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Open Submissions

Rook Creek Books is open to submissions through 2/28/2025 for the The Grand International Hotel, Book 2 in the Dark Reflections shared world.

  • Stories will be reviewed through 03/31/2024.

  • Selected stories will be published as part of the Dark Reflections novel series.

  • For more information about Dark Reflections, see below.

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The Dark Reflections Series

This shared world novel series means to tell the tales hidden in the many layers of the Dark Reflections collection by Jeff Lee Johnson.

 

We seek stories in a dark retro fantasy style that builds upon the images below.  Select a character from The Grand International Hotel or any adjacent character who fits the time, feel, and place. An abnormally cheerful bellhop, a spider no one can see, the phonebooth that communicates by summoning ghosts, a maggot that thinks it’s a train conductor, or any other flavor of an oddity in the image.

GrandInternationalHotel_jeffleejohnson.jpg

Submission guidelines:

 

  • 1,000 – 4,000 words

  • Third-person present tense

  • No multiple submissions

  • No simultaneous submissions

  • Make your submission in the form below by 11:59 pm CST on February 28, 2025.

  • File name: Lastname_title_date of submission(mm,dd,yyyy)

  • For all inquiries, please email theeditor@rookcreekbooks.com.

 

Payment:

Rook Creek is offering $0.08/word for selected stories.

 

 

The Grand International Hotel, Book Two – Publication anticipated in 2025.
It’s 1930 in a storied eastern European city with a magnificent train station and an opulent hotel. But the lobby is a nervous place. The trains have stopped running. Something has gone wrong, and it feels like it has been years since anyone said anything about it. The arrival of a new guest promises to stir the dank air of a city that has been reassembled with mistranslated instructions.
   
Take a meander from places labeled normal to a world that clatters, slinks, and drips. The second book of this shared world series is planned for 2025. Five - seven authors will each carry a single third-person point of view protagonist with their own agendas and storylines. Overlaps, conflicts, and shared/competing agendas will complicate the characters’ lives as they work to unravel the mystery of the reflections and survive its many dangers. 

 

Future novel locations include Paris, a beach on the Great Lakes, an American suburb, and a quiet Austrian hamlet. You can view more of Jeff's work and all the Dark Reflections artwork here.

Submit your work

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Open Submissions

Rook Creek Books is open to submissions starting 10/31/2023 – 12/31/2023 for the Dark Reflections shared world.

  • Stories will be reviewed through 05/31/2024.

  • Additional submissions accepted from all Creative Pathworks retreat participants (Costa Rica 05/25-5/31/2024).

  • Selected stories will be published in a future anthology, online venue, or into the Dark Reflections novel series pending editorial review.

  • For more information about Dark Reflections, see below.

American suburb, and a quiet Austrian hamlet. 
 

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