Talestack News - ISSUE 50! 🎉
[June 2nd - June 16th]
✒ Editor’s Note
Welcome back, Talestack Readers!
[New around here? Check out our FAQ page!]
It’s official: Talestack News is TWO YEARS OLD! 🎉
Back in June 2023—when Notes was new and the algorithm was still a total crapshoot—I looked around the blossoming fiction community, saw how many amazing things were happening across the platform, and wondered, “Hey…is anyone keeping track of all this stuff?” And with that, Talestack News was born!
Ever since, as editor of this little piece of micro-journalism, I’ve made it my mission to bring as much platform-specific fiction news as I can to as wide an audience as I’m able. And with your support, it’s been two whole years of news and projects and publishing—and a total blast, to boot!
I could not have done it without YOU! THANK YOU for reading, contributing, subscribing, restacking, commenting, and more!
I’m happy to report that this is another packed issue, so 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 lovely week, and happy writing!
S.E. Reid Editor of Talestack News
TALESTACK NEWS is a FREE-TO-READ publication!
Please support us by liking, commenting, sharing, and restacking. Any monetary support is appreciated, but not necessary.
📣 Announcements!
Finished Projects:
- has completed his 15-episode serial, We're Not in Edison City Anymore, which “follows the adventures of Sam Superlative Jr. after he is blasted across an interdimensional rift with the Kaboominator! Meanwhile, back on Earth, rogue superhero John Cute battles the Malevolent Med-Student and his loyal henchwoman, Candystriper! There's even a wizard! Or there was. Maybe. Time things are weird. Find out why!” Jump into Episode One here!
New Projects:
- recently started serializing his occult mystery, Ride Upon Midnight. Synopsis: “Framed for murder! Gifted (or cursed?) with the power to summon spirits with the aid of his guitar! Nils Andersen, son of Norwegian rock legend Aksel, must master his control of the WANDERING WORLD—the dimension from which his spirit visions come—if he wishes to take back the life that was stolen from him. […] But by virtue of the cosmos, Nils won't be alone in his struggle against evil. INGRID, the girl with the strange and mystical connection to the Wandering World, stands before him, her guiding hand calloused and hardened by the ghostly worlds she wanders in her sleep. But can Nils be guided by exterior forces? Will he surrender his ego for fate? Will he become the rock legend his father wants him to be? And will he discover the murderer before it's too late?”
- is serializing a fiction story called Runes as part of her Scribbles and Sketches project, a series of seasonal notebooks. From Lydia: “The serial is currently halfway through, and will end on the last day of June, and I am reading it aloud to my daughter, Auri, each night before bed, and before sharing the latest chapter on Substack. The story focuses on a young family who move back to the village of Runes in the Highlands of Scotland. The two children soon discover that there is more to the local woods than they originally think, and that their parents may know more than they have been letting on. The story is rooted in family and folklore, and features trows and trees. As with each of my notebooks, this should be considered an alpha draft, a glorified work in progress - already, I am making notes for rewriting the story after my current notebook comes to an end.” Jump into the First Chapter here!
- will be launching his new fantasy serial, Find The Blackpage, on June 20th. Synopsis: “The ambitious monk Manheim and the callow novice Julian are unlikely traveling companions. Both would consider the circumstances surrounding their journey mere bad luck—yet, one way or another, they have been charged with a single, important mission: Find the Blackpage! Twenty years after Manheim’s rival monk, Byron—now called The Blackpage—was exiled from the Order of Authors, this adventuring party will face dangers in the mysterious wilds of Daranna. Yet, all agree that nothing they could encounter is more dangerous than the man they hope to find…” Read Chapter Zero for the prelude and a taste of what’s coming!
- just recently published his first piece of short fiction to Substack, called It’s Such A Beautiful Night. From Cole: “It’s been some time since I wrote fiction and it was so much fun! Loved getting into it again. This piece is moody and reflective. I was using the space to process some feelings I had been holding on to for a while, while also figuring out how to get back into the genre. It was a fun challenge to learn how to do dialogue which is something I don’t have much experience with.”
- celebrated Pride Month with Drabbles of Body and Soul, a collection of ten drabbles following after his short story A Marriage of Body and Soul. Blurb: “Stop by Ontia City this Pride Month for ten new drabbles featuring Simon and Beleth after the events of A Marriage of Body and Soul. Featuring new clothes, the debut of Beleth’s advisor, a trip to the aquarium, and more.”
S.E. Reid just launched an episodic YA supernatural adventure called Ivy On The Trail, which will run weekly until mid-August. Synopsis: “It’s summer on Ferris Island. Now freshly sixteen, Ivy Cole is thrilled to finally be old enough to volunteer as a staff trainee at Fort Ferris State Park where she spent happy summers as a camper. Side by side with her friend Bailey, she can’t wait to balance new responsibilities with summer fun in the sun, until some strange events in the acres of dark woods threaten the safety of staff and campers alike…events that have an eerie similarity to scars in the island’s past. Ivy’s blossoming connection with Ferris Island and its hidden supernatural denizens puts her in a prime position to step in, but can she really help? Or is the evil lurking in the summer woods too powerful for her to face on her own?” Jump into Episode One here!
Awards:
- ’s short story, Dark Matter—an earlier version of which appeared on Substack—was awarded the winning prize in the 2025 Cymera Festival / Shoreline of Infinity short story competition for Scottish writers! The story has now been published in Shoreline of Infinity 39 and is available for purchase there exclusively for the next 6 months. From Caitriana: “I want to give a huge shout out to the sci-fi community on here and especially , because without these interactions I’d never even have had the idea for this story! Thanks guys!!!” HUGE Congratulations, Caitriana!
Milestones & Wins:
- ’s paranormal mystery, Beasts of the Field, will be heading behind the paywall on June 21st. If it’s been on your TBR, now is the perfect time to jump in! Synopsis: “When Judith Temple, full-time software developer and part-time psychic detective, agrees to help Sheriff Tim Morrissey find a missing college student, she is confident that her psychic vision will bring the case to a close. The only problem is that Judith’s vision seems to be…wrong. Contending with skeptical police, hostile locals, and her own complicated emotions about the county sheriff, Judith must make sense of her vision and conflicting information about the case to find the missing girl before the trail goes cold.” Get started with Episode One here!
- has just announced the publication of his impending fantasy novel, Company of Ghosts, slated for September 16th! From the announcement post: “It really doesn't fit into mainstream fantasy at all. There aren't any special teenagers with special powers, and I don't have a diagram of the magic system on the inside cover. It isn't a folklore / fairy tale retelling or a thinly veiled allegory for a trending issue. Nobody is opening an inn, or discovering video game abilities in real life, or having sex with a fairy / elf / succubus / whatever. I wrote the kind of fantasy novel that I would want to read, and I've made peace with the idea that it probably won't fly off any shelves. It should sing, though. Ideally, when I'm done self publishing it, the story will be in good enough shape for a random stranger to read it and think ‘well shit, that was honest and beautiful and true.’” More details to come as cover art, sample chapter, and preorder links become available over the summer. Stay tuned!
📚 The Bookshelf
(Titles listed in order of release date.)
- ’s book of essays, The Untangling, is now available via multiple retailers in multiple formats! Original Release Date: 1/31/25
- ’s fantasy epic, The Shieldbreaker, Book One: The Last of the Etela, is now available as a paperback through Books.by! Release Date: 6/9/25
- ’s romance novel, Wildflower—under pen name Iris Trovao—is currently available for preorder as an ebook or paperback through Amazon! Release Date: 6/27/25
📝 Submissions Bulletin
- ’s publication Periphery—committed to uplifting and amplifying Asian writers from all over the world, regardless of audience size—is now accepting creative nonfiction and fiction submissions based on the theme: desert. The deadline is June 30th. Learn more about the submission guidelines HERE.
🫱🏻🫲🏾 Connection Corner
- is putting together a small beta-reading team for her short story collection, Before the Last Leaf Falls. The 15 literary fantasy short stories will be available July 1st with a deadline on July 31st. Check out the application to sign up and more details HERE.
Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:
talestack.editor@gmail.com
This is super cool! Glad I found this. Thanks for putting it together.
Congrats on two years and 50 issues! 😄