✒ Editor’s Note
Welcome back, Talestack Readers!
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Daylight savings all done? That just means an extra hour to read!
Happy November, Talestack Readers! Here at Talestack HQ, this month is all about wrapping up the year in as cozy a manner as possible, and that means having a well-stocked TBR to carry us through the Pacific Northwest rain and late autumn storms.
Thankfully, this issue has plenty of well-rounded goodies to explore! Completed serials, bookshelf publications, awards to celebrate, and community initiatives to join! What could be better?
⭐NOTE: Talestack News is looking for passionate sponsors to feature in upcoming issues! If you are a small business owner, freelancer, artist, or author with a product or service to sell and you think that your business or product could fit the tone and philosophy of Talestack News, reach out to me at talestack.editor@gmail.com and throw the word SPONSOR in the subject line—let’s talk!
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
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📣 Announcements!
Finished Projects:
- has concluded her YA fantasy serial, Underworld. Blurb: “Born a goddess. Raised a warrior. Destined to bring death and destruction. ‘Let me ask you something. Do you worry about not being remembered after you are gone? Well, I can tell you that there is something worse than being forgotten, and that is being remembered as someone other than you were, to have all your adventures and misadventures reduced to one well-worn, inaccurate tale. History, or mythology, has portrayed me as a victim, vulnerable and weak. Like all of us, I have been both of those things at one time or another. But the story you know does me a great injustice: it focuses too much on my immortality, and not enough on my humanity. And it forgets that I was not a vassal, but a queen with power in my own right, and that I ruled over all the souls who ever lived.’ This is Persefóni’s story in her own words. Can she escape her fate? Does she even want to?” Jump into the Prologue here!
- ’s long-running fantasy serial, The Beacon, will be concluding very soon. Blurb: “The Beacon is a clean fantasy novel about a kingdom in crisis. People are reporting strange, massive ‘waves’ or ‘bubbles’ traveling across the land, inciting acts of foolishness, selfishness, and pure evil. The king calls on his problem-solver, Adonis Santinetta, and his crew to investigate the phenomenon and restore tranquility to Margonne. Meanwhile, signs of rebellion begin to trouble the kingdom, raising the specter of civil war.” Jump into the Prologue here!
- has concluded his serialized adventure novel, ISLA. Blurb: “Pop fresh batteries into your Walkman and join George on a search for the island that haunted his father’s journals and changed everything he thought he knew about myth and memory.” Jump into the first chapter here!
- (D.S. Brandt)’s dark fantasy serial, The Jarl’s Son, is drawing to a close. Synopsis: “A village razed. A people slaughtered. A serpent, coiled around a boy’s heart. For years, Gaiur the Wolfmother scoured the width and breadth of the far north in her hunt for the fiends that linger in the world’s dark corners. Now dream and instinct draw her to the coastal city Halvfjord, and its ruling family: Jarl Ostock and his two sons, Marten and the boy Erik. Yet a pall lingers over this bustling city. Its gates are barred. The people of the Jarl’s hold live in fear of vicious marauders. And Erik has grown deathly ill. Wicked hands take hold of Halvfjord, but to best them, Gaiur will need more than strength of will and arms. She’ll need to overcome her grief for the family she lost.” Read the First Chapter here!
Awards:
Congratulations to winner of the Inanimate Objects fiction contest
, runner-up , and honorable mentions , , and ! (Check out the post for a full list of the talented participants and their stories!)
Milestones & Wins:
- (D.S. Brandt)’s short dark fantasy mystery novel, In the Giant’s Shadow, is nearing its 1-year publishing anniversary. Blurb: “Sinister deeds haunt the town of Jötungatt. Lured to this sleepy farming community by a mysterious white raven, Gaiur the Valdunite soon finds herself caught in a strange conspiracy of ritual murder and very real nightmares. Can she uncover the secret hiding behind the town’s ancient, monolithic gate? Will she be able to survive the truth if she does?”
📚 The Bookshelf
(Titles listed in order of release date.)
- ’s fantasy serial, The Shield of Locksley, is now complete and available for purchase as a downloadable PDF! Release Date: 10/13/25
- ’s collection of eight uncanny speculative fiction short stories, The Shell, is now available for purchase as an ebook or paperback through Amazon! (For more about the collection, as well as alternative retail options for the ebook, check out this post.) Release Date: 10/22/25
- ’s debut fantasy mystery novel, Quietus, is now available for preorder as an ebook through Amazon (with a paperback edition to follow)! Release Date: 11/18/25
In November,
is releasing his completed speculative fiction serials as ebooks, starting with Letters from Armin and Sandbox Earth, Duel, and Find the Blackpage. Check out his Shop Gibberish page to see what’s available, and subscribe to Gibberish to stay on top of updates! Release Date: Various- returns with Rule 35: A Fieldguide to the Abyss. Check out the upcoming prestige printings available for preorder through Television Sky, or learn more about the project here. Release Date: TBA; determined by number of preorders.
📝 Submissions Bulletin
The Midnight Vault II is now open! Step forward with your best short story, poem, or graphic piece in honor of The Twilight Zone’s 67th anniversary. It costs nothing to enter—but the rewards could echo far beyond. Learn more here.
🫱🏻🫲🏾 Connection Corner
- is hosting a brand-new writing class: Mimetic Prose Workshop: Voice, Sensation & Archetype—a six-week immersion in sensory and mimetic prose, from November 8 to December 20 with an optional two-week extension from January 17–31. From Sandalore: “They say you can’t teach voice. I say otherwise. In this course, I’ll guide you through mimetic prose—writing in which form and perception mirror each other, where language doesn’t describe experience but creates it. We’ll study how your prose coughs, how the nails of your characters tap, and how fiction can emerge from a character rather than merely happening to them. Through a kind of method-acting investigation, we’ll locate each character’s precise vocabulary—the sensory logic that shapes how they experience their world. Through a series of sensory and structural experiments, we’ll dig into the archaeology of your characters: tracing how sensation becomes syntax, and how inner perception evolves into voice. We’ll explore épuisement—the deliberate exhaustion of the senses—as a technique for writing prose that feels inevitable, muscular, and alive.” Space is limited, so sign up ASAP!
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 and for reading and judging all of the submissions! Appreciate you.
Thank you, Sally, for mentioning the near-completion of "The Beacon"! This week's Episode 60 should be the finale!