✒ Editor’s Note
Welcome back, Talestack Readers!
February is moving so fast, isn’t it?
Valentine’s Day may be behind us, but you can always find something to love here at TALESTACK NEWS! In this issue, we have several new projects to report, milestones to celebrate, some shout-outs to shout from the proverbial rooftops, and more!
As always, please hype each other up in the comments. Go visit, explore, give virtual high-fives, and let your colleagues know that you’re with them.
Have a fantastic week, and happy writing!
S.E. Reid Editor of Talestack News
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📣 Announcements!
New Projects:
- of The Hinterlands has just started her new serial novella, L'appel du Vide, a dreamy tale full of mysteries. From Anna’s announcement Note: “The unknown, the great mystery of our world, anomalies and the unexplained, supernatural. The wild that calls. All things I was interested in, and I came to realize it quickly. The entire summer I wrote, wrote, wrote, and I ended up with the draft of a novella. This is that novella.”
- of Germanicus Publishing has just started a new high fantasy serial called The Santara Commentaries. From the official synopsis: “In the east, puppet kings ruled under the suzerainty of Tionghoa. They paid fealty to the Dragon Emperor, but the Yakobins are a proud people. The Sultanate of Paloe, the most powerful of the eastern states conspired with the Kingdom of Dun-a-Din, ruled by the last of the Borromeans, to form the Padri. Their aim was simple: freedom. But there’s more to this war than meets the eye.” Read the first entry here!
- of Authorstrator has just started serially posting the next book in her Zombie Shark Highway series: Lava Cat Cruise Ship! Meaghan assures new readers that it stands on its own, so “if you haven't read ZSH it doesn't matter!” Synopsis: “When luxury cruiseliner The Silver Queen finds giant, parasitic saber-tooths onboard, it's up to the captain's son to save both the ship, and all of humankind.” Read the first chapter here!
- of Age of Aquarius has started an apocalyptic short serial called Claire White At The End of the World. It begins: “The world ended twice for Claire White. The first time was when she realized she would never see her family again. The second time was when the world ended. The order is arbitrary.” Parts One and Two are available now!
- has just launched his new BookTube channel over on YouTube! There, he’s planning to read out entire chapters of his story, The Bashful Courtesan, along with other musings. From Ben: “Could be quite a bit of fun, because you never know what I might do. I might read a poem by Kipling or Longfellow, or maybe some Shelley, or even Shakespeare. I might tell a story about the mill. It’s a new branch growing out of my Substack. I want to figure out how I can make the two work together. Come on along and see where we can go!”
Awards:
Congratulations to
, winner of the Season Five Lunar Award for First Chapter, as well as Honorable Mentions and !Check out the winning chapters, insightful commentary from Lunar Awards commander
, and find all of the participants at the official announcement post.
Milestones & Wins:
- of The Collect has published his first short story here on Substack, a slice-of-life called Ashlyn’s Exercise - Brown. From Jason: “I welcome any feedback from any fiction readers! My publication is not primarily fiction, but I do love to write fiction and plan to sprinkle it in here and there, so any feedback that will make me a better writer (and therefore, I firmly believe, a better person) is welcome!”
- ’s fantasy short story, Balefire Beneath the Waves, will be appearing in a Sword & Sorcery fantasy anthology edited by DMR Books alongside eleven other action-packed stories. Check out the official announcement here, in which DMR Books revealed the cover and table of contents of the anthology, Die By the Sword Volume II. You can find more of Ethan’s work at Senchas Claideb here on Substack.
- of The Warthog Report has just received his first commercial video game credit as a Narrative Editor for Merfight: Curse of the Arctic Prince, which is out now!
📚 The Bookshelf
(Titles listed in order of release date.)
- ’s collection of 200-word sci-fi stories, called A Quick Test, is now available for ebook preorder on Amazon! Release Date: 4/8/24
❤ Shout-Outs
Barrie at
would like to shout out and his excellent writing courses at Write Beyond the Lightbulb. From Barrie: “[Matt] offers fabulous ideas and advice in his Substack publication - Prattlefog and Gravelrap. I wrote a piece after taking part in his 2-week ‘Colourful Characters’ course. It might be interesting for your readers (and fellow writers) to see what Matt teaches and what I picked up.”- would like to shout out : “I want to give a shout out to Miguel S. for his micro fiction prompts and his story, Curse, that stuck in my brain and may have given me a mental break down, but in a good way.”
Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:
talestack.editor@gmail.com
So much good fiction to dive into. (I'm not just saying that because I'm included either. 😉😘)
Another fabulous round up and so pleased to see Matt Kendrick get a mention - loving the prompts from Miguel too. Good shout, Patricia.