Dear Readers…
Welcome back to Talebones Weekly, your source for all things Talebones!
I hope everyone’s week is off to an incredible start!
Round-Up!
This last week ended up being a busy one here on Talebones with both planned AND unplanned releases!
Here are some things you may have missed…
Secrets To Raising A Writer - A re-release of a piece of creative nonfiction I published in Being Human Magazine a few years ago, this is an ode to growing up in creativity and the people who support us along the way.
The Weeper At The Wake - A piece of one-off flash fiction in which a journalist is faced with a dilemma when she’s caught moonlighting as a ghost-hunter.
Ivy Investigates - In this sixth issue of our serial, Ivy & Ixos, things are getting a bit spooky! “Following a strange hunch, Ivy pursues answers by snooping in an unfamiliar room before making a discovery that leads her into danger…”
And speaking of Ivy & Ixos, we’ve just passed the halfway mark in the story and we’re beginning our tumble toward the conclusion! Questions remain, even as the mystery tightens…
What happened to Ivy’s mother?
What does the apple tree have to do with anything?
And what is Ivy’s father keeping from her?
New to this tale? Get started at Issue One here!
Please enjoy this excerpt from upcoming Issue Seven!
Excerpt - “Danger In The Woods”
“Hello? Who are you?” Ivy called across the clearing, but her voice was lost in the rain, strangely un-resonant.
She watched as the empty-eyed thing—roughly the size of a child slightly older than herself—moved closer, closer still, where it froze at the edge of the clearing, unblinking, as though avoiding the pale light filtering down from the treetops. It was thin and hairless, with long fingers and toes. And those eyes—just pale circles in a face with no distinguishable features, a being of shadow.
“Hello?” Ivy called, again, but her voice faltered, betraying her fear.
As if in response, the dark shape tilted its head to one side and let out a long, low whistle that filled the clearing, trembled across the sodden birdmint with their bowed heads, and rippled out and away. It was a lonely sound, full of pain…and buzzing with anger.
Ivy was speechless with fear.
Within moments, the whistle’s effect was clear. As if by magic, it had summoned other dark shapes out of the trees; Ivy could see the movement all around her, unsure of how many there were as the woods shivered with their movement.
Panic seized her.
Ivy rounded the apple tree to the opposite side, leaving the clearing behind.
She ran, leaving the trail behind and entering the deep, gloom-filled woods.
My wife, definitely; she's my story editor (she's an English major and working on a doctorate in English lit., so she's the best), I bounce ideas off her, she suggests ideas herself (I've got a draft of a pirate novel where she came up with the name: Bonnieditch Crumpleshnort), and she's just super.
Anyone else skip the excerpt from Ivy and Ixos so that your Friday reading experience is brand-new? Have I already asked this before? The sleep deprivation is getting to me (((((: