Nossa Morte

New site design

2010-01-07T04:49:16Z

We're thinking of giving the magazine a fresh new look and a general overhaul as we start off the new year. If anyone has any suggestions or requests for what they'd like to see (design, site features, navigation, etc.) please feel free to toss them over to us. Tell us your thoughts in the comments section of this post, or email us.

Thanks!

Submissions update, awards, etc.

2009-12-20T06:00:55Z

We've been making some good progress on the submissions pile lately. Response times are back down to around 2-3 weeks at most. If you submitted a story prior to December and haven't heard back from us, please re-submit and we'll respond right away. (We had a computer meltdown a few weeks ago so it's possible some emails may have been lost.)

We stil have a couple slots open for the February-2010 issue so keep those subs rolling in.

And finally, two former contributers to Nossa Morte have found their way onto some awards nomination ballots:

Christopher Green's story, "Having Faith", appearing in the February-2009 issue of Nossa Morte, is up for Best Horror Short Story in the Aurealis Awards, which recognizes the best Australian writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. Chris has two more stories nominated in other short story categories as well. No surprise here. He's an awesome writer. Check out more details here.

Also, the book trailer for The Lifeless, the latest novel from Lorne Dixon (our interviewee in our November-2009 issue), is up for Best Dark Genre Book Trailer in this year's Black Quill Awards. Watch the trailer here, then grab a copy of the book. I hear the book has been doing very well. Congrats to Lorne on what we know is just the beginning of his success.

And that's all for now!

November 2009 Issue

2009-11-02T19:49:48Z

The latest issue of Nossa Morte (now entering its 3rd year) has been posted. (Please excuse a couple technical glitches in getting some of the interior pictures to load. We hope to have it fixed shortly.)

This month features the following fiction:

"Moo" by Abby "Merc" Rustad

"Found Objects" by Brandon H. Bell

"Tesoro's Magic Bullet" by Aaron Polson

"Sand Between a Dead Boy's Toes" by Steven J. Dines

"Down the Rabbit Hole" by Michael Kelly

"Paladin and the Concrete Blond" by Jason S. Ridler

We're also very proud to feature an interview with Lorne Dixon, author of Snarl and The Lifeless.

Enjoy!

Honorable Mentions

2009-10-04T17:45:10Z

We’re very happy to announce that 4 stories appearing in various issues of Nossa Morte during 2008 received honorable mentions in the first volume of the Best Horror of the Year. Congrats to the writers, and thanks for choosing us to print these fine tales. Thank you, also, to Ellen Datlow for the mentions.

The four stories are:

“Nervous Goats, Huddling in the Dark”, by Michael Kelly (Issue 2, February 2008)

“Ice Might Break”, by Idun Asther (Issue 3, May 2008)

“The Nanny”, by Ian Rogers (Issue 3, May 2008)

“Big Diehl”, by George Seaton (Issue 5, November 2008)

The full list can be found on the Night Shade Books forum.

New issue!

2009-08-01T19:38:56Z

The August issue of Nossa Morte, our eighth installment, is now live.

This month features the following fiction:

"A Crazy Kind of Love" by Christopher Green

"Check-Out" by Brian G. Ross

"The Cow" by George Seaton

"The Colour of Falling Leaves" by Alison J. Littlewood

A big thank you to our authors for making this another great issue.

Enjoy!

Submissions Update

2009-07-07T03:18:13Z

Just a quick note that the current response time is running at around 5-6 weeks, although we'll be catching up even further in the coming days. So if anyone is still waiting for a response for a story submitted earlier then late-May, please feel free to drop us a query.

Also, due to some email problems last Friday, we may not have received your submission. So if you emailed us on July 3rd, please resend it just in case.

And that's all for now. Stay tuned to the first of August when the latest issue of Nossa Morte is released. Going on 2 years now, and still loving it!

May 2009 Issue

2009-05-02T04:03:23Z

The latest issue has been posted! This makes #7 for lil' ole Nossa Morte. And still going strong!

Fiction:

"In The Shaft" by Scott Ellis

"Ophelia Doe" by Inanna Gabriel

"About 77 Degrees, West of Nassau" by Don Norum

"The Bus Stop Man" by Stephen Owen

Plus, an interview with Ellen Datlow to continue our streak of snagging some awesome people in this business to chat with us.

And once again, some amazingly creepy cover art by Mike Bohatch.

Enjoy!!

News and updates

2009-03-31T17:50:12Z

It's been a while since we've posted so we thought we'd give a quick update on the latest here at Nossa Morte:

Submissions have been flying in faster than ever lately, and our response times have slowed down to a longer period than we usually target. We're currently running around at around 5-6 weeks, but we're quickly catching up and expect to be back below a month soon. If you submitted to us before mid-February, you should have received a response by now. If not, feel free to send us an email to check up on your story.

Our May issue is just around the corner. We have 3 stories accepted so far, with a few more in the "maybe" pile. Yet again, the quality of fiction continues to blow us away. Without fail, we never seem to go very far through the slushpile before hitting a piece that stands out amongst the rest. And because we're pretty picky here about the stories we select for the magazine, it just makes it that much harder to choose. It's a tough job, but we love it!

And speaking of which, it seems that Nossa Morte has popped up on Duotrope's list of the 25 Most Challenging Fiction Markets. The list excludes any markets with a zero acceptance rate, which includes many very fine, but extrememly competitive magazines out there, so we won't pat ourselves on the back too, too much. ...maybe just a little. :-) But we're in good company on the list, and it's still cool to see us up there. Did we mention we were picky...err very selective? :-)

As always, any comments or suggestions, don't be shy.

New Contest

2009-02-01T16:53:04Z

Who wants a free book? Well if you do, here's a new contest that we're running this week at Nossa Morte:

Lorne Dixon's debut novella, Snarl, was just released from Coscom Entertainment. We featured a story by Lorne in Issue 3 of Nossa Morte, and we think he's an amazing writer that you'll probably hear a lot more of in the near future. You can see a review of the book in our February issue. From what we've seen, Snarl is sure to impress readers. We certainly were. If you'd like to win a free, signed copy of the book, which Lorne has graciously provided, do the following:

Watch the book trailer for Snarl below. Count the number of times that an image of a werewolf appears in the clip (exluding the book cover at the end). Then send an email to melissa@nossamorte.com with "Contest" in the subject and the # of wolf sightings in the body. On Saturday, February 7th, we'll toss all the emails with the correct answer into a virtual hat and randomly pick two winners to each receive a signed copy of Snarl. (One submission per person, please.)

And as an added bonus, we'll also give each winner a copy of Dark Notes from NJ, an anthology edited by Harrison Howe that features Lorne's short story, "Voices Of The Infinite Sea", as well as an introduction by Brian Keene.

Easy, right? Watch. Count. Win.

(any problems viewing the trailer? -- you can also view it here.)

February Issue now online

2009-02-01T06:19:52Z

The latest issue of Nossa Morte is up.

This time around we feature the following fiction:

"The Last" by Jason S. Ridler

"Brother" by James Owens

"Having Faith" by Christopher Green

"Drogan's Things" by George Seaton

"The Confession" by Christopher K. Miller

"And When She Was Bad" by Nadia Bulkin

Covert art is from Mike Bohatch, who never ceases to terrorize us with these horrific images.

Also included is our interview with John Everson, yet another very fine writer that was kind enough to be a part of our magazine.

And a big thank you to the fiction contributors for making this another great issue.

Enjoy!

The Writing Meme

2008-12-08T15:16:45Z

Age when I decided I wanted to be a writer: I wrote my first novel (if you can call it that) when I was 10.

Age when I wrote my first story: I found a "story" I had written when I was about 8 years old.

Age when I first submitted a short story to a magazine: never

Age when I sold my first short story: never

Total number of submissions: none

Total sales: 0

Thickness of file of rejection slips prior to first story sale: 0

Approximate number of short stories/novelettes/novellas sold for cash money: 0

Poems sold: 5 (it was a h.s. phase)

Age when I started writing my first novel: 10

Age when I started writing my first completed novel: 10

Age I finished that novel: 30

Age I started my second novel:31

Age I finished my second novel: with my record not till I am 50

Age when I sold a first novel: never selling it.

Total number of novels written (discounting duds): 1 (this is the first time I even talked about it in public)

Books sold: 0

Books in the process of querying: 0

Short stories in the slush: 0

Short stories written this year: 0

Age when I became a full-time novelist: 21 (my writing professor told me I had a great novel in the works and convinced me to really pursue it.)

Age now: 32

Submissions Update

2008-12-06T18:52:45Z

Just a quick update:

Submissions have been flying in faster than ever these last few weeks, and the February-2009 issue is almost full already. We do have one more fiction spot open though so keep those subs coming. And we read all year-round so even when February is full we'll keep reading for the next issue.

We've also made a lot of headway in getting through the slush pile, and response rates are currently running around 3 weeks.

If you don't already do so, we'd love for you to report your responses to Doutrope. It's a great service and the more accurate the statistics the happier we'll all be.

And lastly, thank you for your continued support!

The New Design

2008-11-12T15:48:23Z

Well, now that it’s been a couple weeks since the new issue was released and people have had time to test-drive the new website design, we’d love to hear any suggestions or issues with the current format. Any problems or concerns with the design, navigation, etc? Feel free to let us know, either via comments here or in an email to Melissa@nossamorte.com, and we’ll start tweaking the site over the coming weeks.

Thanks!

November Issue

2008-11-01T01:56:25Z

The new issue of Nossa Morte is now live!

This is the 1-year Anniversary Issue and is jam-packed with more content than ever before. Featuring:

Fiction by: Harrison Howe, Michael Kelly, C.A. Manestar, Vincent Pendergast, Jason S. Ridler, George Seaton, and Andrew Shvarts

Interviews with: Michael Kelly and Brian Hodge

Plus, as a special treat, we also have an article from Lorne Dixon in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Stephen King's The Stand. The article features comments by some of the best writers out there, including Michael Arnzen, Tim Lebbon, Brian Keene, Brian Hodge, Gerard Houarner, F. Paul Wilson, Jeff Strand, Elizabeth Massie ... the list goes on and on. It's an amazing article. Thanks, Lorne!

And to top it all off, the web site has undergone a complete makeover.

Check it out!

Year's Best Fantasy and Horror

2008-09-30T18:46:55Z

Congrats to Christopher K. Miller for receiving an honorable mention in the 21st annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror for his story, "A Hawk Circling the Wind". The tale appeared in the premier issue of Nossa Morte in November of 2007.

Nice job, Chris!

read story here...

Rules 1 - 10: Don't leave food outdoors

2008-09-08T19:04:50Z

Our new friend...

This is what we saw first thing in the morning

nossa_morte @ 2008-09-04T17:13:00

2008-09-04T21:16:39Z

Nossa Morte opened for submissions a little over one year ago. Here are some stats for those keeping track:

Total # of stories received = 729

Rejection rate = 96%

Personal rejection notices = 59%
Form rejection notices = 41%

Total # of writers who have submitted = 431

Average response time = 13 days

Most stories received from one writer = 11

Average # of stories received by accepted writers before a story was actually accepted = 1.6

Most stories received by an accepted writer before a story was accepted = 5

Longest title = 15 words

Submission Update

2008-08-28T23:06:21Z

I'm getting several emails regarding artists for graphic stories...

While we have not received any artist inquiries, we are receiving some graphic stories. If you are or know someone who is a graphic artist, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Ad Space - RePost

2008-08-27T14:38:05Z

As our 1-year anniversary approaches, we have some significant plans in mind for the magazine. First, we are considering incorporating some small ads into the website. We promise, though, that they would not be overly intrusive or distracting from the site you have come to know so well. We certainly don't want them to be a burden on the reader, and we won't let that happen. But it will (and here's the good part) allow us to raise our pay rates to more closely mirror some of the larger magazines. We have some big goals for this magazine, and being able to pay more for fiction will help get us there. More on that in the near future.

In the meantime, if you are interested or know anyone that would be interested in advertising with Nossa Morte, please have them contact us at ads@nossamorte.com for more info.

Thank you!

The Director Who Films My Life...

2008-08-25T15:45:48Z

So I took this quiz after finding a link to it at lonesome_crow's LJ...supposed to tell you the perfect director for your life story. This is who they picked.

Steven Soderbergh

Your film will be 62% romantic, 17% comedy, 39% complex plot, and a $ 32 million budget.

Filmography: Sex Lies and Videotape, Traffic, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Erin Brockovich, and various other homemade independent films. He may just want to follow you around for a few months and construct a film out of that. Your humor is either dry or non-existant, but your life is somewhat exciting romantically because you're "bad." At least you'll be surrounded by the best-looking people who will be cast as your friends, who in real life are probably just as good-looking. Then when he wins the Academy Award for your film, he won't have to make anymore "Ocean's" films.

----yeah great, i apparently have no sense of humour...but i'm "bad" does that make up for it? i suddenly have the urge to put on a leather jacket and some aviator glasses. and since i have no sense of humour, if they laugh at me i will just have to kill them.

Nossa HQ's backyard

2008-08-25T00:38:18Z

Just one of the many joys of living in the mountains of Jersey.

November Issue

2008-08-22T14:35:44Z

Up to 4 accepted stories now for the next installment. A couple left to go, unless we decide to open it up to a few more, seeing as how it is our 1-year anniversary issue and all.

And August is looking like a record month for submissions received. Thanks everyone! Keep them coming.

Welcome to LiveJournal

2008-08-16T14:07:40Z

We wanted to join Live Journal in order to build a community with our writers and readers.