Open Call for our Christmas Anthology Submissions

Writing Contests

Open Call for Anthology Submissions

"It’s Christmastime"

Release Date: November 15, 2013

Due Date for Submissions: July 1, 2013

Prose by Design is now open for submissions for It’s Christmastime, an anthology of short stories/novellas edited by Cindy C Bennett and Sherry Gammon. The story should revolve around Christmas. Your story may be in any genre as long as the main theme is Christmas. The inclusion of vampire, werewolves, elves, and/or reindeer is entirely up to you, the author.

Your story must be "clean" which means no profanity or explicit sex scenes. We all like a little heat, but keep it PG13 or better. Your story must be a minimum of 5,000 words and a maximum of 25,000 words. Royalties will be based on the number of authors published in the anthology. 50% of all profits will be divided equally among the authors. The final percentage will be specified in the contract.

Story must be submitted as an email attachment to prosebydesign@gmail.com

Your story must be submitted by Midnight PST July 1, 2013 as .doc or .docx files. Manuscript should be 12 pt. Calibri, Times New Roman, or Arial with block style paragraphs (no tabs). Write " It’s Christmastime " as the subject of the email, and include the following information in the body of the email: Name, penname (if applicable), and the title of your story. You may submit multiple stories, but only one story per author will be included in the anthology. Stories must be original and previously unpublished in any format. All authors will be informed of whether their story has been chosen to appear in the anthology on or before August 31, 2013. Contracts must be signed and returned within seven (7) of acceptance. Prose by Design retains the right to edit your story for grammatical errors. All contest winners will be paid royalties on the anthology unless otherwise indicated in the contest rules.

Check out our previous anthologies!

Screams in the Night

It's a Love Thing

Another great review!

Another great review for Maren Dille's The Faith and Fate of David Ghent on the Book Marks the Spot blog!
Way to go Maren!

Another 5 Stars For Jamie Canosa

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A-mazing January 21, 2013

By Erin shaw

Format:Kindle Edition

I started reading this book late at night on Jamie's Facebook and two hours later I had to buy it so I could read it on the go. Two days later I forced my sister to read it just so I could talk about it with someone because this is the type of book that sticks with you. I find myself wanting to reread it already just so I know I haven't missed a thing about it. The lead character has such a laugh out loud sass about her that I adore and a natural strength that isn't often found in female characters. Every character was put together perfectly, I love them and love to hate a few. The story flows so quick, smooth and natural and the only thing stopping me from buying all of Jamie's books is the hope that I will win. I highly recommend reading it and I'll be forcing a few people myself.

Four more stars for Maren Dille!

4.0 out of 5 stars Great world building and moving story line-- a compelling first novel February 3, 2013

By Christina (Ensconced in YA) TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition

I was given this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Faith and Fate of David Ghent explores the life of angels and demons, and the fight against Hell. Prophecy has foretold that David will be the one to conquer Lucifer-- which seems odd since he is a greatly flawed and angry adolescent. Layla, the daughter of two angels, plays his foil, and someone who reminds David of all he cannot become. He hates her completely, and when she comes to Hell's Gate, he decides to save her instead of fulfilling the prophecy. What happens next, I will not reveal, but David and Layla have to deal with the repercussions of his decision.

Throughout the book, I was strangely compelled to keep reading. The reason I say this is David Ghent is a really hard protagonist to like and stick with. Dille takes a great risk in focusing on him-- but she keeps interest with good storytelling and development of her characters. I could tell Dille deeply loves her characters, and it was that love that kept me invested from start to finish. I marveled that in this world, even angels sometimes struggled with decisions that didn't seem clear from the start.

I struggled with David as a character because he's so angry and mean at the beginning of the book and is unfairly cruel to those around him, especially Layla. I had a hard time grasping why he was so hateful towards her, and think that could have been clarified a bit. Then there was Layla-- I was also frustrated with her because she takes all his cruelty without any backbone. I know this is to suggest that she is good, pure, and perfect, but it was hard to empathize with such a character. That said, this all changes halfway through, which made it all worth it-- and makes the characters much more three dimensional. So you should stick around to see what happens.

Overall, a compelling first novel by Dille. While she takes risks with her characters, I believe the way the story pans out makes those risk worthwhile.

4 star review for The Faith and Fate of David Ghent

Congrats to Marne for her 4 star review!!Christina (Ensconced in YA)'s review

Feb 03, 13

bookshelves: author-request

Read from February 01 to 03, 2013

The Faith and Fate of David Ghent explores the life of angels and demons, and the fight against Hell. Prophecy has foretold that David will be the one to conquer Lucifer-- which seems odd since he is a greatly flawed and angry adolescent. Layla, the daughter of two angels, plays his foil, and someone who reminds David of all he cannot become. He hates her completely, and when she comes to Hell's Gate, he decides to save her instead of fulfilling the prophecy. What happens next, I will not reveal, but David and Layla have to deal with the repercussions of his decision.

Throughout the book, I was strangely compelled to keep reading. The reason I say this is David Ghent is a really hard protagonist to like and stick with. Dille takes a great risk in focusing on him-- but she keeps interest with good storytelling and development of her characters. I could tell Dille deeply loves her characters, and it was that love that kept me invested from start to finish. I marveled that in this world, even angels sometimes struggled with decisions that didn't seem clear from the start.

I struggled with David as a character because he's so angry and mean at the beginning of the book and unfairly is cruel to those around him, especially Layla. I had a hard time grasping why he was so hateful towards her, and think that could have been clarified a bit. Then there was Layla-- I was also frustrated with her because she takes all his cruelty without any backbone. I know this is to suggest that she is good, pure, and perfect, but it was hard to empathize with such a character. That said, this all changes halfway through, which made it all worth it-- and makes the characters much more three dimensional. So you should stick around to see what happens.

Overall, a compelling first novel by Dille. While she takes risks with her characters, I believe the way the story pans out makes those risk worthwhile.

Now Available!

A Penny's Worth by A.M. Hooper

His kissing was passionate. His romance was flawless. The last thing 17 year old Emmaline expected was for her perfect boyfriend, Cephas, to kidnap her. Now she'll have to outsmart and outrun those closest to her in this fast-paced adventure of insubordination and torrid love. Friends will become foes and trust will gave way to bitter lies as Emmaline tries to save innocent lives which may perish at the hand of Cephas's crooked boss. With a posse of lethal hit men hot on her trail, Emmaline must decide whether unraveling the truth is worth enduring the betrayal, destruction, and deceit that stand in her way. Cephas Bourdon is trouble, but maybe she could kiss him again . . . just one more time. It couldn't hurt.

 

About the Author 

Amber Hooper lives in Eagle Mountain, Utah with her husband and new baby. She enjoys reading, playing soccer, and hiking with her family. This is her first novel.

Learn more about Amber and her writing on her blog 

Available At:

Great review for Dissidence by Jamie Canosa

Excerpt frm Maren Dille's review of Dissidence by Jamie Canosa (Available here)
The main character, Kaleigh, is hilarious. Witty, sarcastic, and real about her circumstances as a sixteen-year-old. My favorite quote from the book is from her:

"Conner hands shiny black guns to both me and Peter. I'm pretty sure that if the best description of the weapon I can come up with is black and shiny, then I probably shouldn't be handling it."

The characters were well developed. I really liked how despite a love-triangle being present, it didn't distract from the story. There was no gushy or cheesy love scenes, and it only added to the complexity of Kaleigh's character. 

Read the rest of the review here

The Faith and Fate of David Ghent video!!!

The Faith and Fate of David Ghent

Prose by Design is pleased to announce Author Maren Dille and her first full length YA novel titled: The Faith and Fate of David Ghent.  

Maren's two previous works include the short story A Tale of Two Cemeteries, from the anthology Screams in the Night, and a children's story titled:  The Elephant in the Tree House.

Here is the synopsis of The Faith and Fate of David Ghent:

In the Lucen city dwell the descendants of Righteous and Fallen angels. Kept hidden from the rest of Earth and governed directly by Heaven, each descendant is given a chance to prove themself loyal to Heaven, and obtain salvation. For most, the task is encouraging and fair, but for David, it’s devastating.

David Ghent has waited twenty-one years to fulfill a prophecy foretelling the destruction of Lucifer’s power on Earth and Heaven, saving himself and the entire world from Hell’s power. His training is complete, the city prepared. 

As the battle commences, the city’s most beloved daughter, Layla, suddenly appears at the Hellgate. David is then faced with an impossible choice: fulfill the prophecy, or save her life.

The consequences David faces after choosing Layla force him to question his entire life, and his loyalty to Heaven. As the aftermath of failure unfolds, David discovers that the real battle against Lucifer has just begun.

Her novel is available at these locations in eBook format:(click on the story name)

Amazon

Barnes and Noble:

Smashwords (Which sells eBook in multiple eFormats, apple, kobo, etc...)

Click here for the Paperback edition

 

Author Bio: Maren lives in Spanish Fork, UT with her family where she works as a mom, piano teacher, and writer. She is passionate about animals, sugar, and her husband. She spends her spare time chasing her two dogs around with her daughter in tow, dreaming up new ways for her husband to use his tools, and writing musical scores to books that will most likely remain in her imagination. 


Check back for Blog Tour information soon!!

Jamie's new novel is getting awesome reviews!

Jamie's new novel is getting awesome reviews like this one form Concise Book Reviews!!!

5 out of 5 BIG stars from me!

I see this amazing dystopian to be the next big thing. Fans of Divergent and Hunger Games will fall in love with this book!  I will say, the ending will absolutely shake you to your core! 

... This book was all sorts of amazing, and I am still in shock!

It was full of action, non-stop just about, and the main character Kaleigh, is someone I was easily able to connect with. I enjoyed her easy friendship with Peter, and how she risked so much to help him. I really liked Conner a lot, and really though Kaleigh and Conner would have been a great couple. I loved how he called her “Girlie”, it was cute.

I do not want to spoil anything, so won’t say much. But I will say, I had about the same reaction to the ending of Insurgent, that I just had to this one, but won’t say why, lol.

Well written, and a great original idea. I am very pleased with the writing and the style of it, as well as the story as a whole.

I highly recommend this book to all ages. It’s intense, exciting, emotional, and has its funny parts too.

Read the Full review here!

Way to go Jamie!!

To follow her bolg tour and read more wonderful reviews click here