Aug 14 2019

Author Spotlight: RAY DALEY

Welcome all, to a new blog series: ‘Author Spotlight’ will feature short interviews with our wonderful Insignia Series contributors.

We are all passionate, cross-genre writers who love Asia and Asian cultures. Get to know us a little better through our Answers to 25 Questions challenge!

First Up….

Ray Daley was born in Coventry & still lives there. He served 6 years in the RAF as a clerk & spent most of his time in a Hobbit hole in High Wycombe. He is a published poet & has been writing stories since he was 10. His current dream is to eventually finish the Hitch Hikers fanfic novel he’s been writing since 1986.

https://raymondwriteswrongs.wordpress.com/

@ RayDaleyWriter

TWENTY FIVE QUESTIONS:

Author Name/s: Ray Daley
Years active as a writer: Ever? 40. Selling stuff? 5.
What genre/s you write: SF, Horror & Fantasy. Literally anything if the mood takes me.
Favorite genre to write: SF.
Favorite length of story to write: Short. I’m lazy.
Your nationality: British. Half Welsh, half English.
Country you live in: The United Kingdom
Number of Asian countries visited: None at all.
Favorite Asian country (visited): N/A
Favorite place in Asia (visited): N/A
Place (city or country) you most want to visit in Asia: I’d love to go to Japan.
Favorite Asian cuisine: I couldn’t pick just one.
Favorite Asian dish: Thai Green Curry.
Favorite Asian movie (any genre): Battle Royale. It’s awesome!
Favorite Asian book (any genre): The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
Favorite Asian celebrity: Ming-Na Wen.
Best thing about being a writer: I get to sleep when I want.
Worst thing about being a writer: Not enough money!
Day writer or night writer: Mostly night. I blame the RAF, I used to work in a bunker.
Drink and snack of choice (while writing): Any cold drink. Ginger biscuits.
Number of short stories/poems submitted each month (av): Maybe 10-20? It varies a lot, depending on what’s open.
I dream to be published with/in (publisher/publication): F&SF or Clarkesworld.
Most active on (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram): Twitter.
Self-published, traditionally published, or both: Traditionally.
Currently working on: Not dying of heatstroke. Oh, you meant writing? A story inspired by a terrible Paul Newman movie.

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Ray Daley’s Stories in The Insignia Series Anthologies:

‘Uncle Ping’s Farewell’ (Insignia: Asian Science Fiction, July 2018)

‘How Have the Mighty Fallen?’ (Insignia: Asian Flash Fiction & Poetry, July 2019)

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The Parting

NEW STORY OUT AUG 14!

Read Ray’s latest dark fantasy publication,

‘The Parting’, over at

electricathenaeum.com

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Thanks for joining us!

We’ll have more author interviews coming soon 🙂

Cover Reveal for ‘Insignia: Asian Flash Fiction & Poetry’

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had an amazing winter/summer break!

I’d like to kick off 2019 with the cover reveal for our 7th Insignia Series anthology:

ASIAN FLASH FICTION & POETRY

INSIGNIA VOL. 7. includes 12 stories and 8 poems with Asian characters and settings.

ins-seven-jpg-200x300

CONTRIBUTORS:

| Russell Hemmell | Toshiya Kamei (Translator) |

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Visit the Insignia Series Vol.7. page

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I will announce the anthology publication date and details about other Insignia Series projects for 2019 in the next blog post.

Have a great weekend, friends!

~Kelly~

Oct 4 2018

October News: Cover Contest & more

Hi everyone! How are those preparations for Halloween going? I’m an ESL teacher here in Japan, so I have quite a few Halloween parties on my calendar this month. 🙂

After releasing 2 new Insignia Series anthologies in July and August, I had a bit of a break in September to work on my own stuff. But I have a few things happening in October to share.

~Kelly~

Firstly, ‘Insignia: Asian Birds & Beasts’ is in All Authors’ latest cover contest:

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Click here to go to the voting page!

You do NOT need to register to vote (like some sites require). Also the first round closes in 3 days, then voting will re-open again for Round 2 which is the Top 100.

Please VOTE for us and help spread the word about our series! And a big thanks to those of you who voted for ‘Insignia: Asian Science Fiction’ in the August contest!

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Recently I’ve added all The Insignia Series anthologies to Draft2Digital, an ebook distribution site. They distribute to most of the big ebook sellers (Apple, Barnes & Noble, Amazon too) where I already have the series listed, but there are a few new sites where our books will be available: 24 Symbols, Scribd, Playster, and Bibliotheca.

I haven’t added the buy links to all the Insignia book pages (on this blog) just yet, but I’m working on making universal URL links to include ALL the sites where our books are available.

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And I’d just like to post a reminder here for any writers following: we have an OPEN SUBMISSION CALL for Asian fantasy flash fiction and poetry! Deadline is December 17th, so there’s plenty of time to write and submit!! We also gladly consider reprints. For more details, see our SUBMISSIONS PAGE.

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I’m also planning to post some new book recommendations and/or reviews this month, AND hope to have some kind of SALE later in Oct too. Stay tuned!

Sep 1 2018

Submissions are Now Open!

It’s September 1st, and that means we have a new submission call open!

It’s for a new anthology: volume 7 in The Insignia Series.

See our Submissions Page for instructions on how to submit.

If you’re not familiar with our series, please browse our previously published anthologies – there are six volumes, which you will find links to in the top menu. You could also browse ‘Excerpts’ as a post category (from the side menu) to see samples from some of the stories included in our anthologies.

And if you do submit work, please follow this blog: I’ll be posting updates every few weeks during the reading period to let writers now how submissions are going. Closer to the deadline, I may have special requests for certain types of stories, or we might be short on poems, etc.

Thank you for your interest in The Insignia Series. We hope to read your work soon!

Cheers,

Kelly Matsuura

(Chief Editor)

Aug 9 2018

August News

Hello everyone, and a warm welcome to our new blog followers!

Well, it’s been sweltering here in Japan for the past few weeks. We’ve had several days over forty degrees and still with high humidity! I’m ver glad I bought a new air-conditioner for my office this year. How’s the weather where you guys are?

I’ve been using my summer break to work on a few Insignia projects, so thought I’d post a summary here of what’s happening for anyone interested…Cheers! ~~Kelly~~

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1) Insignia: Asian Science Fiction was published in July, and is currently in Round 2 of a cover art contest over at All Author. If you like our cover design and would like to support us, please pop over and vote! No need to be a member or register on the site to do so.

VOTE HERE!

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2) Insignia: Asian Birds & Beasts will be released on August 20! I did an announcement post about it a few weeks ago, but if you missed it, you can check out the book details HERE.

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3) Next Insignia Series anthology?

A few people have asked about the next project: I’d like to open a new submission call in September or October, so would be curious to hear from you writers out there what themes would interest you…Or readers, what would you like read about next?

One of my ideas at the moment is to do ‘Flash Fiction & Poetry’, accepting work up to 1000 words in length, and open to poetry for the first time. I’ve been writing 100-word stories recently, and love how much story you can tell in just a few paragraphs.

All stories would still be required to be set in Asian countries (or a fantasy version of) and have leading Asian characters.

My second idea is to do a ‘Best of Asian Fantasy 2018‘. Submissions will then be open until year-end, and I would select maybe the Top 5 stories from those nominated. Stories would have to have been published this year by a journal or small press anthology etc, NOT self-published pieces.

Lastly, my best idea for a story-themed anthology is to do ‘Asian Ghost Stories’. I think we have ghost stories in every Insignia anthology to date, so I feel it would be easy to fill with great submissions.

Of course, I’d love to hear your ideas! Leave your suggestions in the comments below, or chat with me on Twitter sometime! Our Twitter link is: @InsigniaStories and my personal account is @KellyMatsuura

That’s enough typing for me tonight (I’ve been proofreading and formatting all day). Enjoy the rest of the month, and Happy Travels to those of you on summer vacation 🙂

Aug 14 2017

Update to Submission Call

Hi everyone! If you’re on summer vacation at the moment like me, hope you’re relaxing. (Or, getting lots of /editing done!).

In an effort to attract more submissions and be able to fill the first open anthology call sooner, I have opened the theme to ALL Asian science fiction. Your story must still satisfy the general submission requirements, so please check the Submissions Page for further details. Our ‘Birds & Beasts’ anthology call is still open too – so get writing!

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And I’d just like to say a quick thank you to all the authors who have already submitted and/or have helped share the submission call. Every new contact helps this tiny imprint grow!