Havok Publishing

Season Themes

Readers play favorites, you know. Everybody has their favorite genres and our season themes are here to assemble story collections that readers will love. These themes function as story prompts for our author base, suggesting fun mashups and settings for the most creative, hard-hitting fiction. We only accept stories that fit these themes, and we wish you much Havok as you craft your best work!

We have prepared a downloadable/printable PDF of the monthly themes and deadlines below, including extra info about what we’re looking for this season. We highly recommend checking out these resources for ideas as you craft your story! Feel free to tag @havokauthornews on Instagram or email authorcentral@gohavok.com with any questions about our themes and guidelines. Sign up for our author newsletter (see sidebar on this page; scroll down on mobile) for tips from our editors and news about author contests.

Now Open! Season 11: Remember When

As writers, we spend most of our time in the background, watching and writing about everyone else’s experiences and exploits. But all that is about to change. In season eleven, Havok wants to hear about you! A full year—winter, spring, summer, and fall—celebrating all of your autobiographical adventures and misadventures through all the seasons. Well… mostly autobiographical, that is. We are Havok, after all. So feel free to embellish the truth a little, or a lot (or flat-out make it up), as you craft your personal tales of winter wonder, spring storms, summer staycations, and fall frights.

Havok author Clarissa Ruth calls it “fictional retellings of real life,” and that’s a great way to put it! It doesn’t even have to be an auto­-biographical account, as long as you narrate the story with a strong personal voice. It doesn’t even have to be a human character! So, feel free to share your grandpa’s claims about the time aliens abducted him from Mardi Gras, or transcribe your parrot’s story about the years he served on Blackbeard’s shoulder. No judgement here.

Download REMEMBER WHEN theme list PDF

FOR EACH MONTH THEME, make your story reflect something about that month of the year. January winter storms and resolutions, February Valentine’s day thrills (or disappointments), March sporting madness or springtime floods, April Easter celebrations or wildflower tours. You get the idea. Here’s a list of holidays on timeanddate.com. Stories accepted for each monthly theme will be published in 2024 during that month. Just remember that we still need all five genres: mystery, science fiction, humor, thriller, and fantasy! See our Accepted Genres for more genre ideas and check out the Inside Scoop for a list of stories from our archives with the sort of strong narrative voice we’re looking for.

“REMEMBER MAY” (CLOSED)

“REMEMBER JUNE” (DEADLINE: April 5, 2024)

“REMEMBER JULY” (DEADLINE: May 3, 2024)


The themes below will open for submissions 2-3 months before their deadlines.

  • “REMEMBER AUGUST” (DEADLINE: May 31, 2024)
  • “REMEMBER SEPTEMBER” (DEADLINE: June 28, 2024)
  • “REMEMBER OCTOBER” (DEADLINE: August 2, 2024)
  • “REMEMBER NOVEMBER” (DEADLINE: August 30, 2024)
  • “REMEMBER DECEMBER” (DEADLINE: September 27, 2024)

Now Go Write!

Using the season theme above for ideas, go write and then send us your best story that fits any of our Accepted Genres. Be sure to download and use our Manuscript Formatting template and follow the Submission Guidelines!