Planet Waves :: Request for Proposals: Articles for The Mars Effect

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Request for Proposals: Articles for The Mars Effect

Dear Friend, Reader and Potential Contributor:

The theme of the 2014 Planet Waves annual is THE MARS EFFECT. As you may know, Mars will make a long visit to Libra starting in December, and will be retrograde for 10 weeks from March (the month of Mars) through May. It'll enter finally Scorpio in July.

As Mars, the Sun and the Earth move in this pattern, Mars will make three sets of alignments to the Jupiter-Uranus-Pluto-Typhon configuration, which to me is the peak of the Uranus-Pluto square, which is to say, the peak of the 2012-era. The day to watch for is April 23, 2014.

NASA's Curiosity space rover recently analyzed a rock sample on Mars that points to the existence of ancient life on Mars -- essential chemicals inside the rock: sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon.

Some of my astrological colleagues have been watching the approach of this inevitable development with some concern. I am looking at it with a sense of excitement and potential. I think that Mars retrograde in Libra is going to ask many of the right questions, and remind us that everything is based on relationships. Or as Thaddeus Golas put it in The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment, "We are equal beings and the universe is our relationships with one another."

Moreover, it's a call to action: a repeated series of Mars square Pluto aspects, and Mars opposite Uranus aspects, is all about making things happen.

I don't think we've ever done an annual based on one planet before. We've done them based on water, the Galactic Core, the minor planets, a zodiac sign, building bridges, listening and a reality check -- but never a planet.

As you will see clicking these links, the Planet Waves annual is a bona fide Internet tradition, published each year without exception since 1999. Now is your chance to become part of that tradition as a writer or an artist.

Each annual has a collection of articles by writers besides myself. These are generally essays 1000 to 2000 words in length. There is a modest honorarium ($100 to $200) if your article is published, plus a one-year All-Access Pass. For typical magazine journalism, our deadline is fairly tight: one group of writers will have their work due Nov. 20, and the other group on Dec. 15. On the scale of newspaper journalism, this is a lot of time to relax, take in the scenery and do a thorough job.

Please send your proposal to Susan Scheck, who is the articles editor for THE MARS EFFECT. I am looking for short, alive articles based on real-world experiences and examples -- not theoretical pieces. I want to hear from you, about what you think, what you know and what you are discovering. I want articles that are directly relevant to our readers.

Here are some topics I am looking to have covered from original angles:

• How marriage, dating and relationships are changing
• The role of sexual desire within relationships
• Gay and lesbian relationships becoming accepted by society
• Being bisexual in the midst of the gay/lesbian rights era
• Your relationship to yourself, sexual or otherwise
• Your experiences experimenting with polyamory
• Anger management
• The power of anger
• Experiences in couples therapy
• Friendships are better than 'relationships'
• Weird experiences in relationships
• Sex with friends
• Sex with enemies
• Diplomacy
• The world's state of constant war
• How messed up the justice system is
• When the justice system worked

NASA's Curiosity rover looks back at wheel tracks made during the robot's first drive toward Mount Sharp on July 4, 2013.

Since this is Mars, the favorite planet of scifi writers everywhere, I am open to articles about how our world has evolved into what only science fiction could have envisioned (and in many ways did); the extraterrestrial phenomenon and its associated psychology; while we're at it, the extraterrestrial coverup; and anything associated with sex and sexuality that covers desire turned on itself, unusual modes of desire, and getting out of your old sexual and relational patterns.

You may have been cooking an idea for months or years; you may have an older article you want to rework; you may have a brand new idea come to you. Whatever works.

Please send a 150-word description of your idea to us by Sunday evening, Oct. 13. That will give you the week and the weekend to refine it. Please be ready with a longer description (400 words, built on the initial 150 you submit) so that in case we express an interest, you can get back to us right away.

Also -- if any of this is evocative to visual artists, you're invited to respond with a sample. Later in the week I'll send another letter about this -- art and photography are a core aspect of the annual -- but what you've got here may be more than enough to get you started.

Good luck, have fun and thank you for being part of the awesome tradition of Planet Waves annual editions. Once again, here is your submission address -- (editorial@planetwaves.net).

With love,

PS: The proofreading team didn't have a chance to go over this, so there may be a few typos. -- efc

PPS: Please pass this along to anyone who you think might benefit from it. -- efc

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