Candlemark is embarking on another journey, and I’d like to invite fellow explorers to the adventure.

You’re all aware of The Other Half of the Sky (2013) and To Shape the Dark (2016). I’d like to bring at least two more anthos into being. One will be about old women in SF (true crones, not people in their forties) as mentors, powers, beginners and enders of dynasties and worlds because, as I discussed here, we don’t have nearly enough of those. But the very next antho will be mythic SF/F: Reimaginings of the Inland Seas (=the Mediterranean & the Black Sea), from the Minoans to the Byzantines, from the Phoenicians to Imazighen and Scythian warrior queens, from Provençal troubadours to the lost library of Alexandria.

To some extent, this anthology is my tribute to my own roots: my father, who came from Chíos, the island of Homer’s birth, and whose people plied these seas; my mother, whose mother’s family came from the Pontian imperial city of Trapezoús, and whose ancestral house may still stand in sight of the Vosporos across from the dome of Aghía Sofía. Too, this is my wish to reclaim myths that are considered declassé common property because of long, casual handling that precludes expression of their echoing depth.

Prose works should be 5K-10K long, but for this antho I’ll also consider poetry (and perhaps even translated works, depending on logistics). Please send submissions to eloi@candlemarkandgleam.com with subject line [Inland Seas] Title, Author; include a brief bio. And though I suspect that thoughts for such a context will veer to fantasy, I’d strongly prefer a prevalence of science fiction to prove that even when humans take to the stars, they take along the ur-stories that shaped them to sustain them on the journey.

I intend to pay pro rates for this project, but have not yet decided whether to organize a Kickstarter or use a small advance/royalties hybrid profit-sharing structure. I will tell potential contributors about this well in advance, so that we’re all on the same page. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2019.