About
Two friends, one magazine
Our Story
T. James and Jay Watts are longtime friends (and occasional frienemies) with a shared passion for the arts. T loves words; Jay loves design. Together, they wanted to create a space where “other” voices are elevated—voices that aren’t always heard, people who aren’t always seen, and stories that don’t easily fit into a single bucket.
Neon & Smoke exists to build community—between contributors, between readers, and across the hazy, glowing space in between. We hope artists come here to see their work celebrated, and readers come here to experience a blend of artistry that’s rich with texture and glow, clear yet mysterious.
We love emails. We appreciate feedback. We’re always down for a good discussion—and we do our best to be responsive.
We also know we’re doing a few things differently, and we’ll probably make a few mistakes along the way. That’s part of the experiment.
Thank you for your interest, your contributions, and your voices. Thanks for joining us on this journey—however long it lasts.
See you in the Smoke,
T & J
Neon & Smoke
Neon & Smoke is a home for bold, voice-driven fiction with emotional weight and narrative fire. We publish stories that don’t sit quietly—tales where the plot might thrill, chill, or make you laugh, but always reveals something deeper. We crave characters who leap off the page, language that crackles, and stories that blur the line between genre and literary not for the sake of novelty, but it’s the most honest way to tell the truth.
We believe in the power of contradiction: softness and grit, humor and horror, beauty and decay. Our name is a nod to contrast—to the glow and the haze, the seen and the obscured. If your story doesn’t fit neatly into one box… good. It probably belongs here.
We're looking for:
- Literary stories wearing genre coats
- Genre stories with literary hearts
- Stories that say something without preaching
- Characters who won’t shut up in your head
- Fiction that feels like a punch, a prayer, or a party—sometimes all three
We don’t shy away from difficult topics—but we look for depth, not edge. We’re drawn to emotionally resonant stories, vivid voices, and characters that feel real in all their flawed glory.
We are readers, writers, artists, misfits, and meaning-makers. If your fiction blurs boundaries, breathes fire into forgotten places, or makes the familiar strange, we want to read it.
Standing policy · visuals and AI
Our approach to AI
At Neon & Smoke, we’re interested in work driven by human voice, perspective, and emotional truth. We believe humans see and experience the world in ways AI could never fully understand, and that lived experience is central to the work we publish. Because of that, we do not accept submissions that are primarily AI-generated.
We understand that many creatives now use AI-assisted tools in limited ways during brainstorming, research, editing, or ideation. However, the core creative vision, writing, artistry, and storytelling should originate from the human creator submitting the work. If AI played a substantial role in the creation of a piece, we ask that contributors disclose that in their submission notes.
Ultimately, we’re drawn to work that feels lived-in, emotionally resonant, and unmistakably human. If an artist uses AI for artwork, we will note that in the attribution.