Diabolical Plots will be open for unthemed submissions from July 1–14, 2022.
And Diabolical Plots is pleased to announce that our next themed issue will be devoted to telepathy, to reading minds and speaking through them, and thus given the illustrious moniker of DIABOLICAL THOUGHTS!
We’ll be accepting submissions for this special issue from July 24 – July 31, 2022. Telepathy should be a central element in all submitted stories. Pay rate, format, and submission restrictions (no reprints, no resubmits, etc.) will follow our general submission guidelines.
We are seeking telepathy stories of every shape and style. Stories might be as intimate as mind-readers in love, forever seeing themselves through their lover’s eyes; or as harrowing as a telepath on the battlefield, drowned in every iota of pain, fear and grief felt for miles. They might be as bizarre as telepathy tourism from alien planets, all cognitive connoisseurs who find humans to have a particularly piquant mindset; or as familiar as a job interview, which has simply gained a new mental level to spar upon.
Give us telepathic truck drivers; telepathic orchestra players; telepathic gladiators and magistrates and paramedics and revolutionaries. We cannot wait to see what you come up with.
For this themed issue, our assistant editor Ziv Wities will be taking the wheel and making final selections. Of course, your story should still be a good fit for Diabolical Plots—check out our general guidelines for an idea of what that means—but what might win you extra points with Ziv?
Well, Ziv would love to see:
- Telepathy taking on odd, unexpected shapes, or being used for odd, unexpected purposes
- Mind-reading with unusual rules — perhaps telepathic bonds are permanent and binding; or perhaps someone’s only telepathic for one hour every week!
- Societies that have adapted to the presence of mind-reading, and shaped itself around their implications
- Stories using telepathy to explore themes of uttermost connection, and/or of uttermost invasion
- Stories using telepathy to explore different themes entirely!
And we’ll borrow two of our Assistant Editor Kel Coleman’s points, which are true for our magazine in general and for our theme issues in particular:
- Fiction that’s high on emotional resonance, low on unexamined imperialism
- Any kind of prose—it can be ornate, experimental in structure or tone, or punchy and simple, as long as it is intentional and serves the story
