Talestack News - ISSUE 38
[December 2nd - December 16th]
✒ Editor’s Note
Welcome back, Talestack Readers!
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We’re saying goodbye to 2024…but not to fiction news!
My friends, what a year it’s been! It was the biggest privilege to boost your fiction news all year long, watch projects begin, goals be reached, books published, shout-outs exchanged, opportunities multiply, and so much more! I always told myself that I would continue to do Talestack News as long as it remained both fun for me and useful for you, and I’m grateful to say that both appear to be true, and ongoing!
Thank you for reading, for contributing, and for supporting each other every single issue. You make this whole thing possible.
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.
Happy Holidays and happy writing! See you in 2025!
S.E. Reid Talestack News
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📣 Announcements!
New Projects:
- has just launched a new historical fiction serial called The Wanderer and the Way. Synopsis: “The Camino de Santiago de Compostela, now the most famous pilgrimage route in the world, was founded in the early ninth century, largely due to the efforts of Bishop Theodemir of Iria Flavia. As with most people of this period, nothing seems to be known of his early years. What follows, therefore, is pure invention. Theodemir returns footsore and disillusioned to his uncle’s villa in Iria Flavia, where he meets Agnes, his uncle’s gatekeeper, a woman of extraordinary beauty. He falls immediately in love. But Agnes has a fierce, though absent, husband; a secret past; another name, Elswyth; and a broken heart. Witteric, Theodemir’s cruel and lascivious uncle, has his own plans for Agnes. When the king of Asturias asks Theodemir to undertake an embassy on his behalf to Charles, King of the Franks, the future Charlemagne, Theodemir plans to take Agnes with him to keep her out of Witteric’s clutches. But though Agnes understands her danger as well as anyone, she refuses to go. And Theodemir dares not leave without her.” Jump into Chapter One here!
I’m dreaming of a…fright-filled Christmas?! You can count down the festive days alongside twelve of Substack’s finest horror writers with the Twelve Days of Christmas—Dark Tidings event organized by
! The holiday frights are already rolling in with ’s Catching Ghost, ’s 11:11, and ’s The Lords. More to come!- is releasing a wholesome YA fantasy novel called Swells Over Still Waters (purchase details in the Bookshelf Section below). Along with the ability to purchase the finished story, a chapter will be posted on Keith’s Substack for free once a week, every week of 2025 — and it will feature voiceover so that readers can more conveniently consume the book. From Keith: “At the end of the year, it will be made available as an audiobook through Amazon as well, all recording and production done by the author, for better or worse.”
- has just launched her folk horror/romance serial, Sayblood’s Children. 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.” Get started with Part One here!
Milestones & Wins:
The Twilight Zone-themed “Substack Zone” event last month was featured in a recent weekend issue of Substack Reads, one of Substack’s official highlight publications! This shed a much-deserved spotlight on that fiction event and its 30+ writers who worked so hard on their phenomenal, genre-pushing tales. You can find the featured story by
—The Last Cup—and the other stories in the collection by heading to this issue of The Weekender!- (Kim Hayes) has had another story accepted for publication! A memoir piece titled Pretty is as Pretty Does will be published in late February of 2025 in the Academy of the Heart and Mind. From Kim: “It's a conversation I had with my mom a few years ago, that gives some insight to the relationship I had with her. Academy of the Heart and Mind published a memoir piece of mine back in May, so I'm thrilled they accepted this piece. It had been rejected 21 times. NEVER GIVE UP!”
- is just about to hit 200 daily microfiction stories of various genres at his newsletter. Daily fiction is no small feat! Congratulations!
📚 The Bookshelf
(Titles listed in order of release date.)
- ’s book of transformative poetry, dear mystery, is now available for purchase through Lulu! (You can also read this post for more details about the book and how to acquire a signed copy.) Release Date: 12/1/24
- ’s Japanese folk-horror novel, Under the Amber Wave, is currently available as an ebook on Amazon with a paperback to follow on December 18th! Release Date: 12/15/24
- ’s wholesome YA fantasy novel, Swells Over Still Waters, is now available for preorder through Amazon (ebook will be available first, with physical copies to follow in the new year)! Release Date: 12/27/24 and 1/5/25
🫱🏻🫲🏾 Connection Corner
- wanted to remind the science fiction community on Substack that he puts together a Sci-Friday Review post mostly every week, gathering the science fiction goodness from around Notes. Check out the latest round-up here!
SDG Lemaître is inviting everyone to a festively-themed collaborative writing project: Christmas in Selene City! From SDG: “This is a collaborative writing project set on the Moon's first international base, Selene City, as it gears up for the grand annual New Year party. There's something odd going on this year, though... What does your character do when they hear that haunting music from outside? The project is running from now until the Lunar New Year at the end of January.” Visit here for more details and instructions on how to participate!
Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:
talestack.editor@gmail.com
Thank you for the mention!
Thanks for the shout out!