Homework: Blades & Black Magic

Jason tells y’all what kind of Sword & Sorcery he’ll be accepting

The only kind of Sword & Sorcery (S&S) there is: Stories that are filled with attitude and move with ferocity! S&S is fantasy storytelling moving at a headlong pace and overflows with dangerous adventure and thrilling action. S&S stories feature characters who see a challenge—any challenge—to their intentions, spit in its face, and say, “Bring it!” Then they embrace whatever the challenge throws at ‘em with a big ol’ grin of relish. THEN they ask for more.

Battle-ax with an attitude.

S&S protagonists were not only quoting General George S. Patton, Jr., before he ever said “Make the other bastard die,” they inspired him to say it!

Sword & Sorcery isn’t a travelogue of short hairy folks moping about whilst trying to toss a piece of jewelry into a lava pit in order to save the day for all mankind. Neither is it sulky, drugged-out teenagers with overpowered weapons who barely can control if they wet their pants let alone save anything for anyone. No, SWORD & SORCERY is a pell-mell hunt by massively hearted Type A personalities with powerful wills doing whatever they must to save the moment so they can gulp a beer, gain some cash, grab some ass, or just plain do what they wish.

Write fast, write bloody, write sharp, and write extreme. Don’t give me gentle. Think The Odyssey, not The Iliad. Robert E. Howard (blessings be upon him), not Terry Brooks. Fritz Leiber, not Terry Pratchet. Probably don’t think of any Terrys, eh?

One cannot bring up REH’s Conan and not have a Frazetta cover. I mean, come on.

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser? Yes please!

S&S is about the protagonists first and foremost. It’s not settings or set-pieces, ages or accoutrements. As the open call says, it starts with Howard and Leiber and reaches the post-apocalyptic science-fantasy of Thundarr the Barbarian, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards. It’s Book of Eli, Mad Max, and The Revenant, after they run out of bullets. Sheeeet, it’s John Wick AND Pale Rider when they’re using swords and sledgehammers. S&S is a “negation of death” as Bob Howard himself said it in the Conan story, “A Witch Shall be Born.” Write bigger-than-life characters who don’t just seize the day but seize Death itself and squeeze Life out of it until it begs.

If you never saw this cartoon as a kid, your childhood is poorer for it.

If you still aren’t confident of your S&S writing, here’s some parameters you may find helpful—but don’t you dare define yourself or limit your writing by them! Set your stories in locales familiar yet somehow different from our own, where technology is relatively primitive or considered sorcerous. If there is magic, it’s not omnipresent, it is rarely employed by the protagonist’s team, and when it is found it’s usually dark and dangerous and deadly to both protagonists and their villainous or monstrous foes. Regardless of what defines them, S&S protagonists are hands-on people who overcome their obstacles face-to-face. While a little wit never hurts, it’s typically more a matter of brawn and might in these stories, with the winner determined by who possesses the strongest will. I mean, just imagine Conan with a Green Lantern Power Ring!

Short stories are the ideal vehicle for Sword & Sorcery. There’s no time or place for worldbuilding here, no room to share histories or systems or theologies or or or anything other than hardcore action by very, very dangerous people who act according to their own codes of honor in pursuit of their own ends. They ain’t evil, but they sure ain’t good.

Still looking for inspiration? Read William King’s Kormak, Steve Goble’s Calthus, Charles Saunders’ Imaro, Eric Turowski’s Irons, Steve Dilks’ Bohun, Roy Thomas’ Red Sonja, and Willard Black’s Redgar. Read the swashbucklers of Sabatini and Dumas, toss in the adventures of Haggard and London, mix them all well with the horrifics of Poe and Lovecraft, and then blend all of that with the action and passion of Howard.

Then write me blood-pounding, spine-tingling, memorable tales of indomitable heroes and epic battles. Do not write me myths; pen me legends.

Blades & Black Magic
With Guest Editor Jason M. Waltz

Barbarians! Battles! Babes! Swords, sorcerers, and saucy wenches. These are the days of high adventure! Pay tribute to the likes of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber, or the post-apocalyptic science-fantasy of Thundarr the Barbarian and Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards. Answer the age-old question: “What is best in life?”

Opens: 05/24/25
Closes: 07/13/25
Contracts: 07/26/25
Publication: 08/22/25

See all our open calls for 2025 right here!