Talestack News - ISSUE 51
[June 16th - July 7th]
✒ Editor’s Note
Welcome back, Talestack Readers!
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Slow summer? SO MUCH FICTION!
We’re halfway through the northern hemisphere’s summer, and even though Substack is typically a bit quiet during these months of interrupted routine, the fiction writers on this platform just keep pushing and producing and creating the most amazing things!
(This post is already pushing against the email limit, so I’ll cut my comments short. A fantastic problem to have! 🎉)
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 NewsTALESTACK 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 just finished up her year-long capepunk/drama/romance serial, Radiance. Blurb: “A young heroine faces choices between agency and passivity, celebrity and mundanity, and friends and enemies. Radiance is a hopeful fiction serial about one of Earth’s darker timelines, the storyline following a group of minor-league superheroes based in Washington, DC. Our protagonist is Lady Radiance, former teen sensation, aka Christabel Jones, professional ray of sunshine—or, at least, she's trying her best.” Jump into the first installment here!
- has just completed the serial release of her novel, Make No Mistake. From Julie: “It’s a contemporary thriller about a corrupt American president and his billionaire cronies who dismantle democracy starting with women's rights. This novel was written in 2019. Uncanny parallels with current events, an underground book club determined to topple the patriarchy and a retired activist who refuses to back down have made Make No Mistake a popular read on Substack.” You can also check out the audio versions as a podcast here!
New Projects:
- has just launched a mystery serial called Wrangling the Wendigo! Blurb: “When a woman is murdered by a creature of ancient legend, an unlikely and disenfranchised suspect is spotlighted. Can a dissolved team of detectives overcome their own past to give her a fair chance?”
- has just started to serialize his novella called The Wheel. From Andrew: “My novella, The Wheel, is a story about a young family in my hometown of Traverse City, Michigan, and the heartbreak, paranoia, shocking mundanity, and moments of beauty that can follow an unspeakable tragedy. I’m serializing it here on Substack over the course of 16 installments.” Jump into the first part here!
- has recently launched The Elevator, a serial sci-fi sapphic romance that drops two chapters a week. Blurb: “When a no-nonsense HR executive gets trapped in an elevator with a charming musician, their biggest worry is getting out—until they do, and realize the world has completely changed since the moment they stepped inside. Romance, sci-fi, LGBTQ+.” Check out the Table of Contents or jump right into Chapter One!
- ’s latest tale in her fantasy/romance series The Môrdreigiau Chronicles will begin on July 12th, called A Sword for Wellington. Synopsis: “The prophet Llyr dreamed of a sword needed to complete the ritual that will save the world from ecological collapse. Will Eidothea and her Chosen Court retrieve the sword in time? Gwenddydd has the sword. She comes forward in time to deliver King Arthur’s sword to the Duke of Wellington in order to save Britain. Fortunately, she meets Sir Hugh Devenish, a wounded veteran of the Peninsular Wars, who helps her find her way in this modern world of 1815. Both Eidothea and Gwenddydd face opposition, for there is one who wants to destroy both Britain and the Chosen Court itself.”
- has just started a serialized sapphic romance novel called The Choices We Make. Synopsis: “Two childhood friends, Caitlin and Sabine, are faced with an ultimatum, a missing girlfriend and choices to be made. What happens when a well-meaning distraction becomes the very thing they need distracting from? Will they choose to do what is expected of them, or what will set them free? TCWM is a Contemporary Sapphic Romance set in my home town of Adelaide, South Australia. Friends to lovers, slow burn to spicy and deals with familial and social expectations, the intricacies of motherhood and identity and allowing ourselves to be who we are and who we want to be.” Jump into Chapter One here!
- has just launched her new serial, Mirai, Mirai, “a bite-sized, fast-casual serial drama that returns to the beginning of Radiance to explore the road not taken. This time, in order to keep their original timeline safe, Lady Radiance and her friends must fend off the attacks of multiversal megalomaniac Mheksos the Mighty—with the help of their children from alternate futures far worse than their own.” This story is intended as a separate starting point, so it’s not necessary to have read Radiance first. Launching 7/7, so stay tuned!
Awards:
Congratulations to
, winner of the Science Fiction edition of the Lunar Awards’ 10th Season, along with runner-up ! Learn more about the winning stories and other cool details in this post from awards host Winston Malone and guest judge .For a look back at the season-so-far and a glimpse at what’s coming up for the Awards, check out this recent post!
Milestones & Wins:
- would like to announce the impending publication of Tiny Worlds Volume Two on July 31st! From J: “A new collection of short fiction, essays, and oddments. Inside, readers will find sketchbook fragments, narrative dispatches, and full-length stories—some familiar from Substack, others appearing for the first time. The volume closes with an exclusive early look at ISLA, a story about the power of belief, the pull of the past and the mysteries that hide just beyond the horizon.” You can also check out J’s serial, ISLA, as it rounds the corner toward the end.
📚 The Bookshelf
(Titles listed in order of release date.)
- has published his four-volume set (with a fifth book containing all of the combined volumes) of A Year's Worth of Stories, featuring unique standalone microfiction for every day of the year. All of the books are available as an ebook or paperback on Amazon! Original Release Date: 3/10/25
- ’s contemporary fantasy/magical realism novel, Flames of Indigo, is now available for purchase as ebook through various sources with a paperback edition on the way! You can also check out Lyndsey’s announcement post for more details about this book. Release Date: 6/25/25
- ’s debut coming-of-age novel, The World Outside, is now available for purchase as a PDF ebook through Stan! Release Date: 6/30/25
In This Way We Bind Them, a limited-edition folk horror zine, drops today! It features four stories from
, , , and , that will take you through beautiful yet hellish landscapes of four towns. Each story pays homage to one of the seasons and reminds us to always honor the old ways. You can purchase as a paperback through any of the writers’ storefronts: EJ, Keith, Sean, or Shaina. Grab yours soon; it won’t stick around forever! Release Date 7/7/25- ’s short story, “Eitrdropar”, will be included in the upcoming anthology Myths, Gods, and Immortals: Loki, a collection of fiction inspired by Norse mythology. Corey’s tale is the never-told story of Loki’s final cunning act: escaping the bonds and the viper that torment him until Ragnarok. The book will be available through Flame Tree Publishing. Release Date: 7/8/25
📝 Submissions Bulletin
- is a brand-new arrival to Substack looking to gather and publish Pacific Northwest-themed horror fiction—though writers from all locales are welcome! Subscribe to keep an eye on what they’re up to, check out their submissions guidelines to see if any of your work fits the bill, or explore their proof-of-concept issue.
- ’s Drek Death and Doom Publishing has opened for business and is ready for new blood! Go to the announcement post for more details about what’s on offer, the latest call for submissions, and how you can get involved.
- ’s Project Franklin—an experiment in collaborative, open-world flash fiction—is looking for authors interested in contributing to Collection Two: Halloween 2025. Check out this post for more details about how to participate!
🫱🏻🫲🏾 Connection Corner
- has thrown out the gauntlet to the fiction community: a writing challenge based on a strange photograph! Can you solve the mystery of the golden-eyed turtle?
Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:
talestack.editor@gmail.com
Wow thanks so much for the mention and other recommendations!!
Eee! Another Aussie writer!