Dear Reader…
Welcome back to The Weekly!
This is the place where I update all of my readers—the new and the longtimers—all about what I’ve been up to. Along with a typical round-up of last week’s content, this time around I’ve also got some fellow writers and their work that I’d like to highlight, a horror haiku, and a delicious recipe!
Intrigued? Hope so!
This one is gonna be quick—but fun!—so read on…
Weekly Round-Up!
In case you missed it…
Birdmint Julep - in this piece of flash fiction we find the brief chronicle of a chef’s obsession with a strange herb and its bizarre implications.
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 first issue of April 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 April 14th to be included in the next issue!)
Client Shout-Out: in my job as a freelance editor, I have the great pleasure of working with some seriously talented creative folks who are crafting some truly fantastic projects. I’d like to highlight some recent works by a few wonderful clients below—they all deserve a round of applause! (NOTE: my work with clients is as confidential as they want it to be; all of these clients credited me publicly as their editor for these pieces, so I’m happy to share their work here!)
Terrific by Daniel Sherrier: a serialized superhero anthology with relatable characters, subtle humor, a well-rendered setting, and action galore. If you like action, adventure, and heart, check out Terrific!
Caged by Sean Thomas McDonnell: a piece of short fiction about a strange sideshow, a small town that no one leaves, and a kid desperate to get away. Fans of fairground/carnival horror and creature features will be gripped by Caged!
Lark At Night by Blaze Bratcher: Blaze is not a Substack writer (although I would LOVE to lure her here!) but her debut self-published, illustrated novel is truly a beautiful work of visual and literary art. If you enjoy stories about finding family, soft mystery, and gentle worldbuilding, you will adore Lark At Night!
Honeygloom runs a Horror Haiku Club over at her newsletter, and the prompts are fantastically twisted! I don’t normally jump in, but a recent prompt—ERGOT—really got my creative juices flowing. Here is the haiku I penned from that inspiration, and if you’re also a haiku and horror fan, go try your hand at some of Honeygloom’s wicked posts!
Ergot; ergo, we dance widdershins, sinister, our daily bread, spoiled.
Bonus: Birdmint Julep Recipe!
Expert Substack Mixologist Walther Cantu was prompted by the lovely Sara Dietz to come up with a “birdmint julep” recipe after reading the story—and he kindly obliged! He even generously provided a non-alcoholic variation upon my request, for those so inclined.
The following is his rendition of the famous drink with a Ferris Island twist. If you try it, do let me know! (But remember: birdmint only grows on Ferris Island, so please harvest responsibly. 😉)
Birdmint Julep
Eight (8) mint leaves
¼ oz simple syrup
2 oz Bourbon
Mint sprig (for garnish)
Angostura bitters
Pebble ice (from Sonic)
In a julep cup (or rocks glass), muddle the mint leaves with the simple syrup. Add the bourbon, then pack it ¾ of the way with ice. Stir until the glass is frosted. Pack more ice until you make a small dome. Place your straw, insert your mint sprig into the ice, and top with two dashes of Angostura bitters. Enjoy.
Non-Alcoholic Variation:
Substitute the bourbon for a zero-proof whiskey like Ritual or Spiritless Kentucky 74. Or strong Earl Grey tea; “two-bags-per-one-cup” strong, as Walther put it!
Thank you for reading!
My longtime readers will know that I prefer not to focus on stats, since I don’t believe that numbers ever tell the whole story. But one personal stat that I secretly, really enjoy watching after I publish is seeing where my latest story will land in my own Top Posts leaderboard on the Talebones homepage. It’s a fun way to compete against myself and see which stories resonate deepest with my audience.
This week, I was both surprised and pleased to see Birdmint Julep take a spot on the board! What a joy. Thank you for the love on that new story, and I’m so excited to bring you more fiction this month!
Love to all, and blessings!
Your grateful storyteller,
Where is more Farris Island mystery!!!
Thank you so much for the shout out!!