I learned this a little bit ago, but I am now proud to share that my sea-monster-story-without-a-sea-monster, “Sea Mother,” was long-listed for the Janus Literary Story Prize.
It will appear in their online anthology later this Spring.
The rest of the winners are listed at the Janus site.
I wrote “Sea Mother” especially for that competition, so to make it on the long list feels really nice. My story is definitely influenced by King Kong, and probably a bit by Midsommar and The Wicker Man.
The number one rule of good fiction: only steal from the very best places.