Dear Reader…
Welcome back to The Weekly!
For those who are new around here: I am all about communicating with my readers as much as I can, and this little digest is where I make sure we’re all on the same page about what’s going on in Talebones-land!
In this issue, we’re observing ONE YEAR of Talebones fiction with a round-up and some fun perks to kick off a month of celebration!
Ready? Let’s go!
Round-Up!
In case you missed it…
The Knocking - in this piece of flash fiction, Ferris Island resident Hank Hollister (first seen in The Orientation) tells us a little piece of his own personal lore. Fact or fiction? With Hank, it’s always tough to tell!
NEW Completed Limited Serial! In this standalone three-part limited serial, a new kid with a troubled past comes to live on Ferris Island, hoping to leave his horrible memories behind. But on a haunted island, it’s tough to truly pass unnoticed for long…
Part One: The New Kid
Part Two: The Quiet Whisper
Part Three: The Way Home
BONUS: fellow wordsmith
used this story (among others) in a fantastic analysis of mystery versus dramatic irony in storytelling! You can check that out—and join in the discussion he prompted—here!
TALESTACK NEWS is a twice-monthly bulletin of Substack fiction news where I collate as many announcements, projects, submissions opportunities, community endeavors, and generally cool things as I can gather. Check out the most recent issue here! (And if you’re a writer on the platform, check out the submission guidelines and email your news to talestack.editor@gmail.com by June 2nd to be included in the next issue!)
Talebones Is One Year Old! 🎂
Here at the end of May last year was when I opened the doors of Talebones and posted my first tentative pieces of fiction!
By the time I decided to post my fiction here on Substack, I had spent years and years writing privately, quietly, not sure how I would ever get my words out to readers. I had managed to get one short story published traditionally, but the fallout from that was negligible, and shopping around my sophomore effort yielded no results, all rejections. I was stumped.
Taking that rejected short story and the glimmer of a novella I had been working on and throwing them on Substack was a leap of faith. And boy…has that leap been worth every terrifying second in mid-air!
To celebrate our first anniversary, I want to have some fun in the month of June, and that will begin by bringing those first inaugural stories out from behind the paywall!
Until June 28th, 2024, please enjoy for FREE:
A Thing Must Be Loved (short story) - in this horror tale, a parking garage attendant goes toe-to-toe with terror in the shadows and assumes an unlikely role in his own story.
Ivy & Ixos (novella) - did you enjoy our recent limited serial about Ivy and her friends, and you’re curious where it all began? Check out Ivy & Ixos! In this first serial I ever posted to Talebones, 10-year-old Ivy comes to live with her estranged father and is faced with a family secret too strange to be believed.
FREELANCE and FISHMAIDS RETURNS!
The second “season” of our fan-favorite supernatural serial, Freelance and Fishmaids, will begin on Friday, June 7th! Each season is a twelve-part tale of hauntings, creatures, history, comradery, secrets, and a touch of romance…and there’s more still to uncover!
If you haven’t read Season One of Freelance and Fishmaids, you can catch up now before the next season begins! START HERE!
Thank you for reading!
Longtime readers will know that I don’t like to talk numbers and stats, because I don’t think they tell us the most important or helpful things about success.
However, my “marketing manager” (aka my wonderful husband) likes to remind me that milestones are sometimes good to share, when done mindfully and with gratitude. So, in that spirit, a few relevant numbers…
At the first-year mark:
Over 30 Ferris Island Tales have been published here, and 5 stories set elsewhere.
Over 100 guests have signed our Digital Guestbook.
Winter’s Nell is our most viewed story, and Under The Mistle Crow is the “top” story based on engagement. (Y’all seem to love those holiday tales!)
Talebones currently sits at around 2,700 wonderful, beautiful, generous subscribers who read, engage, lurk, comment, share, cheerlead, and support. I am truly in awe.
Numbers aside, the most incredible and genuinely moving thing to me about the past year has been watching people fall in love with Ferris Island, a place I’ve been building for such a long time in my imagination and never thought I would have the opportunity to share with anyone else. It is the greatest joy to travel to this strange little Pacific Northwest island with you all and see it through your eyes. You are the best companions I could ever ask for!
Here’s to many more journeys!
Your grateful storyteller,
1st Anniversary is "paper". Appropriate for all writers.
Happy Anniversary!
Husband and I had occasion to visit Bremerton recently. On the ferry back to Seattle, I was looking at all the islands and wondering which one might be Ferris Island "in disguise."
Before anyone at's me, I know it's a fictional locale...at least, that's what they want you to believe..
(Playing X-Files theme here)