New Season, New Goals!
Talebones Tuesday
Greetings, Talebones Readers!
This weekly(ish) digest is the way I communicate with my readers to let them know what’s been going on around the Talebones landscape, along with any housekeeping to be aware of.
Now that it’s December, our Talebones Winter Season is underway and that means new fiction—both long and short—new goals, and new updates! For a round-up of recent work and a glimpse into what’s coming up, read on!
Onward…
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Round-Up!
In case you missed it…
Imp (multi-part short story) - in this horror tale, struggling author Cal Thornton is sent by his publisher to a silent retreat in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains for a week of creative rejuvenation. But there’s something different about Graft Creek Lodge. Something unsettling. Something just a little bit sinister.
FREE for the SEASON: Winter’s Nell - a folktale-inspired short story about a young runaway, a cold night, and an act of kindness (this story was written last year and is out from behind the paywall for the season! Enjoy!)
Our Winter Season folk horror/romance serial, Sayblood’s Children, has just begun! Synopsis: Othniel Brack left his disgraced family name back in England and set sail for the untamed western edge of Washington Territory, seeking a new fortune and a new legacy for himself on a small, barely inhabited island overgrown with wild apple trees. Life is quiet on that little Orchard Island, until a strange discovery on a windswept beach changes Othniel’s life—and the island’s history—forever. This story updates once a week on Fridays and will wrap up just before March.
Get started here - Part One: The Orchardist
New around here? Most of our speculative fiction takes place on a haunted island in Washington State called Ferris Island. Check out the landing page to see which stories are currently available to read here online, along with other info and resources!
We also have stories of various genres set elsewhere, listed here.
The Orchard Hounds ebook - The very first Ferris Island short story collection is now available in ebook form! While a paperback edition is still on the way (more on that below), you can snag your digital copy here or explore which thirteen stories are included.
TALESTACK NEWS is a twice-monthly bulletin of Substack fiction news where I collate as many announcements, projects, submissions opportunities, community endeavors, and generally cool things as I can gather. Check out the most recent issue here! (And if you’re a writer on the platform, check out the submission guidelines and email your news to talestack.editor@gmail.com by December 15th to be included in the next issue!)
Do you observe the season of Advent? Check out my poetry-filled, nature-inspired Advent devotional, Pilgrim God! You can purchase it outright or read for free with Kindle Unlimited. And it’s perpetual—buy it once, and you can use it any year!
New Season, New Goals!
Talebones Fiction is posted on a seasonal basis, with Winter and Summer being a time for bringing you new long and short tales. Now that it’s Winter, most of my attention and energy will be put toward both our new serial AND some more pieces of short fiction, set both in Ferris Island and beyond.
That said, we still had a few loose ends of goals left over from Fall (more of an “admin” season of behind-the-scenes work), so here are some updates and things to expect as we both catch up and move onward:
Paperback Update
I am excited to report that the second, corrected proof copy of The Orchard Hounds should be arriving on my doorstep any day now! I’m pretty confident that this proof will be as close to properly formatted and error-free as possible. With some last-minute tweaks, that should mean that I’ll have a paperback release date solidified hopefully by next week!
A heads up for Councilmembers: as a special thank-you, I intend to offer signed copies only to paid subscribers, which can be purchased from me directly at a slightly reduced cost. If interested, stay tuned for details nearer to release!
Merch Reshuffle!
Coinciding with the paperback release, I’m planning a celebratory merch drop of a handful of new Ferris Island souvenirs in the Gift Shop. Included will be (finally) the beautiful designs from the winner of our fan-art contest, as well as Orchard Hounds designs and even a Ferris Island map!
A few of our designs from the Fall drop—specifically the three spooky ghost-mug designs—lapsed in our shop and were cleaned out by Etsy. If you had your eye on one of those designs and you’re crushed that they’re missing, reach out to me at ferrisislandwa@gmail.com and we can figure out something out - never fear!
Paid Subscriber Admin
Now that we’re in a new season, it’s my intention to pick up where we left off with our new Councilmember perks for paid subscribers! I’m hoping to clean up the landing page and make the perks even more accessible and easy to find and enjoy.
You can become a Councilmember for $3.75/month or $45/year and get full access to ALL Talebones fiction, including paywalled work from past seasons. You also get discounts, first-dibs, freelance discounts, signed work, and more!
Thank you for reading!
Winter Season is an exciting time around here.
After a few seasons now of doing this, I love the crazy freefall of writing a long serial. It’s such a joy for me to see more folks joining our number as the days pass, too. 2024 has been an absolutely wild and wonderful year in so many ways for my journey as a writer, and none of it would have been possible without the support, attention, and love of the entire Talebones readership.
Thank you, as always, for giving me the generous currency of your attention. It means more than you know!
Your grateful storyteller,
fun times ahead1
Looking forward to all the TaleBones fun this season and next year!