Dear Reader…
It’s an exciting week here on Talebones!
First of all, our summer season is about to start! Check out our post from last Friday for some important things to double-check before the season begins, including making sure that you’re signed up for all the emails/notifications that you’re interested in from Talebones.
The fun is just beginning!
Some Important Summer Dates:
This Friday, June 2nd: “A Thing Must Be Loved” (short story) drops!
Next Friday, June 9th: Ivy & Ixos (novella) begins!
A Milestone and a Contest…
You all have absolutely shocked and honored me with your interest in Talebones! While the numbers genuinely don’t matter, it’s pretty customary on Substack to celebrate certain milestones in subscriber count, especially the first 100.
Well…
You all have taken us right on past 100 and we’re closing in fast on 200 subscribers, which is absolutely mindblowing!
To celebrate, we came up with what I hope will be a fun addition to our seasonal short stories: a little flash fiction contest!
After “A Thing Must Be Loved” drops on Friday, I will put a flash fiction prompt—related in some way to the short story—in our next Talebones Weekly the following Tuesday. And throughout the month, you can post links to your related flash fiction there, where our readers will “vote” for their favorites with their likes. The story with the most likes will win a free comp to the Talebones Archive for a year (along with a boost of eyes on their fiction, of course!).
Details and prompt guidelines will be forthcoming in next week’s Talebones Weekly, so stay tuned! And if the contest ends up being fun for everyone, it may very well become a regular feature here, so let’s just see how it goes!
Where One Poll Closes, Another Opens…
When our poll closed about whether to expand on the world of Cliffsong, the votes for “more” squeaked ahead and won out by 62%! So, a new short story has been added to our rotation this summer season; keep your eyes peeled for that!
For today’s poll, tell me: which are you more excited for, our upcoming horror short story—A Thing Must Be Loved—or our fantasy/magical realism novella—Ivy & Ixos?
(And no, I’m not including a third opt-out option…just pick whichever one you’re slightly more intrigued by! You won’t hurt my feelings!)
I'm looking forward to "A thing must be loved" because it's been so hyped that I don't even know what Ivy and Ixos is about, though I am looking forward to that as well.
Favorite thing about summer: Wearing flipflops everywhere! I like getting my feet on the ground so flip flops are the next closest thing.
Flash fiction contest: Awesome idea! And *200 subscribers!!!!!* what a milestone! Congratulations and very well deserved!
Congratulations on flying past 100 subscribers and nearing 200 subscribers, that is amazing news! (I hope you'll be celebrating yourself with all the other fiction stacks in Talestack!)
I'm looking forward to Ivy and Ixos, I read the synopsis and it had me hooked.
My favourite thing about summer is the opportunity for daytrips without having to plan quite so much for the bad weather.