile authors have woven heavily throughout their narratives. The reality of living between worlds would absolutely necessitate a very rich and interesting deviation from main stream culture which reacts perfectly with the bubbling passions and fantasies that the erotica genre inspires. That being said, I would love to see more passion— more spice and sizzle and a little less vanilla. This is your opportunity to really run with your wild side and embrace the animalistic. Please don’t be shy!
That being said though, I do want to caution potential authors away from playing with themes that are either extremely violent. While we want to run with our wild sides, I do still want to make sure we stick within acceptable limits—which can be a very tricky line. As far as I see it, as long as nothing verges on the horrifically sadistic, you have free reign. Nothing submitted has fit into the category as of yet, but I think it’s smart to err on the side of caution.
Speaking of caution, I am absolutely loving how many of you have gone against the traditional and have chosen shapeshifters with unusual animal forms. I would like to see more stories about air and ocean tribes. I want to see bats, and toucans; whales and seals… probably not together but hey, who knows! Maybe even a polar bear clan or two. Really stretch the limits of your imagination.
Thank you for submitting. And remember— I like the unique and unusual. Run with it and make it sexy as hell.
