Loki's Journal is looking for stories that fit outside the boundaries of the ordinary or the commonplace.

Our Definitions

Adult Fairy-Tale: Adult in this case does not mean erotica or gratuitous violence. We’re looking for stories that retain the wonder, innocence, and timelessness of traditional fairy-tales, folklore and myths, but aren’t strictly created for children.

Dark Fantastic: Not to be mistaken with Dark Fantasy, Dark Fantastic is exactly what its name implies: fiction in which fantastical characters or events are explored with a dark or mature twist. Such stories typically deal with the intrusion of a supernatural or otherworldly element into a realistic setting, but that's not a hard rule. They may be sinister or whimsical, grotesque or charming, but please no gratuitous gore or erotica. Typically vampires, werewolves, et al would fit into this category, but please be aware they will be a very hard sell.

Insolative Fiction: "Insolative" is a creation of our own. It comes from the Latin word insolutus, meaning 'unusual, strange, or uncommon'. These are stories a little outside the normal, stories that bend reality in the slightest of ways to make you think about your surroundings. They could be quirky, they could be outlandish, but they have to be Fantastic.

Magic Realism: These are stories that make common those things that are extraordinary. Think of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's story, "The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings": it's a story about an angel that people see as a circus act. These stories make one question the very nature of the bizarre in a way that's not terribly twisted.

Here are some of the elements that a good story might have:

• Gritty (but not necessarily to the point of noir or cyberpunk).

• Believable or plausible settings - given the genres. Nothing too far out that throws the reader out of the world.
• Identifiable mythic or fantasy elements.
• Focused on interaction between individual characters rather than between entire tribes, cultures or worlds.
• Breaks the conventions of the three main spec genres (fantasy, sci fi, horror) or blends them believably.
• Clear, plot driven story structure.
• Something that breaks traditions in a good way.
• Magic realism used in a way that enhances the story.
• Stories that involve magic in a much more realistic way than traditional genre fiction.

Some of the things that will get your story rejected:

• High fantasy, Sword and sorcery, Pure horror, or Pure sci fi (hard or soft).

• Postmodernism, over-complexity, non-linear to the point of being meaningless, pretentiousness etc. (I simply cannot stand avant garde writing)
• No 'coming-of-age' tales.
• No 'epic' stories.
• Strong tendency away from first-person stories