✒ Editor’s Note
Welcome back, Talestack Readers!
Here we are, in the merry month of May! And is there anything merrier than Substack fiction?! (I think not!)
Quick note: you may have noticed that the format of our post title has changed. Since Talestack News is nearly a year old (!!), I wanted to update a few things based on some reader feedback. Hopefully the new title format will make it easier to find issues of Talestack News in increasingly-busy inboxes!
We have a delightfully packed issue this time around, so I’ll quit yapping and let you get on with the good stuff! 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!
Finished Projects:
- has just completed two serials in his Crann Na Beatha setting: The Reve’s Tale, and A Flur Manse (not currently on Substack). Both will be published on draft to digital within the next six weeks, so stay tuned!
- has just completed her serialized nine-part Beauty and the Beast retelling, Under the Roses. Synopsis: “Beatrice has been tasked with cutting flowers for her town’s Festival of the Immaculate Heart. But when she flouts the rules and visits a forbidden garden, she encounters mystery, danger—and a Beast. Three roses. Three visits. Meanwhile, evil stalks the woods surrounding her town. People begin to die. And the townspeople are looking for someone or something to blame.” The story will remain free to read until August 1st, so get started here!
- has just completed the reading of his novella, The Bashful Courtesan, on YouTube. Check out the whole playlist here!
New Projects:
- has just launched her new supernatural mystery serial, Down In The Holler. Synopsis: “Judith Temple, a software developer, feels most at home with theories and cold, hard facts. But she also experiences seemingly psychic visions. When Judith finds herself drawn into a missing persons cold case in rural Kentucky, she must learn to use both her hyper-analytical, logical mind and her newfound ability (skill? gift? curse? delusion?) to find the mysterious woman reaching out to her.” Get started with Episode One here!
- has just begun a new serial called Diary of a Hit Woman, publishing every Sunday. Synopsis: “A 30-something-year-old woman who is a therapist by day, avenging hit woman by night. What could go wrong? She loves fashion, dogs, and food. She hates her ex-husband, terrible people, and when she gets blood on herself. She is known as Karen Widowmaker. And she’s her own worst nightmare.”
- has just begun The Last Word, a serialized urban fantasy novella about a half-fae private detective who works in 1920s New York City. It will release every Friday, beginning on May 3rd and ending on May 31st. More details here!
- has just launched a new sci-fi serial, Destination Europa. Synopsis:
“The R.G. Leifr, flagship of the FSS colonisation fleet, is en route to Europa with a hundred and twenty souls on board. Yet as Jupiter draws closer, tensions are rising and strange things are beginning to happen. Habitat engineer Aquilla O’Neill has to navigate the fraught relationship between Earther and Martian factions, as well as his own mission — and his own broken heart. Can he find the answers he needs, and will the Leifr arrive at its destination?”
- has just launched a new pulp serial, Ken Burchfield v. The Wolfman. Set in Yonder, “an alternative future world reminiscent of the 1970s in Southern Appalachia, where life is dangerous and scary, but people are not just trying to survive but reclaim a sense of home.”
- will be starting a new reading of his story, The Truth of Who We Are, which takes place before and after the Second World War in Berlin and Paris. Check it out here!
Awards:
Congratulations to , winner of the 2024 Gibberish Writing Competition! And a massive round of applause to the whole crew of talented competitors:
, , , and ! Click Here for GWC organizer ’s debrief and full results.Congratulations to , winner of Season Six of the Lunar Awards in the Short Story Category, along with Honorable Mentions
, , and ! Check out the official announcement post for Lunar Awards organizer ’s comments, links to the winning stories, and the full list of brave competitors.
Milestones & Wins:
Fiction writer
has collaborated with co-author Deacon Steven Lumbert to publish a new devotional called There You Are, God!, now available for purchase.
📚 The Bookshelf
(Titles listed in order of release date.)
- ’s contemporary fantasy novel, The Strange Case of Guaritori Diolco, is now available for purchase on Amazon! Release Date: 4/21/24
- ’s fantasy novel—and part of his Crann Na Beatha series—called Contracts & Chaos, is now available as an ebook through Amazon! Release Date: 5/1/24
- ’s psychedelic narrative nonfiction memoir, Death Trip, is now available for preorder! Find more details and background about this book here. Release Date: 5/21/24
📝 Submissions Bulletin
- is brand new to Substack and looking for stories that inspire and intrigue! From their Submissions Grinder description: “We will consider any genre so long as your story is superversive, however keep in mind that the editors are experienced horror, fantasy, and sci-fi authors. We are looking for superversive fiction. Superversive fiction is the opposite of subversive fiction. It is inspiring fiction that builds up civilization rather than tears down. Note that this does not necessarily require a happy ending.” For more details, including pay rates, check out their Submissions Guidelines page!
❤ Shout-Outs
- has sent us THREE pieces of Dracula-related news!
- has just begun its annual reserialization of the classic book
What Manner of Man, a queer gothic vampire romance inspired by Dracula, is also being reserialized
William’s own Dracula-inspired piece of short fiction is now available to read!
William would also like to shout out Fractured Magic by
. From William: “It's a fantasy serial with Victorian gothic overtones, self-described as ‘a penny dreadful for the modern reader.’”
🫱🏻🫲🏾 Connection Corner
- is teaching a class about Author Voice on April 29th at 8pm EST. Price: $25. Click Here for more details and registration!
A Reminder from the Editor: if you are a Substack writer who belongs to any of the following groups (or a reader looking for some great new reads!), check out these ways to get connected…
Qstack: the directory for LGBTQ+ writers and newsletters on Substack organized by
The Cookout Library: a virtual compilation of Black Writers put together by
Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:
talestack.editor@gmail.com
Thank you. This is always useful.
Sally, really appreciate you adding the library to your publication! Such a small but beautiful gesture that goes along way. Thank you!