This weekly(ish) digest is the way I communicate with my readers to let them know what’s been going on around the Talebones landscape, along with any housekeeping to be aware of.

Summer is here!! Summer is here!! 🌞

Today, as I post this, it’s shaping up to be a hot and sunny day in my neck of the woods.

Tomorrow, the rain will be back. ‘Twas ever thus around here! 😂

But I’m going to channel all of today’s sunniest vibes into your official invitation to join me in all the fiction goodness that Talebones Summer promises! I’m still poking and prodding and doing a bit of site admin to say goodbye to spring and update for the new season, but I didn’t want to let another day go by without letting you all in on what’s going on.

So! Are you ready to see what’s happening around these parts?

(It’s a long one, grab a snack!)

Let’s go!!

Subscribe now

✨ First, A Quick Word From Our Sponsor… ✨

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, creative consultant, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my NEW AND IMPROVED Work With Me site for rates and services! Don’t see something that works for you? Reach out via email or DM—I’m happy to discuss. Let’s make your projects sing!

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag or a Ferris Island souvenir for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

And now, back to Talebones Tuesday…

Round-Up!

In case you missed it…

• The Things We Are - in this quick flash fiction ditty, a piece of Pacific Northwest folklore is told from an unusual perspective…

• Snag your copy of Midnight Vault II! - My speculative short story, A Perfect Guest, is one of many tales included in this fantastic anthology of Substack fiction inspired by The Twilight Zone! Grab your copy today!

• Crafting Serial Fiction with ! PART TWO - In this livestream mini-series, I have the great honor of sitting down with speculative fiction writer extraordinaire Simon K Jones to discuss the ins and outs of serial fiction: what is it, how does one go about it, and how to stick with it when the going gets tough. You can watch the playback of Part Two at the link above—in which we cover how to Prep and Plan for your serial before pen hits paper—and stay tuned for the next live episode, date TBD! (Missed Part One? Watch here!)

• New around here? Most of my speculative fiction takes place on a haunted island in Washington State called Ferris Island. Check out the landing page to see which stories are currently available to read here online, along with other info and resources!

  • I also have stories of various genres set elsewhere, listed 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, read the submission guidelines and email your news to talestack.editor@gmail.com by June 14th to be included in the next issue!)

NEW EBOOK - Say Hello to Bonewhistle! 🌞

It’s officially summer here in the northern hemisphere—typical Pacific Northwest rainstorms aside, that is!—and for so many folks, that means making plans for travel, day-trips, camping excursions, visiting far-away family, or staycations.

But whether you’re packing your bags for adventure or you’re planning to stay home and stay cool this summer…you’re invited to take a creepy-cozy 99-cent journey to mysterious Ferris Island, Washington!

Climb aboard the ferry and explore this DIGITAL-ONLY collection of uncanny Ferris Island fiction!

In this collection of eleven uncanny and cozy folk horror tales, Ferris Island’s flora, fauna, and phantoms seek their own unique justice. Across these pages, the forgotten world bleeds into mundane lives: a lonely lighthouse keeper hears whispers that call him to worship, a high school senior dreams of the big-time but hides a sinister secret, and a hunter discovers that something in the woods never forgets a fatal mistake...these stories and more are ready to haunt you!

Spanning decades of Pacific Northwest island history, Bonewhistle is an unsettling brew of smalltown secrets, eerie folklore, and unexpected glimmers of hope.

The tales in this collection were all previously published on Substack and have been updated, polished, and reformatted for your digital reading pleasure!

In this collection:

• Hank’s Tales (The Orientation, The Lake, and The Knocking)

• Brokeneck

• The Third Rabbit

• Glossy

• Bonewhistle

• The Bone-Stag

• Fair Folk

• The Island Hour

• Keeper

⭐ GRAB YOUR COPY HERE! ⭐

But that’s not all—

In honor of stocking up your summer TBR for wherever the season takes you, ALL of the Ferris Island ebooks are 99 cents each!!

That means Bonewhistle, The Orchard Hounds, AND Ivy & Ixos are all available to throw on your Kindle for less than your favorite cup of iced coffee!

This sale won’t last forever, though.

Prices will jump back up to normal on FRIDAY, JUNE 5th, so stamp your ticket, climb aboard, and let yourself get carried away!

We’re Heading Back to Camp, Y’all! 👻

Last year, I started writing a summer serial called Ivy On The Trail, in which a beloved teen character from previous tales gets up to spooky fun at summer camp on Ferris Island, a haunted island in Washington State.

About halfway through that serial, I felt it was best to pivot to a different story for reasons both personal and on principle, and my readers at that time were so gracious and patient with me as I took that leap. (If you were there, THANK YOU.)

But this year, you are cordially invited to join me as we head back to camp…with some slight modifications.

This new version of Ivy on the Trail will start over completely.

I’m sending seventeen-year-old Ivy back to camp as a counselor-in-training with all three of her best friends: brave Bailey, anxious Ethan, and jock-with-a-heart-of-gold Jake. And in an episodic style—more monster-of-the-week than a true novella—the four of them will encounter supernatural shenanigans as they navigate camp duties, friendship dynamics, and their looming senior year of high school.

If you weren’t around last year, don’t worry—this story is a complete do-over, to be enjoyed without any prior context necessary.

If you WERE here last year and remember the original beginning, you may recognize some shared DNA and, hopefully, some resolved plot threads. ;)

I’m looking forward to having a bit of truly light-hearted spooky fun this summer, and I hope you’ll join me!

The first episode will drop later this week, so watch your inboxes!

Review Highlight: Imp! 🦋

If you’ve read any of my books, I would be so honored if you would pause now to leave a rating or review.

But this month, I would be especially grateful for reviews of Imp!

In this bite-sized PNW-gothic horror novella, creative inspiration comes at a high cost for those willing to pay it.

A quick, haunting little tale, perfect for a weekend read!

Have you read Imp? I would love an honest review!

For self-published authors, there’s no multi-million-dollar engine running promotion, marketing, and other advertising…there’s just me! So ratings and reviews go a LONG way in raising indie books in algorithms, triggering retailers to suggest them to customers, and helping new readers find self-published books that they’ll love!

And you don’t have to write a long review, either. A simple star-rating or a “Loved it!” both work just as well!

You can review my books on:

• Amazon

• Goodreads

• Storygraph:

  • The Orchard Hounds

  • Ivy & Ixos

  • The Shell

  • Imp

• Or you can visit the books on their individual My Books pages to review them on the sites of specific retailers, like B&N, Kobo, or Fable!

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to leave a review!

It really, really means the most. ♥

Talebones Runs On Your Support!

Talebones is kept afloat by a beautiful and diverse tapestry of support, from my freelance day job as a writer and editor to purchases of books and merch AND the bountiful generosity of my paid subscribers!

You can become a Talebones Paid Subscriber for $5/month or $50/year (or go above and beyond as a Founding Member) to gain access to ALL online Talebones fiction past and present, exclusive resources, discounts to merch/products and freelance/consulting services, and more!

Learn more about each tier’s perks here.

Subscribe now

Thank you for reading!

Phew, that was a long one!

I won’t take up any more of your time—only to say THANK YOU so much as always for reading through to the end!

Talebones wouldn’t be what it is without y’all, and I couldn’t be more grateful for your continued support, care, comments, and the all-too generous currency of your attention. ❤

Looking forward to a fun fiction-forward summer with you!

Your grateful storyteller,

S.E. Reid

(Loving the Summer Camp logo? We’ve got MERCH!)

Genre: Supernatural Adventure

Length: 10-12 weekly episodes

Start Date: June 2026

End Date: August 2026

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Ivy Cole and her friends—brave Bailey, anxious Ethan, and jock-with-a-heart-of-gold Jake—have been given an exciting opportunity the summer before their senior year to step into “counselor-in-training” roles at the Fort Ferris Summer Camp when Bailey’s older sister, Maia, takes over as Camp Director.

Navigating normal camp shenanigans, typical friendship dynamics, and the grip of secret summer love is complicated enough…until the island’s ghosts show up to join the party! 👻

This series is FREE TO READ through Summer 2026!

Subscribe for free to get every episode straight to your inbox!

Subscribe now

List of Episodes

COMING SOON!

✒ Editor’s Note

Welcome back, Talestack Readers!

[New around here? Check out our FAQ page!]

Summer has arrived at Talestack HQ! 🌻

And just like that…..it’s June!

We are halfway through 2026 (how? don’t ask me), and whether this is midsummer or midwinter where you live, I always tend to think June is the perfect time to sit back and take stock, a natural halfway point in the annual hike.

Here in the maritime Northwest, we jokingly call this month “June-uary” because the weather tends to be, uh…changeable. More often than not, a little less than summery. But like January, June is also a logical moment in the year to take a look around and ask yourself some honest questions about your creative life and the path you’re taking to get where you want to go.

Here are a few example questions I like to consider:

• What creative goals did I set at the start of this year, and are they still relevant at this point months later?

• What tools, routines, or attitudes are no longer serving me? What can I jettison, what can I adjust, and what would I like to add to my arsenal?

• How can I adapt or change course to make sure I’m still on the path I want to be on?

• What crazy creative experiments would I try if the goal was just to have fun and learn more about myself and my process?

• By the end of 2026, how do I want to feel about myself and my work?

Questions like this can help you to remember what it is that you want in a world preoccupied with comparison and hustle. But don’t forget: in all of this honest interrogation of yourself and your creative path, it’s vital to stop and celebrate your achievements, too. Even if they seem small…they aren’t small at all. Every step you’ve reached is a step forward. They all count toward the journey.

This summer, my hope for you—for all of us—is that we can press on toward becoming the writers, artists, creatives, and humans we want to be for the good of ourselves, our families and friendships, and our communities, too.

It’s work, but it’s worthwhile. ❤

Happy reading, 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:

• is wrapping up a seven-part fantasy/adventure serial called Where the Blood Calls. Synopsis: “On the maiden flight of the Aetheric Dirigible, HMS Dawn Javelin, the crew responds to a cry for help from a Scottish fishing village. Little did they know it wasn’t a simple mission of mercy. As the Javelin’s captain and landing party are trapped in the village below, Dr. Rebekah Verity Thorne faces a dire challenge in the sky. A tragedy from her past rises from the clouds to threaten ship and crew, testing loyalties, honor, and ingenuity. In the end, it wasn’t a rescue—but a reckoning.” This story is part of 's Upon Our Seas, In Our Skies writer collaboration. Jump into Chapter One here!

• ’s webcomic, Audrey, The Unicorn Girl, just finished its run on Substack. Blurb: “Audrey, The Unicorn Girl is a slice-of-life comic featuring a perfectly normal girl... except that she has a unicorn horn on her head! Join Audrey as she tackles preteen life as a unicorn girl!” Jump into Chapter One here!

New Projects:

• —brand new to Substack!—has just started serializing a folkloric horror called Kaal: The Meridian Dark. Excerpt: “The night Alene Hartsfield sold out the O2 for the third consecutive time, something old woke up beneath the Thames. She didn’t know that yet. She was too busy bleeding.”

• has just launched her new dark fantasy Pacific Northwest serial, Dark As Dawn | Bright As Night. Blurb: “Death is only the beginning for Mae as she faces an ancient goddess of light and a self-made demon of the dark in a battle to save her father and her soul.” Jump into Episode One here!

• has just launched a four-part short story about “abandonment, obsession, perfection, and self-discovery.” Jump into Part One of Searching for Donna Reed.

• Keep an eye on some upcoming summer projects:

  • will be launching Seventh Daughter on June 6th, “an epic adventure that combines traditional and modern fantasy styles, offering an ensemble cast that includes reimagined figures from Arthurian lore, beloved fairy tales, Shakespearean plays, and countless other classics, all in an original world with fresh twists of madness and mischief from the mind of yours truly. And the journey begins…”

  • is about to embark on the next installment in her Judith Temple series of supernatural mystery tales on June 13th! Blurb for Ripples In The Cove: “When hyper-logical psychic detective Judith Temple agrees to visit her boyfriend’s family at their lake house, she plans out exactly how to relax and try to enjoy her mini-vacation. But when Judith and Tim arrive, they find that the quiet lake town has been upended by a young girl’s mysterious disappearance. As Judith begins to experience visions of the missing girl, she must find a way to save her before it’s too late.”

📚 The Bookshelf

(Titles listed in order of release date.)

• ’s latest collection of Pacific Northwest folk horror/cozy horror short stories, Bonewhistle, is available for purchase as an ebook on Amazon. (Also, all of her ebooks set in the same location are on discounted sale until June 5th!) Release Date: 5/25/26

• ’s urban fantasy detective novel, This Strange Sight, is now available for purchase in various print formats as well as audiobook. You can also read the Prologue for free here on Substack! Release Date: 6/1/26

• The second volume in anthology series, inspired by the uncanny flavor of The Twilight Zone, is now available! This new collection contains stories from dozens of Substack fiction authors all across the speculative spectrum. Available to purchase from Tiny Worlds Publishing. You can also read more about the book in the Release Day announcement post. Release Date: 6/1/26

• ’s new novel about interconnected lives in a small town, The Extra Shot, is available for preorder through Coverstory Books. Release Date: 7/1/26

• ’s oceanic horror novella, Jellyfish Bloom, is now available for preorder as an ebook through Amazon. ARC and review copies are also available on NetGalley and BookSirens. Release Date: 7/24/26

Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:

talestack.editor@gmail.com

✨Talebones runs on YOUR support! ✨

• My Tip-Jar! - Enjoying this resource? Show your appreciation with a one-time tip!

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my NEW Work With Me site for rates and services.

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

At last, it begins!

I confess, I was getting VERY “in my head” about this whole Revision Diary thing. I had decided that I wanted this to be a very casual and conversational chat with all you wonderful folks… and then immediately started overthinking it. 😅

‘Twas ever thus, right?

But no more! I’…

Read more

Today I bring you a wee piece of flash fiction!

I’m calling it “flash fiction” partially because it’s short (I wanted to keep it around 1,000 words) and also because it was written expressly as an exercise, a quick trip to the creative gym, as it were. I wrote it fast and I’m publishing it even faster. 😂

Just a fun little ditty, a quick read over coffee or a snack. I hope you enjoy!

If you like this little story, and you want to see more like it, please let me know with a like, comment, share, or restack!

And for more fiction fun of various shapes and sizes, subscribe for free!

Subscribe now

We do not have long. We were made for a purpose.

We were birthed out of the stone and the deep water, the cracked veins of the earth, and strode on two strong legs apiece.

As we slipped from the rocks, we looked at each other—so funny!—and laughed at the strange shapes we took. We had faces, ears, eyes. We had two strong legs and two strong arms. We had coarse darkness around us, needles like a tree, giving us a softness, a texture.

Fur and flesh. What fun!

It had been a very long time since we took shape, so we danced proud in our new skin, large four-toed feet creasing the dust and leaving evidence of our passage, and it was a joy to gambol in the summer sun. We had no words between ourselves—we did not need them—but we could whistle and howl with our newborn lungs, and we did so, and we climbed the trees and sipped the sweet creekwater and scented the pine-good air. It was play, and it was joy.

But we were made for a purpose, and the mountain, our mother, whispered up through our heavy soles: You do not have long. Go!

So we followed her trembling finger of rage to the place where the devils were.

They had made a small dwelling in the narrow valley, the fresh timber still bloody with sap and screaming for its severed roots. Sometimes smells would come from the dwelling’s tall black iron throat—smoke, and the devils’ own acrid food. When the sun was high they would leave the dwelling only to do whatever dark work devils do, using blades to cleave the stones and steal the golden blood from our mother’s veins. What they did with it, we did not know. And when the sun descended, they would return to the dwelling to eat their rot-sweet food and sleep.

We watched them from the trees for a long time. They did not have our sense of smell, our good ears, our deep-set eyes. They did not see or sense us until we decided to play games with them.

We would whistle our strong whistles and howl our beautiful howls, and the devils would come hunting for us with their weapons that flash fire. What fun! The fire would pass through us without harm and we would run, hoping they would give chase. But they could not keep up with our long legs and our large feet. They would shout and gibber among themselves, plot and scheme.

We carried on like this for a while. It was good to play, and we would have played forever if we could. But our mother whispered through our soles: You do not have long. Avenge me!

So, one night, we crept up to the dwelling, surrounding it—for we were many—and let all of our mother’s rage fill us, for the theft of golden blood and the pain of the devils’ work and the screaming timber. We took up stones and threw them at the dwelling, striking and striking again.

We could hear them within, crying out in their terror and confusion. Their weapons flashed ineffectual fire. We climbed the dwelling, tearing the timber apart to reach the devils inside, like smashing an egg shell to sup its contents.

Fierce, we shrieked our war-cries. But it was all play, all show, not to harm them. Not really. Only to frighten, only to send them away. Only to make them quit and run.

Through the shattered dwelling we could hear one of them singing, a strange tune meant to lull us like a spell:

“If you leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone, and we’ll all go home in the morning.”

But we only laughed; we would not be lulled. We did not have long, and we were made for a purpose. All night we carried out our mother’s vengeance until the first light of dawn.

Then, satisfied, we withdrew to watch.

And as the sun rose, the devils abandoned their dwelling, still sending their fire into the trees, still shouting, but there was no strength in the sound or the fire. It was all show, but we had nothing to fear from them.

When they were well and truly gone, we whistled and howled to one another, triumphant, listening to our voices echo up and down the narrow valley, and all of our siblings sang with us. What fun!

It was good to dance and celebrate, but soon enough our mother whispered through our soles: You do not have long. They will return, but they must not find you. Away!

So, reluctant as children, we let her take us back into the embrace of stone and remake us into the Things We Are, so that the devils would be fooled by us. So that they would always wonder. We watched them return to the valley in their droves and hunt for us, but they never did find us, because there was never anything to find. Just a story to scatter among them like seeds.

We did well.

But I feel shame, because I alone am restless. I still remember the feeling of the breeze in my fur and the sound of the birds in my ears and the taste of creekwater and the dust on my wide soles. I yearn to dance and give chase. It is not enough to be what I am, when I am haunted by remembering.

So sometimes, when our mother is agreeable, I slip through the veins of the earth just to whistle again.

I hope that the devils and all their kin can hear.

What fun!

END

Author’s Note:

This story is inspired by, arguably, one of the most popular and well-known pieces of modern Bigfoot lore: the Ape Canyon incident, which occurred at a small mining claim on Mount Saint Helens in 1924.

You can learn more details about the incident from one of the men involved (including my source for the song that one of the “devils” sings) in this article.

As for this story? I always appreciate an opportunity to see things from the “monster’s” point of view. 😉

Thank you for reading!

Want more short Talebones fiction? Try this:

✨Talebones runs on YOUR support! ✨

• My Tip-Jar! - Enjoyed this story? Show your appreciation with a one-time tip!

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my Work With Me page for rates and services.

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

This weekly(ish) digest is the way I communicate with my readers to let them know what’s been going on around the Talebones landscape, along with any housekeeping to be aware of.

May is nearly over - I think we’re due for an update!

Hey y’all! I know I haven’t been as active in my typical way—most of my recent writing admin has been behind the scenes and, frankly, pretty boring. 😂

But I still like to invite you all into an update when we’re nearing the end of a month, and in this case, the start of a new season! So!

Let’s get caught up, shall we?

Subscribe now

✨ First, A Quick Word From Our Sponsor… ✨

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, creative consultant, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my NEW AND IMPROVED Work With Me site for rates and services! Don’t see something that works for you? Reach out via email or DM—I’m happy to discuss. Let’s make your projects sing!

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag or a Ferris Island souvenir for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

And now, back to Talebones Tuesday…

Round-Up!

In case you missed it…

• SPRING SHORT FICTION SO FAR:

  • What Passes Down - an uncanny tale about a mysterious old family photo, a reluctant storyteller, and an impossible romance…

  • Elma - in this short speculative piece, a mild-mannered gallery worker is summoned to visit his former mentor, an aging artist, and she makes one simple request of him…

• Crafting Serial Fiction with ! - In this livestream mini-series, I have the great honor of sitting down with speculative fiction writer extraordinaire Simon K Jones to discuss the ins and outs of serial fiction: what is it, how does one go about it, and how to stick with it when the going gets tough. You can watch the playback of Part One at the link—in which we cover the surprisingly long literary history of serialization—and stay tuned for the next live episode on May 30th!

• Have you checked out Scatterbones lately? - I have a funny little newsletter called Scatterbones where I post the random non-fiction stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere else: reviews, short essays, musings, etc. Check it out, and subscribe (it’s free!) for more tidbits from my brain!

• Last summer’s supernatural/dystopian serial Smoke-Mouth is officially concluded! This story will remain FREE to read until the start of Summer Season 2026 when it will head behind the paywall. If you’ve been meaning to read it through from beginning to end, now’s the time!

  • Explore the Table of Contents

  • Get started here - Episode One: The Fool

  • Read the final episode here - Epilogue: Union

• New around here? Most of our speculative fiction takes place on a haunted island in Washington State called Ferris Island. Check out the landing page to see which stories are currently available to read here online, along with other info and resources!

  • We also have stories of various genres set elsewhere, listed 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, read the submission guidelines and email your news to talestack.editor@gmail.com by May 31st to be included in the next issue!)

Coming Soon - Midnight Vault II! 🌙

BIG thanks to , , and for putting the amazing event together and for gathering the tales to end up in this published work. It was a privilege to join in, and I’m so excited to have the anthology in my hands!

Out of respect for the MVII publication contract, A Perfect Guest will be heading behind the archive paywall this week. Next time you see it, it’ll be in the pages of the fabulous Midnight Vault.

Stay tuned for more updates as the book rolls out!

Secondhand Card Sale! 🃏

Every so often I end up with some cool stuff in my possession that just doesn’t quite fit my work patterns anymore. Lately, I was looking through my desk and found five gently-used decks of creativity or story-inspiration cards that I don’t use anymore. They are awesome, but I can’t keep everything.

So, I would love to pass them on to you!

Check out the Talebones Secondhand Shop to explore the decks available and let me know if you’d like to snag ‘em!

A Peek At Summer Season 🌻

Typically, Summer Season at Talebones sees me launching into a new serial. But this year is a little different, because this year I’m already working on a pretty darn big project as I revise my past serial—Freelance & Fishmaids—into my first-ever published novel.

That said, I have discovered that I really do perform best when I have a couple of different projects feeding into each other, as long as they balance well. Energy begets energy, you know? So I am determined to post more short fiction this summer and stay open to other collaborative or intriguing projects as they pop up. Always good to find time to play and keep the skills sharp.

(NOTE: For my lovely paid subscribers waiting on the next Revision Diary post—it’s coming! I had a bit of a hiccup with my planned timeline, but who’s surprised? 😂 Thank you for your patience!)

Review Highlight: Imp! 🦋

If you’ve read any of my books, I would be so honored if you would pause now to leave a rating or review.

But this month, I would be especially grateful for reviews of Imp!

In this bite-sized PNW-gothic horror novella, creative inspiration comes at a high cost for those willing to pay it.

A quick, haunting little tale, perfect for a weekend read!

Have you read Imp? I would love an honest review!

For self-published authors, there’s no multi-million-dollar engine running promotion, marketing, and other advertising…there’s just me! So ratings and reviews go a LONG way in raising indie books in algorithms, triggering retailers to suggest them to customers, and helping new readers find self-published books that they’ll love!

And you don’t have to write a long review, either. A simple star-rating or a “Loved it!” both work just as well!

You can review my books on:

• Amazon

• Goodreads

• Storygraph:

  • The Orchard Hounds

  • Ivy & Ixos

  • The Shell

  • Imp

• Or you can visit the books on their individual My Books pages to review them on the sites of specific retailers, like B&N, Kobo, or Fable!

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to leave a review!

It really, really means the most. ♥

Talebones Runs On Your Support!

Talebones is kept afloat by a beautiful and diverse tapestry of support, from my freelance day job as a writer and editor to purchases of books and merch AND the bountiful generosity of my paid subscribers!

You can become a Talebones Paid Subscriber for $5/month or $50/year (or go above and beyond as a Founding Member) to gain access to ALL online Talebones fiction past and present, exclusive resources, discounts to merch/products and freelance/consulting services, and more!

Learn more about each tier’s perks here.

Subscribe now

Thank you for reading!

I won’t take up any more of your time—only THANK YOU so much as always for reading through to the end!

Talebones wouldn’t be what it is without y’all, and I couldn’t be more grateful for your continued support, care, comments, and the all-too generous currency of your attention. ❤

Next time you hear from me, it’ll be Summer!

Your grateful storyteller,

S.E. Reid

✒ Editor’s Note

Welcome back, Talestack Readers!

[New around here? Check out our FAQ page!]

May is a month of showers and flowers… 🌼

(Not to borrow my own words, but I just posted the following message on Notes and I feel like it’s a message we could all use here at Talestack, too. Please indulge me.)

Every day, on his daily walk, our dog Finn slows down and looks over his shoulder in the same spot—a nondescript section of a quiet rural driveway.

He does it because at least a half-dozen times in the six years we’ve walked with him there, our sweet neighbor has driven by and said hello and given him a treat, and it’s always in or around that spot.

Behaviorally, dogs are (usually) what’s known as optimistic gamblers. If there’s a chance something great will happen, they will expect it, and put themselves in a position to catch it. Even if that means weathering repeated disappointments in the process. Surely if a good thing happened once, it can happen again.

And maybe we should strive for this to be said of us: that creatives, writers, artists are optimistic gamblers.

Maybe we take note of our triumphs—no matter how many or how few—and let them have more psychological and emotional weight than our defeats.

Maybe we slow down.

Maybe we look over our shoulders in the right places.

Maybe we expect good opportunities, even if they only come around every so often. Even if the disappointments outweigh the victories.

After all: if it happened once, it can happen again. ❤

Happy reading, 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!

New Projects:

• has just embarked upon a new horror serial called A Death Worse Than Fate. Benjamin calls it an “Occult Penny Dreadful” and poses: “What if Sherlock met Watson in an unearthed casket, while he was robbing graves for medical study?”

• has launched a new sword-and-sorcery-inspired, limited-run serial, Serpent King’s Castle. Synopsis: “Wulf Almsson, city guardsman, serves the king, even as the people he loves incite rebellion. All Wulf can do is try to protect them and the folk who suffer under the oppressive thumb of the tyrant…until the day that he discovers that the king is no man, but a serpent cloaked in flesh. Quick, unkillable, and insatiably hungry. And the serpent knows that Wulf has found him out. Blackmailed by his manipulative captain, Wulf has no choice but to go along with schemes to overthrow the serpent king. If he wants to save the city that he loves, he must be prepared to make sacrifices…even if it means giving up part of himself.” Jump into Chapter One here!

• Coming in June: will be launching Luminescent, a light novel inspired by the tropes and style of anime/manga. Synopsis: “Luminescent primarily follows the story of two characters with the rare power of luminescence—something that allows them to exorcise monsters called ‘chaotics,’ which spawn from people’s negative emotions. The story takes place at their university, which holds an annual chaotic-hunting competition. The first character is Mindie—a rambunctious first-year student eager to achieve her dream of being the best luminescent the world has ever seen. Her cockiness often lands her in hot water, but she can get serious too. She’s particularly protective of her best friend Pike. The second character is Pike—Mindie’s best friend who dreams of becoming a novelist. He is also luminescent but would rather stay out of the spotlight while playing the role of Mindie’s support. He suffers from low self-esteem and has trouble asserting himself. Their imperfect perspectives shape the narrative into a mix of action and simple, everyday moments, along with clashing ideals regarding the nature of chaotics and how they should be dealt with.” Subscribe to stay tuned for the debut!

Awards:

• Psst, sci-fi writers! Listen up! The is going to open for Science Fiction submissions in a few days—but only until the end of the month!—so subscribe to the newsletter, start brainstorming your best short story ideas, and keep an eye out for the announcement post!

📚 The Bookshelf

(Titles listed in order of release date.)

• From the brilliant minds of and comes a collaborative murder mystery tale, Diary of a Murder! Blurb: “Can two amateur detectives solve a cold case that everyone else has given up on? Drew and Jane are writers, but when they find the diary of a murdered woman, they're suddenly inside the story.” It is available exclusively as a digital zine here.

🫱🏻‍🫲🏾 Connection Corner

• is promoting her recently-published adventure book, Crowns of Gold, ahead of an in-person signing event coming this summer! Blurb: “In Crowns of Gold, Jenn Zuko merges the romance of classic adventure with the grit of survival and self-discovery. A master of stage combat and the fight as story, Zuko channels her deep knowledge of writing, literature, and the performing arts into the tale of Gemmanalia Jonquil, a runaway slave who rises into a swashbuckling pirate queen.” Check out the signing event’s Eventbrite page to join the fun!

Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:

talestack.editor@gmail.com

✨Talebones runs on YOUR support! ✨

• My Tip-Jar! - Enjoying this resource? Show your appreciation with a one-time tip!

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my NEW Work With Me site for rates and services.

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

✒ Editor’s Note

Welcome back, Talestack Readers!

[New around here? Check out our FAQ page!]

Here it is, the Merry Month of May! 🦋

At Talestack HQ, May is the start of butterfly season. They are literally everywhere right now in the increasing Pacific Northwest sunshine: big floaty ones and small fluttering ones, bright colors and muted hues. They are beautiful and temporary and mesmerizing to watch as they flit from here to there.

Butterflies and moths are a symbol of metamorphosis, of course, from little squiggly caterpillar to graceful creature of flight. But to me, the butterfly and its ilk also symbolize the transformative power of beauty, even in the most fragile things.

I’m reminded of this poem by Rainer Maria Rilke:1

A beautiful butterfly near
the earth is displaying
the illuminations of its flying
book to an attentive nature.

Another closes on the border 
of the flower that we breathe:
this is not the time to read.
And still so many others,

fragile blues scattered,
floating and fluttering
like the blue fragmenting
of a love letter on the wind,

of a torn-up letter
we had just been writing
while its addressee
hesitated at the door.

—

I recognize how silly this might sound, but I think of us—all the readers and writers and artists and creative people who gather at this little newsletter—as the metaphorical butterflies, with our colors and our illuminations and our patterns. We may be fragile and temporary beings, but when we display our creativity to the “attentive nature” of an audience, something profound can happen. Something that outlasts us, and transforms as it travels through time.

Today is a good day to display your wings. Start something new. Take a bold move. Tell your story, and see what happens!

We’ll be here to read it when you’re ready. ❤

Happy reading, 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!

New Projects:

• has just launched a new nautical serial called Leviathan’s Huntress, “a tale of lost love, fearsome monsters, and transformation on the high seas!” Jump in quick before the next chapter drops!

• Barrie of is celebrating three years of his publication Just Write, Right on Substack with a 30 Days/30 Stories mini-project. From Barrie: “Mostly, I’ll try and take a previously-used prompt or story title and spin a new yarn from it (but new ideas seem to be simmering the more I write so no strict rules). The first collection of tales will come out on Friday, 8th May and weekly until the month is done.” Subscribe to follow along!

• has just embarked upon a new fantasy serial called Apex Predator​, projected to run about six episodes. Synopsis: “Reports of a man-eating monster prowling the southwestern coast of Margonne have reached the king in Palisade, and he sends Adon Santinetta and his crew to investigate. For the first time, Artema Santinetta joins her father, mostly to keep him company on his first assignment since his wife’s sudden death. She soon finds herself in the middle of a life-and-death struggle against a terrifying beast everyone thought was mythical. To survive, she must rely on her own wits and the unknown skills of a total stranger.”

• has just launched a character-driven, literary fiction serial called The Thing Itself. Blurb: “Over the course of their contract marriage, the Conte and Contessa have built something warm, functional, and good. On their fifth anniversary, they decide together: to end it. Now, what comes after — for the household, the territory, and everyone whose life the arrangement touched. The Thing Itself is a character-driven serial about a contract marriage that worked—and what remains when it ends.” Jump into Chapter One here!

• has just started a new weekly Regency romcom/family comedy serial called The Darridges: Banter & Bluff. Synopsis: “The year is 1814. The place is London (or, well, an overly-romanticized version of it). And one morsel of news is blazing through that fashionable sector of society known as the ton: For the first time in a decade, the entire Darridge clan—that’s right, the Marquess of Twynham and all seven of his offspring—will be in town for the Season. What a Season this will be! Regina Darridge is off to London for her debut Season, and all her family is coming to support her. But Regina and her best friend Julia have their own plans, too. Plans that involve Regina’s brother James and that are guaranteed to get James and Julia betrothed. Plans that are simple, straight-forward, and utterly—utterly!—fool-proof. So, yes, indeed, what a Season this will be.” Jump into the First Installment here!

Awards:

• Congratulations to , winner of the Horror (Round 2) edition of the Lunar Awards’ 11th Season, along with Runner-up and Honorable Mentions and ! Learn more about the winning stories and other cool details in this post from awards ambassador and guest judge !

Milestones & Wins:

• would like to present his latest poem to the Talestack readership, called My Hands and My Heart. Rolando calls it “a reflection on the spiritual side of humanity.” Check it out!

📚 The Bookshelf

(Titles listed in order of release date.)

• ’s debut collection of dark short stories, Dead Sisters Tell No Tales, is now available for purchase as a digital file through Ko-fi! You can also learn more details at this post. Release Date: 5/2/26

🫱🏻‍🫲🏾 Connection Corner

• is launching a month-long creative collaboration called Upon Our Seas, In Our Skies. From Leanne: “[This] is an invite to writers and artists to come together and create a collection of fiction, art, faux historic profiles in any format: short story, serial, poetry, artwork. Think Horatio Hornblower/Persuasion/Pirates of the Caribbean (the last for vibes) with flying ships and Gifted persons who can do just one kind of magic. Your story or art will show Gifted persons aboard aetheric flying dirigibles in His Majesty’s Navy during the period 1817-1822 (the book’s “publication” date). I’ll be sharing the wrap up post on June 6th so you can post anytime between April 22nd and that date.”

Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:

talestack.editor@gmail.com

✨Talebones runs on YOUR support! ✨

• My Tip-Jar! - Enjoying this resource? Show your appreciation with a one-time tip!

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my NEW Work With Me site for rates and services.

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

This weekly(ish) digest is the way I communicate with my readers to let them know what’s been going on around the Talebones landscape, along with any housekeeping to be aware of.

So…where the heck did April go?! 😂

Spring is definitely springing around here, and between getting my butt outside into the veggie garden and taking care of daily writerly tasks, it’s tough to find space to breathe. But April had a lot of good forward momentum too, even if it was mostly behind the scenes, so I wanted to post a little round-up here today to bring us all together again before we go skipping off into the wild meadows of May!

This missive is pretty simple, with a handful of FYIs and a sneaky little giveaway, so make sure you read through to the end.

If you’re ready, let’s jump in!

Subscribe now

✨ First, A Quick Word From Our Sponsor… ✨

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my NEW AND IMPROVED Work With Me site for rates and services! Don’t see something that works for you? Reach out via email or DM—I’m happy to discuss. Let’s make your projects sing!

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag or a Ferris Island souvenir for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

And now, back to Talebones Tuesday…

Round-Up!

In case you missed it…

• SPRING SHORT FICTION SO FAR:

  • What Passes Down - an uncanny tale about a mysterious old family photo, a reluctant storyteller, and an impossible romance…

  • Elma - in this short speculative piece, a mild-mannered gallery worker is summoned to visit his former mentor, an aging artist, and she makes one simple request of him…

• 2x2 Livestream with - Two authors, two questions! In this recent interview I had a blast chatting with Eric about all kinds of fun stuff, including folklore and fantasy, how our writerly “terroir” affects our work, where fiction and the search for meaning intersect, and so much more!

• Last summer’s supernatural/dystopian serial Smoke-Mouth is officially concluded! This story will remain FREE to read until the start of Summer Season 2026 when it will head behind the paywall. If you’ve been meaning to read it through from beginning to end, now’s the time!

  • Explore the Table of Contents

  • Get started here - Episode One: The Fool

  • Read the final episode here - Epilogue: Union

• New around here? Most of our speculative fiction takes place on a haunted island in Washington State called Ferris Island. Check out the landing page to see which stories are currently available to read here online, along with other info and resources!

  • We also have stories of various genres set elsewhere, listed 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, read the submission guidelines and email your news to talestack.editor@gmail.com by May 3rd to be included in the next issue!)

NEW Freelance Offering - Consult With Me!

As a freelance editor, I am constantly looking for ways to diversify what I offer to my clients. For some folks, a simple back-and-forth of emails works great. But in the past I have also enjoyed jumping on the occasional consultation video call with clients who specifically requested it, because they prefer a face-to-face setting for asking more granular questions and getting more detailed answers.

I’ve never made this particular offering public or official…until now!

I am now offering one-on-one consultation sessions for writers who are stuck on a story problem, have questions about self-publishing, storytelling, or building an indie author presence on Substack, or need someone to break down their project into actionable steps and help hold them accountable to those steps.

The session package includes:

• Pre-session review of materials (a relevant section of your manuscript, an audit of your Substack or author website, etc)

• One goal-based, solution-oriented, hour-long video call

• One follow-up email with action points, next steps, and a 30-day check-in date

As this is a new offering and I’m still working out the logistics, I only have FOUR slots open for May.

If you’re curious about this offering and want to know more, including how to book your slot for this coming month, check out my freelance site under “Rates”—

CLICK HERE!

Follow along with my Revision Diary!

Back at the end of March, I launched my introductory Revision Diary post—which is free for all to read—as I begin revisions on my upcoming speculative novel, Freelance & Fishmaids, to be self-published this fall.

The Diary will be a monthly(ish), personal glimpse into my process as I turn a long-running serial into a coherent, publishable work.

This week, the next Revision Diary post will go out to paid subs only.

To that end…

Review Highlight: The Orchard Hounds! 🍎🐺

If you’ve read any of my books, I would be so honored if you would pause now to leave a rating or review.

But this month, I would be especially grateful for reviews of The Orchard Hounds!

This collection of thirteen speculative short stories set in the fictional landscape of Ferris Island, Washington contains tales of mystery, magic, and the macabre woven with vivid settings, cosmic justice, and ghostly redemption.

Have you read The Orchard Hounds? I would love an honest review!

For self-published authors, there’s no multi-million-dollar engine running promotion, marketing, and other advertising…there’s just me! So ratings and reviews go a LONG way in raising indie books in algorithms, triggering retailers to suggest them to customers, and helping new readers find self-published books that they’ll love!

And you don’t have to write a long review, either. A simple star-rating or a “Loved it!” both work just as well!

You can review my books on:

• Amazon

• Goodreads

• Storygraph:

  • The Orchard Hounds

  • Ivy & Ixos

  • The Shell

  • Imp

• Or you can visit the books on their individual My Books pages to review them on the sites of specific retailers, like B&N, Kobo, or Fable!

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to leave a review!

It really, really means the most. ♥

Talebones Runs On Your Support!

Talebones is kept afloat by a beautiful and diverse tapestry of support, from my freelance day job as a writer and editor to purchases of books and merch AND the bountiful generosity of my paid subscribers!

You can become a Talebones Paid Subscriber for $5/month or $50/year (or go above and beyond as a Founding Member) to gain access to ALL online Talebones fiction past and present, exclusive resources, discounts to merch/products and freelance/consulting services, and more!

Learn more about each tier’s perks here.

Subscribe now

Thank you for reading!

I know I haven’t been as obviously active around Substack as usual this year, but I promise I’m still around: lurking, reading, making trouble on Notes, refueling my creative brain, and constantly iterating how I would like to show up in this space.

I really feel that I’m entering into a new phase here—a good phase, but also a quieter, calmer, deeper one. More roots, less leaves.

It may not be as flashy as some of my past seasons have been, but I welcome the change. It feels right for where I am these days. ♥

I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate you all for jumping aboard the Talebones train and continuing to stick with me as this wild writerly life unfolds!

Here to more fiction fun in the sunshine months!

Your grateful storyteller,

S.E. Reid

Click HERE to start at the beginning. Click HERE to head back to the Navigation Page.

—

Previously, what was broken found repair.

In this episode, a midsummer day, two years after.

—

This serial is only available to paid subscribers.

Subscribe or upgrade to read!

Subscribe now

Read more

✒ Editor’s Note

Welcome back, Talestack Readers!

[New around here? Check out our FAQ page!]

And With That, Everything Gets Moving…

I dunno about how April is going for all of you, but as soon as spring hit in earnest, everything around here at Talestack HQ went a little crazy. 😅

The weeds in our yard are supercharged by the warmer weather, mocking us with the confidence of an invading force as they inch closer and closer to the house. The seedlings in the greenhouse can’t wait to get planted out, to start digging deeper into real soil. The calendar starts to fill up with things we want to do and things we have to do and things that simply should get done.

Everything in this season feels alive and lively…and more than a little stressful. It’s easy to fall behind, or at least to feel that way.

But despite it all, there’s always room for a good story in even the most stressful day, season, or year. Stories force us to slow down and soak in. They sweep us off our feet and they hand us the tools to face our anxieties with both ferocity and grace. There’s nothing quite like their subtle magic to soothe the busy mind.

I’m pleased as always to bring you this issue and its stories, as well as its opportunities for you to share yours! Take a look and see if your new favorite read is hiding here below.

Happy reading, 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:

• recently completed her dark fantasy western, The Spaniard. Blurb: “A story of revenge, the tale follows a drifting gaucho after having his life and love destroyed by dark forces. In the heat of the desert, he meets a mysterious woman he’s seen only in dreams, who accompanies him on his quest to discover if his young son might still be alive.” Jump into Episode One here!

• is about to conclude her dystopic magical realism serial, Smoke-Mouth, with a long-awaited epilogue before the end of April. Synopsis: “Jenny-Dog is just fine on her own. Jenny-Dog needs no one and no one needs her. Until a fool young stranger shows up, says she’s walking all the way to the crippled mountain—to Lawetlat’la, to Smoke-Mouth—and asks if Jenny wants to come along. Jenny doesn’t fancy their chances. After all, it’s over a hundred miles on a dangerous road through a once-modern region laid bare by quakes and crisis. There are many-eyed angels hovering in the summer sky, and hungry thieves lurking in the woods with violence in their hearts. But the mountain is calling. And when Smoke-Mouth calls, the dreamers reply.” Jump into Episode One here!

New Projects:

• recently embarked on a new legal thriller serial called What I Have Failed To Do. Synopsis: “Burned-out attorney Augustus Butler, or Gus for short, has decided that justice really must be blind, because how else could gesticulates wildly all this be happening. Therefore, he tells himself, the most logical course of action is to coast through his meaningless job as a partner at a criminal law firm until he saves up enough money to retire early and travel the world. It’s not like he ever wanted to practice law in the first place, and whatever’s left of his family won’t miss him if he disappears somewhere in eastern Europe. And then one day, a case crosses Gus’ desk that his partner at the firm calls, and I quote, ‘so open-and-shut that it might even convince even an old miser like you that there’s hope left to be had in this hopeless world’. Gus thinks it sounds too good to be true, and he’d be lying if he said he took the case in good faith. But for a brief moment, he begins to believe that maybe, just maybe, the bad guys don’t always win.” Jump into Chapter One here!

• has just launched a three-part speculative mystery series called La Bella Morte. Blurb: “‘La Bella Morte.’ The Beautiful Death. A blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror all wrapped up in mystery, this short form serial will follow the strange exploits of Thomas Edwards during his time working under the enigmatic and eccentric Dr. Victor Simmons. Their goal? To learn the ‘facts of life,’ as Dr. Simmons says. But what does he mean by this statement, and what secrets is he hiding in the quiet isolation of rural Japan?” Check out Part One here!

• will debut her political fantasy of manners, Heart of Stone, on May 4th. Synopsis: “Set in a cliffside fortress built within an intricate network of tunnels and caves, a bitter academic is given the role of tutoring the king’s son, a position his now-deceased father held. Convinced another man is guilty of the crime, he hatches a plan to secure a chance to bring the ‘killer’ to ‘justice’. As the real murderer plots something more deceptive and explosive, a sharp-tongued maid and the painfully idealistic king’s son find themselves caught between opposing forces manipulating them for their own ends.” Publishing twice-per-week, subscribe to stay updated about this genre-bending serial novel.

📚 The Bookshelf

(Titles listed in order of release date.)

• ’s literary novella, In The Wake of Dreams, is now available for purchase as an ebook anywhere you get your digital downloads. You can also purchase it directly from him through Ko-fi. Release Date: 4/17/26

📝 Submissions Bulletin

• Do you write complex female characters in your fiction? Would you like to learn more about how to do so? has developed a rubric called FINALLY, which helps fiction writers determine whether they’ve written believable and complex female characters. They are also looking for fiction that elevates the courage and power of women. Check out the rubric and submission details here.

• The team at —the beloved horror community on Substack built for readers and writers who love the genre—is actively seeking fresh horror fiction! From MM: “Every week we share community spotlights, featured stories, and a chat thread where horror writers and fans share what they’re working on and what they can’t stop thinking about. Every month we share a feature-length issue with essays, criticism, personal horror, and art. Each issue has a theme, and we want YOU to be featured! We feature emerging voices alongside seasoned writers. We run writing contests. We spotlight artists. We are genuinely, enthusiastically here for your weird stuff.” They are seeking:

  • Opinion pieces. A horror take you’ll die on. One essay per issue. 300-500ish words.

  • Featured Short Fiction. Horror. Under 1,500 words.

  • Horror Artists. Illustrators, painters, photographers. If your work lives between unsettling and gorgeous, we want to feature you. All mediums.

  • True Stories. Something spooky that happened to you. You’re not sure how to explain it. You’ve told it once and watched the room go quiet. That’s the one we’re looking for. Under 500ish words.

  • Reviews. Film, book, game, podcast—any horror media assessed with a strong point of view. Not plot summaries. Conviction.

  • Got something that fits? Reach out to macabremondayteam@gmail.com

Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:

talestack.editor@gmail.com

✨Talebones runs on YOUR support! ✨

• My Tip-Jar! - Enjoying this resource? Show your appreciation with a one-time tip!

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my NEW Work With Me site for rates and services.

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

✒ Editor’s Note

Welcome back, Talestack Readers!

[New around here? Check out our FAQ page!]

Goodbye March, and Hello April!

(Talestack HQ wishes those who celebrate a very Happy Easter!)

Well, it’s official: around here, spring is alive. It’s been sunny for two days in a row, the seeds in the old mossy greenhouse are starting to sprout, and all the wildlife has that distracted, busy energy unique to the feral dance of spring. Everywhere you look, there’s new life and new green.

Every year I am humbled to realize that despite the news, despite the goings-on of conflict and chaos and grief in the human world—both personal and global—there are patterns beyond us that will continue on without our say-so. Forces of creation that ebb and flow with tides we have no control over. Stories being told all around us: over our heads, under our feet. Millions of tiny dramas and sagas for us to observe, to learn from, and to be inspired by.

When we pause to tell stories to one another, we step into something much bigger than we could ever imagine.

This issue is full of such stories of every shape and size, and each one deserves applause. I hope you find your next favorite read within. Let’s celebrate the power of good stories well told, together!

Happy reading, 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:

• is wrapping up her romantasy serial, A Sword for Wellington, on April 11th. This is the third book/season in The Môrdreigiau Chronicles; it continues the Chosen Court story and introduces two new characters. 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.” Jump into Chapter One here!

New Projects:

• is embarking upon a new historical fantasy/mythology serial, Ash & Oak. Blurb: “When Áslaug encounters the All-Father in the forest, he not only makes her a seiðkona but also gives her the ability to walk the dreaming and glimpse the future. What she sees will change her own path, and the destiny of her people. At the same time, across the storm-tossed sea, Tobias is sent to an abbey to be an oblate. When his world collides with Áslaug’s, the repercussions shatter both their lives, and reverberate through history.” Jump into the first chapter here!

• has just started a new superhero serial called Dawn of the Super Surgeon. From Michael: “[In this serial] we’ll explore a question that gets to the heart of human and superhuman nature alike. Can supervillains truly change? Will other people, particularly the heroes, let them? And what happens to the supervillain’s loyal henchwoman/sidekick who’s along for the ride, complete with their patented Death Kazoos? Will she have to restrict herself only to the special-order Celebration Kazoos with the confetti attachment? Intriguing questions all: we’ll find out in the new Edison City comic superhero serial, Dawn of the Super Surgeon!” Jump into the first episode here!

• has added a new multimedia component to his fiction world. From Jaime: “After more than a year weaving GEAR GIRLS, the all girl gnome rock band, into my main novel series, their first album is now ON SPOTIFY!!

  Crazy, I know, but we’ve brought Ezra, Juno and Katt to life for everyone to enjoy.” Listen Here!

• is launching Selene’s Vow, a 7-part novella, set in the same universe of The Môrdreigiau Chronicles but the first three books/seasons are not required reading. From Leanne: “This one can stand alone (regular readers, there will be TEA!). There are no Arthurian quests this time, but our heroine, Lady Selene Jermyn would very much like her moonstone pendant back, please. Whoever possesses the pendant, has the right to marry her and claim the family estate and title. The man who won it from her father doesn’t seem too inclined to return it. There are sea dragon cameos.” First chapter releases April 18th.

  • Also, Leanne would like everyone to know that if you would like to binge read and catch up to the Chronicles, the EPUB and PDF of the first two books/seasons are available to new subscribers via their welcome email!

• recently launched a fantastical slice-of-life comic called Audrey, The Unicorn Girl. Blurb: “Audrey, The Unicorn Girl is a slice-of-life comic featuring a perfectly normal girl... except that she has a unicorn horn on her head! Join Audrey as she tackles preteen life as a unicorn girl!” Jump into the magical tale here!

• has recently started a series of short fiction on his Substack called The Killing Machine, featuring a hitman called George Coleman with a very specific code of ethics. Jump into the first story, The Fine Print, here!

• In her continued search to seek out and tell her own family history, has recently turned to the world of fiction in a new multi-part story called A Tale of Inheritance With A Spark of Magic. Blurb: “The setting is a photography studio a hundred years ago, truth mingling with fiction. In the present day, a woman will begin to sense the presence of ancestors she’s never met, woven into the soft footfalls of a calico who mysteriously connects her to the past.”

📚 The Bookshelf

(Titles listed in order of release date.)

• ’s swashbuckling fantasy adventure, Death Whispers of the Etherwave, is now available for purchase as an ebook, paperback, or hardcover through various sources! Release Date: 3/19/26

• ’s supernatural thriller novella, The Boatman, is releasing this week through Bad Hand Books (and available wherever you get your favorite reads!) Release Date: 4/7/26

• ’ historical fiction novel based on true events, Refusal To Obey, is available for preorder through Pane Books! Signed manuscript pages, special editions, and merch are also available for purchase. Release Date: 9/21/26

❤ Shout-Outs

• would like to send a shout out to his pal, : “I’ve known Kummer Wolfe for years. Long before we moved over to Substack. What he doesn’t know is how much I both admire and respect him and his talent as a writer. He has the character that makes you say, ‘I want to be him when I grow up.’ I want the world to know this man. I want him to be famous. So I’d like to start with his new publication: Death Whispers of the Etherwave. You can find his growing world over at Worlds of Kummer Wolfe. If you reach out to Kummer, a great man by any standard, tell him ‘Jaime’ sent you.”

Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:

talestack.editor@gmail.com

Welcome, one and all, to the Freelance & Fishmaids Revision Diary!

For the next several months, I’ll be turning my Substack serial into a published novel…and I would love to bring you along with me!

Learn more about Freelance & Fishmaids here!

Revision Diary posts are intended to be more casual and intimate than my usual, with an honest look behind the curtain as I put together my first-ever novel. The goal is not to overwhelm anyone’s inbox with more stuff (no one needs more stuff), but simply to offer milestones along the path to publication, keep me on task, and celebrate forward momentum together!

(Also, in this age of increasing AI use in the publishing world, I believe more than ever that it’s important to celebrate human work and process with all its messy flaws and foibles. There’s beauty in the effort and true triumph in the finished product.)

Entries will post once or twice a month and will be full of fun perks, including:

• Casual video chats

• Behind-the-scenes information about my process, the challenges I’ll face, and the puzzles I’ll be solving

• Announcements and updates

• Private livestreams and Q&As

• An intimate community of Ferris Island fans with first dibs on stuff like ARC copies and merch

…and more!

This introductory entry is FREE TO READ as a sampler for what kinds of stuff you can expect to find in these posts. But after this, the only way to get in on the fun is to join with a monthly or annual paid subscription.

Subscribe now

Below you’ll find my Projected Revision Map for the next several months, as well as a SUPER exciting cover artist reveal. Take a peek…!

PROJECTED REVISION MAP

(Note: timeline may shift based on…you know…life and stuff. 😅 This is just a basic map to keep me on track.)

April: Structural Read

• Goal: build a firm new outline for revision

• Complete re-read of the serial from top to bottom, looking most intently at the bones of the story

• Rearrange or combine subplots or characters

• Locate spots where there needs to be more connective tissue

May: Adding Muscle

• Goal: remove the “serial” DNA and focus on flow

• Iron out the serialization edges, focusing on the gaps between episodes

• Add more meat to descriptions and flesh out the first part of the story in particular—introducing Caroline and her world more smoothly

June: Motivations and Character

• Goal: hire a sensitivity reader - because this book contains main characters of color as well as other identities, I want to make sure the work is both respectful and complex.

• Pay close attention to character arcs

• Deepen motivational clarity/backstories

July: Polish to Publish

• Goal: hire a proofreader - I trust my instincts, but it’s vital to me that someone else takes a peek at this thing before it goes to print!

• Final polishing stage before formatting

• Show side-by-side comparisons between serial and novel

August: Formatting!

• Goal: send rough digital copies to select ARC readers—paid subs get first dibs!

• All about the formatting choices going into this book and how I prep a book for publishing

• Layout and inside sneak-peeks

September-October: Prep for Launch!

• TBD!

Every Book Needs the Right Cover…

Okay, I have been sitting on this news for AGES and it is finally time to announce the incredible, phenomenal, freaky-talented human artist who will be designing not one, but TWO covers for my upcoming Ferris Island projects.

Introducing………the fabulous !!

Aubrey is not just an amazing illustrator and cover artist…she is also a Ferris Island reader and fan, which makes her perfectly-suited to capture the essence of my work in her designs! I could not be more excited to work with her on this project.

After reading both seasons of Freelance & Fishmaids, Aubrey created this beautiful fan-art of Caroline, Reyville, and magical camera Scully (and made me cry, lol):

As you can imagine, when she expressed interest in working with me on my cover designs for these books, I was both stunned and thrilled.

We’ve already started the process, chatting and sketching and brewing ideas for the Freelance & Fishmaids cover, with one eye on the future Sayblood’s Children cover as well, trying to keep some visual consistency across the two books.

Aubrey’s instincts are spot-on, and her illustrations are fanciful and epic and just gorgeous. You will love what she’s come up with!

I trust her completely with my characters and this beloved world of Ferris Island, and I can’t wait to share more of this artistic journey with you as we go forward!

This is just a sample…

As mentioned, henceforth, the rest of the Revision Diary will be a paid-only perk; I’ll be posting one or two updates per month until the novel is done, and paid subscribers and comps will also be considered first for eventual free ARC copies before publication!

Lock in your paid subscription at the current price before the rates go up at the end of the week, and join the journey!

Subscribe now

Got questions? Drop ‘em in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

S.E. Reid

Click HERE to start at the beginning. Click HERE to head back to the Navigation Page.

—

Previously, Jenny led the engineers up the mountain.

In this episode, what is broken finds repair.

—

This serial is only available to paid subscribers.

Subscribe or upgrade to read!

Subscribe now

Read more

Hark, a short story!

As I mentioned in my most recent housekeeping post, I’m feeling very compelled to get back into shorter single-post fiction again, and this very stubborn idea has been kicking around in my head lately. I wrote a couple of iterations of it before finding this version, which I really enjoy. Kind of feels like there could be more here? But I liked this enough as a standalone to want to share it with you!

I don’t want to say much more here, but let it speak for itself.

I hope you enjoy!

If you like this story, and you want to see more like it, please let me know with a like, comment, share, or restack!

And for more fiction fun of various shapes and sizes, subscribe for free!

Subscribe now

I.

When Martin Hauser was led through the library doorway of Oakhurst Sanatorium, a private hospital tucked away in the little town of Elma, Tuuli Laine was already there waiting for him.

She sat on the sofa under the wide window in a simple linen shift that she appeared to have made herself, ornate with hand-embroidered details, a red cardigan draped over her sloping shoulders. Her hair had been cut to make it easier to care for. Martin had remembered it long and dark, but it was silver-gray now, and pinned away from her face as she leaned over a sketchpad on her lap, sweeping a nub of artist’s charcoal across the paper.

She looked up, and for a moment—only a moment—Martin felt a frisson of vague terror pass through him at the steely, focused expression on her face. But then a smile lit her up from chin to scalp, and he saw the woman he remembered, only thirty years older.

“Martin,” Tuuli said with a squeak of glee, shifting in her seat, setting the sketchpad aside, “Martin, Martin, what a delight to see you! It’s been so long! Stand still, let me look at you.”

He obliged, pausing for only a smiling moment before he removed his hat and crossed the space to take her offered wrinkled hand in his, kissing the back of it.

“Handsome,” she said, as Martin settled into the chair beside the sofa. “You’re a handsome young man. And successful too, I bet.”

Martin shrugged that away. “Not really.”

“But still an artist?”

“Oh yes,” he assured her. “Yes. I’m working mostly in tempera these days, when I have time. The gallery runs me ragged.”

“Robert Thurston’s place.” It was not a question, and she did not look at him when she said it.

He nodded. “Yes, and he sends his regards.”

To this, she did not respond. Martin glanced around the room, pleased that the library seemed such a comfortable space, airy and bright. The word “sanatorium” had such gothic implications that he truly hadn’t been sure what to expect when he arrived.

“It’s a lovely place,” he said. “Kind of them to allow us use of the library for our meeting.”

“Oh sure, Oakhurst is nice enough.” She gestured vaguely over her shoulder, through the wide window that looked out onto the grounds. “In the mornings the fog rolls in off the ocean. Can’t see the water from here, more’s the pity.”

Tuuli’s family had lived in the States since she was a teenager, but she still had a soft pull to her vowels, arrhythmic to Martin’s ear, as if her solitude spent in this place had only deepened her Scandinavian roots. He didn’t remember her accent being quite this strong when she taught art to children, back when he was her student.

“So,” she said, pulling the sketchpad back into her lap and tapping a fleck of charcoal away from the page. “You got my letter.”

“I did.” He smiled kindly; Tuuli’s letter-writing had become a bit of a regional joke. She was prolific, constantly sending correspondence to everyone she had ever known whose address she remembered. Even celebrities she had met in her career’s zenith, glittering local dignitaries, the wealthy whose homes boasted her most expensive work on their walls. He doubted anyone ever wrote back.

“I’m only sorry that I didn’t get your previous ones,” he added. “They ended up at my mother’s house, and she has a habit of ignoring mail not addressed to her. I happened to be visiting home when this one arrived, and I’m glad. Though…”

He paused. She had resumed drawing and did not look up.

“I was…a little surprised,” he said. “To hear from you.”

“No doubt Robert has told half of Seattle that I’m too crazy to write in coherent sentences.”

Martin was a little surprised at the venom in her voice. “Not at all. Robert speaks very highly of you.”

She looked up finally, studying Martin’s face, as if searching for something.

“Small blessings,” she said, her tone complicated. Then, without preamble, “I’m dying, Martin.”

He blinked. “You’re…”

“I’m dying. It’s weeks, not months. Something that wastes the body. Cancer, maybe. They don’t explain in this place.”

Martin’s heart squeezed. This was not the reunion he had imagined. “I don’t know what to say, Tuuli. I’m so sorry.”

The old woman smiled, but it was a gesture of soft pity for him, not for her. “Don’t be sorry about that. There are plenty of worthier things to be sorry about. In fact, I could use your help. A favor for an old woman and an old friend.”

“Tell me.”

“I should like to see the ocean again,” she said. “One more time, before I…well, before I go. I’ve always felt most myself by the water, in the water. I’ve always lived within sight of it. My house…is my little house still standing, Martin?”

He hadn’t expected the question, and he opened his mouth, but no sound came out. As far as he knew, her little condemned shack in Magnolia—what once had been a very bohemian little cabin, victim to lack of upkeep—had long since collapsed down the bluff, her belongings and art raided by neighbors and collectors.

“Nevermind,” Tuuli said. “I’d rather not know what those vultures did to it.”

The blood rushed to Martin’s cheeks in sympathetic shame. She had no idea, and maybe that was for the best. She had no idea what her madness had done, the utter implosion it had caused. What began as artistic eccentricity had calcified into public outbursts, bizarre rumors, hallucinatory wandering, hysterical behavior, obsessions—and how embarrassing. How poised on the edge of ruin she had left everyone with something to gain, the amount of money at stake, wealth pouring through the blossoming city of Seattle like cold rainwater…

“You’d like to see the ocean,” he said, prompting her out of the terrible silence.

“Yes.” She turned back to her drawing. “I would like to see the ocean, once more before I go. But the doctors here…they won’t let me go without someone to take me. A chaperone, I suppose, or at least someone to be responsible for me. Not that I can get into much trouble these days, but they aren’t staffed for outings, you see. Would you take me to the seaside, Martin?”

Martin wasn’t sure what he had expected her to ask, but it wasn’t that. He nodded. “Well of course. I would be happy to take you to the seaside, dear Tuuli. It would be a privilege. Just tell me when you would like to go and I’ll make the arrangements.”

She smiled wide and patted his knee, leaving a faint dust of charcoal on his suit pants.

“Thank you,” she said. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”

II.

The drive from Elma to the coastal beach of Grayland took about an hour by car. Martin drove carefully, stealing glances in the rearview mirror at Tuuli, wrapped up warm in her thickest coat and scarf against the early spring chill, her eyes glued to the window so she could look out at the passing scenery. Beside her on the seat was a packed picnic lunch from the sanatorium’s kitchen and a blanket to sit on.

They had left Oakhurst in a hushed silence, as if afraid that someone from the office would chase them down and refuse to let them leave. It had all seemed too easy, Martin signing Tuuli out for the day. But once they left the town limits of Elma, the thrill of freedom settled over the car, and Tuuli was the first to speak over the roar of the engine.

“Do you have a family now, Martin?”

Martin cleared his throat. “Oh. Aside from my mother? No.”

“Any lady friends?”

Martin glanced at her in the rearview mirror, unsure how to answer. He had not yet found the right way to say it aloud, even to himself. “I don’t think…a lady friend is in the cards for me, Tuuli.”

“Lack of prospects?”

“Lack of…interest.”

Their eyes met in the mirror and her features softened.

“I see,” she said, turning back to the window with a mischievous grin and a shrug. “There’s love out there for all that want it.”

He saw her there, again. A flicker of the woman he had idolized thirty years ago. Back then she taught art to small-town children, to make ends meet. None of his classmates had ever seemed at all interested in what Tuuli had to say, but he had hung on her every word. When she left teaching to pursue the glitz of Seattle’s art scene, Martin had watched her ascension from afar with nothing but pride. Tuuli Laine, headlining major art shows and gallery showings. Tuuli Laine, interviewed in the newspaper. Tuuli Laine at society parties, meeting the president’s wife, laughing over champagne with famous actors and singers and the newborn rich of the post-Depression city. Her art hung on the walls of every fine home in the region.

Martin wondered how many of those dignitaries remembered her, now, this tiny dying woman sitting in the back of his car, wrapped to her ears in wool.

When they arrived in Grayland, the sky was pale slate and the ocean was a shattered mirror, a steady roar of unsatisfied waves. The mighty Pacific had no rhythm here, only noise.

Martin had rented a little cottage on the beach side of the road, a place for him to sleep over the next few days before returning to Seattle, and an easy place for Tuuli to rest if sitting on the beach became too cold or wearisome for her during this day-trip. When he opened the car door for Tuuli to climb out, she did not give the cottage another glance. She only had eyes for the water.

As she made her way toward the beach, Martin unpacked their lunch and the blanket from the car, following her with a hand hovering by her elbow, to catch her in case she tripped.

When they reached the beach, long and dark and smooth, Tuuli stood at the edge of the sand as though afraid. She looked out at the water, and Martin found a good dry place to sit in front of a thick sun-bleached driftwood log, spreading the blanket out.

He carefully guided her down to sit, resting her back against the log. When he finished setting up the blanket and basket and sat down next to her, he saw that her gray eyes were full of tears.

“Oh, how I missed it,” she said. “I wish I had asked earlier, to come and see it.”

He poured a cup of tea from the thermos provided by the sanatorium and handed it to her. She held it in her trembling hands without really knowing it was there, the steam rising up to tangle in her silver hair before whisking away on the wind.

After what seemed like an hour of sitting in silence, just watching the waves and the gulls and the little shorebirds that skitter in the shallows, Tuuli turned to Martin.

“You’ve done a good thing for me, Martin. You always were a kind boy. Good-hearted.”

“And you were always my favorite teacher,” he said. “I don’t think I ever told you.”

But she didn’t seem to hear the compliment. There was something strange in her eyes. Martin had only ever heard the stories about her public displays, her madness laid bare. She set the cup down on the blanket where it teetered dangerously, the tea gone cold, and reached out to take Martin’s face in both hands.

“Don’t let that Robert Thurston take your kindness from you,” she said fiercely. “You must promise me you’ll remain yourself.”

Martin blinked. “I don’t know what you mean—”

“I have spent the last twenty years of my life in Oakhurst because of Robert Thurston,” she said. And even though her fingers were strong on his cheeks, her voice was calm. “I was ill. I had no family. No one to speak for me. Robert wanted my work, that was all, and I was an embarrassment. I know that. At any point in the last twenty years, someone could have spoken for me, released me. Anyone. But they were afraid. I understand—no one wants to speak against Robert. But I could have lived, Martin…”

She licked her lips, tasting the salt spray that had landed on them. “Don’t let Robert Thurston steal anything more. Not from you, not from anyone. Promise me.”

Then she released him, lowering her hands where they nested in her lap.

“Would you be a lamb,” she said, brittle, delicate, “and retrieve my gloves? I must have left them in the car.”

Martin sat still for a moment, the words she had spoken jumbling in his head. Robert Thurston was the sort of man everyone wants to know. Generous, well-spoken, intelligent. He ran the most exclusive gallery in Seattle and invested in several others. He was a fixture, a staple. In the years he had worked for him, Martin had never known Robert to be vindictive or cruel.

But still…

Gloves. Tuuli’s request finally reached him, and he nodded and stood, brushing the sand from his trousers. All the way back up the beach to the car her words continued to twist like a knife in his head. Had there not been papers Robert kept private? Ledgers he allowed no one to see? Phone calls he took only after dismissing everyone from the room? A certain air of too genuine he adopted, a hidden weapon?

Martin reached the car parked outside the cottage and opened the rear door. He saw no gloves. Not on any seat, not on the floor.

A sudden terror seized him, and he turned swiftly to look back at the beach.

In the time since he left her, Tuuli had crossed the expanse of the beach in her awkward, limping gait and was nearing the water. She did not look back. She had wanted him gone.

“Tuuli!” he shouted, but it was carried away by the wind, just another gull’s cry. He ran, his expensive dress shoes entirely wrong for running on sand and stone.

She entered the water, the waves rising around her ankles, her calves. She did not balk at the cold, she did not slow.

“Tuuli!” he screamed again.

She continued, deeper. The waves roared. Martin blinked against his panic, throwing off his sport coat and letting it flutter to the damp sand, loosening his tie.

Impossibly, she was not bowled over by the water. And Martin was not fast enough.

He finally reached the water’s edge when the white crown of her head dipped under, yards away.

Without hesitation, Martin threw himself in, keeping the spot where she disappeared always in front, like a star to follow. He had never fancied himself a strong swimmer, but the adrenaline urged him forward. Desperately he cast about for her, dipping under the water, the undertow drawing him back and back like the sliding hand of a great god, threatening to pull him out into the deep water beyond.

He surfaced, shouting her name until he was hoarse. But she was gone.

III.

For three days, Martin Hauser stayed in the cottage on the beach.

The fallout after Tuuli’s disappearance had been a farce. The police, upon hearing that she was an elderly hospice patient at the nearby sanatorium, seemed less than inclined to look too hard for her. The nurses at Oakhurst who had known Tuuli were sorry, even grieved in their own way, but the institution seemed unbothered, even satisfied.

After all, Tuuli’s bill had been paid, and on time.

Martin lingered in the cottage, staring out at the ocean, drinking strong coffee in the mornings and switching to scotch at night. Grayland was an aptly named place, and the spring sun seemed unable to pierce through the clouds.

It was beautiful, too, in its own stark way. If he had brought his paints with him, he might have tried to capture it. But as it was, he could only watch the water in haunted silence, picturing the white moon of her hair setting below the waves.

On the morning of the third day, Martin drove into town to make a collect call at the local store. The heavy old phone hung on the back wall next to the bait fridge, and the curious locals stole glances at him while they pretended to peruse the shelves of canned soup and candy.

“Thurston Galleries, Robert Thurston speaking.”

“Mr. Thurston, it’s Martin.”

“Martin! How’s the beach?”

Martin swallowed hard. “Tuuli Laine is dead.”

He hadn’t given himself permission to say it out loud yet, and the word tasted dull on his tongue. Heavy. There was a quiet on the other end of the line—surrounded by a sound like the ocean, frothy and hissing—but it was mercifully brief.

“Damn,” said Robert.

Martin waited. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to hear. Robert and Tuuli had been colleagues and close friends, once. Even lovers, if the rumors were true. Martin waited to hear it in Robert’s voice. The regret, the grief.

“Poor old Tuuls. She was a once in a lifetime talent, and she’ll be missed. Do you happen to know if Oakhurst kept her latest?”

“Latest?”

“Paintings, Martin. Sketches. She was working, from what they told me. Now that she’s dead, whatever’s left will sell, even if it’s mostly sentimental stuff. She lost her edge but the name’s what’s important. Nevermind, I’ll call Oakhurst and find out for myself. When are you coming back to the city?”

Martin’s heart pounded. The idea of driving back to Seattle suddenly felt akin to hopping a plane to the Amazon Rainforest—distant, unfamiliar, dangerous. Teeming with venomous animals.

But he said, “I’ll head back as soon as I can. Tomorrow, probably.”

“Good. See you soon. Thanks for the call.”

Martin hung up the phone and headed back to the cottage as if in a daze.

*******

That night, darkness did nothing to quiet the low roar of the ocean, whispering ceaselessly through the walls of the cottage. There was no moon; even if there had been, the clouds would never have allowed a glimpse of it.

Martin slept in an armchair drawn up beside the small woodstove, a glass of scotch nearly empty on the table by his elbow. The fire had died in the grate from neglect, just a scattering of embers glowing bright with every draw of the marine air through the chimney.

Into the murmuring silence came a knocking, light and swift, upon the cottage door.

Martin did not stir, not at first. Not until the knocking moved from the door to the window behind him, a gentle but earnest rapping.

He lifted his head, fuzzy from the drink, and looked around him. All was country-dark; he had forgotten to light a lamp, and this cottage had very little electricity. He rummaged for a match and lit the nearest kerosene lantern, raising the flame as high as it would go.

The knocking came again, no less soft, no less hopeful, and this time back at the door where knocking belonged.

Martin crossed to the door and opened it, letting the lantern light spill over the strange figure that stood there: it was a woman. Around Martin’s age, if he was any judge, or maybe a little younger.

She was naked. Droplets beaded on her new skin like tiny translucent feathers. Her dark hair, soaked through, clung to her shoulders and breasts, and her gray eyes were wide and wild.

“You’re still here,” she said, with something like wonder, tinged with gratitude. “May I come in?”

Martin, unsure if he was dreaming or just drunk, moved aside to let her enter the cottage. Her footprints left wet spots on the floorboards, and she brought the scent of the tide with her. She walked carefully to the armchair, swaying a little, and sat down, as Martin busied himself grabbing a blanket to drape over her, and feeding the stove with more kindling.

“Are you…where did you…” Martin shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t…”

“It’s me, Martin,” she said. “It’s Tuuli.”

He knew it, even if he didn’t believe it. It was Tuuli, younger than he had ever known her. Tuuli, reborn.

“How?” he asked, voice raspy with shock.

She smiled as the firelight, re-ignited, leapt in her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “Last I knew, we were sitting together on the beach. And my body was dying. But I’ve always felt myself by the water. In the water. I don’t know.”

Martin sat on the floor in front of the hearth, legs too weak with fear to allow him to stand. “You’re…everyone thinks you’re dead,” he said. “You’re dead.”

Tuuli laughed. “Oh well.”

“What will you do?”

She looked at her hands, crinkled from her time in the water, the blood returning to the skin after the sea-cold’s alchemy. When she spoke again, her voice was rich. Hardened. Resolved.

“I want it all back,” she said. “Everything that was taken from me. But I don’t know the rules of this new body, and I’m afraid.”

She looked up at Martin, and there she was. The woman he had idolized. The woman discarded by the world. She was still there, but changed.

“Will you help me, Martin?” she asked. “You’re the only one I trust.”

He stared into the fire. Through the haze of scotch and sorrow he could still feel Tuuli’s hands—her old hands, wrinkled and wiry—fierce upon his face. He could hear Robert’s mockery over the phone, the dismissal of this woman’s pain, her talent, her torment—

I have spent the last twenty years of my life in Oakhurst because of Robert Thurston.

Don’t let him steal anything more.

No one spoke for her, in all that time. It would have taken only one, but they were all afraid.

I promised.

He turned to meet her eyes. They were Tuuli’s eyes, all right—mad and magic and strange and feral, but clear as glass and gray as the sea.

He nodded, taking her cold hand.

“What will we call you? No one will believe the truth, whatever miracle or mystery this is.”

She paused, cocking her head like an animal to hear the wind’s whistle in the chimney, the whisper of the waves through the walls.

“Call me Elma,” she said.

And her laughter was a portent, a slow roll of ocean thunder preceding the storm.

END

Author’s Note:

Even though this is pure fiction (obviously), some of the rough inspiration for this story came from the real and deeply tragic life of midcentury Pacific Northwest artist Helmi Juvonen.

I was haunted by Helmi’s life when I read about it, and this story was, I suppose, an attempt to exorcise some of those disturbed feelings. Even though I changed quite a bit to fit the speculative Talebones-esque narrative I personally wanted to tell, a single detail about this story is true to life: one person—one advocate—could have changed everything for Helmi.

And in Martin, in fiction, I wanted to give her that.

Want more short Talebones fiction? Try this:

✨Talebones runs on YOUR support! ✨

• My Tip-Jar! - Enjoyed this story? Show your appreciation with a one-time tip!

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my Work With Me page for rates and services.

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

✒ Editor’s Note

Welcome back, Talestack Readers!

[New around here? Check out our FAQ page!]

‘Tis the season to celebrate the little signs and signals…

We’re midway through March, and I’ve been thinking a lot about milestones.

Maybe it’s because spring (and autumn, for the sake of our southern-hemisphere pals) is a transitional season, and it always leaves me feeling more aware of my surroundings, looking for the signs and signals that we’re creeping closer to Something New in the year. That we’re progressing.

Different weather, different scents on the air, different behaviors from the plants and animals…all of them are milestones, small as they may be.

In the landscape of our own individual creativity, we have milestones too.

Some of them are teeny tiny, little patterns of inner evolution we can barely see unless we look close. Some of them are big and obvious, like goals achieved or dreams coming true. But all of them deserve to be celebrated. All of them are signals that we are growing, and that our work as writers is yielding tangible change in our lives and the lives of people around us.

You may not feel like you’re where you want to be yet, and that you have big writerly dreams yet unrealized. That’s normal. But that doesn’t mean you have nothing to show for the work you’re putting in. Sometimes we have to look backward to our previous “winters”—the bleak or empty stretches in our creative lives—to see the difference, but it’s there. If you’re working, you’re practicing. And practicing builds process. And process is progress.

Today, with this issue of the News, let’s celebrate the milestones. Big and small. Yours, mine, and the ones we can witness in our wider fiction community. Let’s embrace our growth with gratitude, together. 🌱

Happy reading, 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:

• ’s fantasy adventure serial, Kingdom of the Slithering Maze (second story in the Windtracer Tales series), is coming to an end in only a few weeks. Synopsis: “When an old debt calls in Windtracer Tela Kioni, she turns to her companions Kiyosi Valchar and Mikasi Zenia for a little help. They quickly find themselves in the fractured kingdom of Jata, chasing a sacred relic thought lost to history. A device that nearly toppled the world. But they’re not the only ones hunting it. If claimed by the wrong hands, that relic could reignite ancient war machines and plunge Jata into conquest and chaos. Caught between zealots, treacherous nobles, and cutthroat thieves, Tela must find out who to trust. Not to mention whoever had the bright idea to plan mass murder on a scale the world hasn’t seen in centuries. All while she has to keep her friends alive… and figure out who the ‘right hands’ really are.” Jump into Chapter One here!

New Projects:

• has just launched a serialized dystopian thriller novel called The Iris Collective. Synopsis: “As it turns out, the most efficient way to stop a resistance from the population is to kill them—1.2 million of them to be exact. That’s what President Lewis C. Wilkins did at the start of his term, right after he took away elections. When the Population Resurgence Act is passed, and women begin to die at the hands of the men they were forced to marry, The Iris Collective is created. A last hope for the women the government has condemned to a life of torture. The underground resistance of the Iris Collective runs smoothly, until an unexpected request comes to them from the wife of a prominent politician. She needs their help. Now they must decide if they should help her, how to keep the police off of their trail, and how to do all of this under the watchful eye of the government.”

• has taken a leap and changed his fiction newsletter name from Stories, After Eight to The Novella Zone. From Ben: “The section Stories, After Eight is still there, and the stories there will always be free, but I think it’s easier to find my writing if people know what I have to offer, and that is Novellas.” Ben is also launching a new story this week called The Revolutionary, His Wife, and Her Lover. Be sure to join him on Mondays for his live Chat and read-aloud!

• Hot on the heels of his concluding serial, has launched a new series called Moonlight Curiosity Mysteries, starting with a tale called Inkwell of Shadows. Synopsis: “Daniel Hawthorne thought marrying his long-time fiancée, Cassidy—a shapeshifting bat-creature called a skinshaper—would be the hard part. Especially compared to quitting his workaholic job as a software engineer to run his late uncle’s antique shop in a quiet Southern town. Sadly, not so much. After a supernatural enemy crashes their wedding night with blood and fire, Daniel and Cassidy barely escape with their lives. The old storefront is smashed. Their honeymoon? Ruined. To rebuild, they’re forced to take a dubious job investigating a set of antique fountain pens. Ones with a long and deadly history in their wake. Now they find themselves caught up in a century-old problem steeped in ink and blood. At the same time, a mysterious figure is also looking for the pens—and is willing to kill anyone to get them. Worse? It all might have ties to the monster that nearly murdered them. To protect home, sanity, and each other, Daniel and Cassidy must uncover the truth—at least before their names are written in blood.” Jump into Chapter One here!

Milestones & Wins:

• After starting life as a serial here on Substack, ’s swashbuckling supernatural adventure novel, Death Whispers of the Etherwave will be released in print in late March/early April, along with bonus story The Alchemist’s Apprentice which serves as prologue to a future Substack serial, The Alchemist Papers. Check out the first chapter of the original serial here and subscribe to Kummer Wolfe for publishing updates!

• While this newsletter normally focuses on serials if they are imminently starting or ending, sometimes the “news” is that someone is sticking it out even when the going is tough. started writing his serial The Longest Game just shy of a year ago, but quickly became discouraged. From Benjamin: “I’d chosen a strange time to start putting my work into the void. I’d just become a dad in April and switched up my career to multitask law and full-time childcare. I had no idea how much grit I’d have as a writer, so I committed to just writing for the love of the game—if I could be consistent this year of all years, then I knew I’m writing for the long haul. This first year’s been as brutal as it has been rewarding. The only milestone is that one year after beginning, I’m still here.” And you know what? That’s a milestone well worth celebrating. Jump into the Prologue of The Longest Game here!

📚 The Bookshelf

(Titles listed in order of release date.)

• ’s literary fiction short story collection, The Silent House by the Sea, is now available for purchase as an ebook or paperback through Amazon (and also to borrow on Kindle Unlimited) Release Date: 3/8/26

• ’s satirical speculative fiction novel, The League of Eponymous Jellyfish, is now available as an ebook through various retailers. The first chapter is available for free on Substack and can be found HERE. Release Date: 3/10/26

• Later this week, ’s book of short dark fiction and poetry, Roses and Blood, Shadows and Magic, will be available to purchase on Amazon (published under the pen name A.L. Aaltonen). Check out this post for details and cover reveal! Release Date: 3/20/26

🫱🏻‍🫲🏾 Connection Corner

• cordially invites you to Sundays in May with Mr. Troy Ford! From Troy: “We'll work through Reedsy Learning's How to Plan a Novel course together and gab about our efforts on your next (first?) novel in a free writing group every Sunday in May starting 5/3 at 2pm Eastern.” Learn more at the link above!

• joined the platform recently and would love more eyes on his fiction and poetry at From The Ground Up and Then Some with an eye toward kind and helpful feedback. From Paul: “I write short stories and poetry. My fiction is rough and I am still learning a lot.” Welcome, Paul! You’re in the right place. :)

Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:

talestack.editor@gmail.com

This weekly(ish) digest is the way I communicate with my readers to let them know what’s been going on around the Talebones landscape, along with any housekeeping to be aware of.

Happy March, everyone!! 🍀

It never fails; March is the first month of every year when I start to feel…well…human. 😂 And 2026 is shaping up to be no exception! Spring Season on Talebones is going to be a fun balance of some behind-the-scenes maintenance stuff and some exciting public projects as I tackle my novel revisions AND catch up on posting short fiction, something I’ve sorely missed around here.

First, a quick bit of admin:

• As mentioned in a previous missive, I have decided to move away from the “Council” branding for Paid Subscriptions, opting for slightly more boring (but arguably much clearer) language. Check out the updated Support Talebones! page to see what a Talebones Paid Subscription gets you! (Paid subscribers: I’ve also updated this year’s discount code for the Etsy store, so be sure to take a peek at that before you make any upcoming purchases!)

• The first week of April, Talebones Paid Subscriptions will be INCREASING to $5/month and $50/year — if you upgrade before the end of March, you lock in the CURRENT lower price! (Note: rates will not change for any current paid subscribers—the rate you signed up with is the rate you keep.)

Subscribe now

In any case, this missive is a bit longer than normal, so grab yourself a snack and let’s dive in!

✨ First, A Quick Word From Our Sponsor… ✨

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my NEW AND IMPROVED Work With Me site for rates and services! Don’t see something that works for you? Reach out via email or DM—I’m happy to discuss. Let’s make your projects sing!

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag or a Ferris Island souvenir for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

And now, back to Talebones Tuesday…

Round-Up!

In case you missed it…

• What Passes Down - an uncanny tale about a mysterious old family photo, a reluctant storyteller, and an impossible romance…

• Weathering Change Book Review - Over on my nonfiction newsletter, The Wildroot Parables, I put together an honest review of the recently-released book Weathering Change by Courtney Ellis. If you’re interested in faith and nature and the seasonality of life, check out my review at the link!

• Day in the Life of a _____Writer - Last week, gathered writers from all over the Substack platform to take part in a fun collaborative event! You can check out my own somewhat interpretive entry at the link, or even jump into the collaboration yourself.

• Our supernatural/dystopian serial Smoke-Mouth is rounding the corner to its conclusion. Synopsis: Jenny-Dog is just fine on her own. Jenny-Dog needs no one and no one needs her. Until a fool young stranger shows up, says she’s walking all the way to the crippled mountain—to Lawetlat’la, to Smoke-Mouth—and asks if Jenny wants to come along. Jenny doesn’t fancy their chances. After all, it’s over a hundred miles on a dangerous road through a once-modern region laid bare by quakes and crisis. There are many-eyed angels hovering in the summer sky, and hungry thieves lurking in the woods with violence in their hearts. But the mountain is calling. And when Smoke-Mouth calls, the dreamers reply.

  • Explore the Table of Contents

  • Get started here - Episode One: The Fool

  • Read the latest episode here - Episode Seventeen: To The Tower

• New around here? Most of our speculative fiction takes place on a haunted island in Washington State called Ferris Island. Check out the landing page to see which stories are currently available to read here online, along with other info and resources!

  • We also have stories of various genres set elsewhere, listed 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, read the submission guidelines and email your news to talestack.editor@gmail.com by March 15th to be included in the next issue!)

A Serial Draws To An End… 🌾

At long last, long-running serial Smoke-Mouth is nearing its (real and true) ending.

Episode Eighteen will be the final episode, with an Epilogue to follow. Both are fully outlined and ready to roll. ♥

I started Smoke-Mouth halfway through last summer as a bit of a pivot after I felt I had to shelve a previous serial indefinitely. I meant to keep it to my typical “twelve episodes and an epilogue” structure, but it took on a life of its own… to the tune of six further episodes. 😳 Combine that with my own difficulties staying motivated over the winter, and it became “the little serial with a looooooooong journey to walk.”

My relationship with this serial has been, well, a bit odd—sometimes inspired, sometimes strained—but as I near the ending, I feel only affection for this story and its characters. It is definitely one that I’m placing reverently on the “revise and publish” pile, though I have other projects waiting in line first. I’m excited to return to this tale in the future and see how it evolves in the interim.

Most of all, I am so grateful to those of you who’ve been here since the start of this serial, and those who jumped on at any stage of the process. Your love for this tale has kept me writing when all I wanted to do was hide in shame from my writer’s block.

Thank you. ♥

I’ll be putting together a public Q&A of some sort after the story is over. So if you have ANY questions about Smoke-Mouth’s writing, development, or story, feel free to throw them in the comment sections of the remaining episodes. I’ll gather them up and answer them when all is concluded!

Interested in catching up with Smoke-Mouth before it ends?

🌾 JUMP INTO EPISODE ONE! 🌾

March Tale, March Sale! 🍀

Looking for a springtime story for your March TBR?

To celebrate the month of March (when the story is set), my springtime magical realism novella, Ivy & Ixos, is 50% OFF when you purchase either the ebook or paperback on Amazon!

But act fast—this sale ends on March 31st!

Get ready for a mysterious adventure in the Washington woods…

Set during the uncertain days of March 2020, 10-year-old Ivy is sent to live with her estranged father while her aunt, a hospital nurse, is unable to care for her during lockdown.

What starts as an adventure turns into a mystery, as at her father’s home in the western Washington forests Ivy finds uncanny quiet, a cabin full of hidden memories, and a family secret too strange to be believed.

🌿 PURCHASE IVY & IXOS ON SALE HERE! 🌿

My NEW Freelance Website! ⭐

It’s impossible to overstate how instrumental Substack has been to the expansion and deepening of my freelance editing work.

A few years ago, when sites like Upwork dried up or got overloaded with AI slop, folks on Substack became the best clients I could ever ask for, and I am so grateful. Many a Substack-based client has unwittingly saved my bacon by paying a bill, contributing toward a surprise expense, or helping me afford a bag of dog food at just the right time!

Instead of listing my rates on a random Substack page, I’ve long felt it was overdue for my freelancing to have its own shiny new site, connected to my personal domain, with updated rates AND some clarity around my AI policies as an editor, since some professional nuance is required in this brave new world we’re in.

And now it’s here!

⭐ CHECK IT OUT! ⭐

(NOTE ABOUT MY RATE CHANGES: previous clients and/or paid subscribers to Talebones are entitled to discounts and grandfathered-in rates, so please reach out to me before you do any mental math! ♥)

Review Highlight: The Shell! 🥚

If you’ve read any of my books, I would be so honored if you would pause now to leave a rating or review.

But this month, I would be especially grateful for reviews of The Shell!

This collection of eight speculative short stories contains tales of mystery, magic, and the macabre woven with vivid landscapes, challenging questions, and glimmers of unlikely hope.

One five-star review on Amazon calls it “the sort of book that restores one’s faith in Speculative Fiction […] All the stories in this Collection are different, in tone, subject and length. None disappoint.”

Have you read The Shell? I would love an honest review!

For self-published authors, there’s no multi-million-dollar engine running promotion, marketing, and other advertising…there’s just me! So ratings and reviews go a LONG way in raising indie books in algorithms, triggering retailers to suggest them to customers, and helping new readers find self-published books that they’ll love!

And you don’t have to write a long review, either. A simple star-rating or a “Loved it!” both work just as well!

You can review my books on:

• Amazon

• Goodreads

• Storygraph:

  • The Orchard Hounds

  • Ivy & Ixos

  • The Shell

  • Imp

• Or you can visit the books on their individual My Books pages to review them on the sites of specific retailers, like B&N, Kobo, or Fable!

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to leave a review!

It really, really means the most. ♥

Thinking of Supporting Talebones? Act Now!

Talebones is kept afloat by a beautiful and diverse tapestry of support, from my freelance day job as a writer and editor to purchases of books and merch AND the bountiful generosity of my paid subscribers!

You can become a Talebones Paid Subscriber for $3.75/month or $45/year (or go above and beyond as a Founding Member) to gain access to ALL online Talebones fiction past and present, exclusive resources, discounts to merch/products and freelance/consulting services, and more!

Learn more about each tier’s perks here.

Subscribe now

NOTE: Paid Subscription rates will INCREASE the first week of April!

Lock in the current price by upgrading today!

Thank you for reading!

Phew, you made it to the end! Well done! 🎉

I’ve kept you long enough, so I won’t belabor the point—thank you for your continued support of Talebones, whether you see yourself as a casual reader, a lurker, a contributor, or a fervent fan. I am so excited to step into Spring Season with you!

Your attention is a precious resource, and I never take it for granted. ♥

Your grateful storyteller,

S.E. Reid

Click HERE to start at the beginning. Click HERE to head back to the Navigation Page.

—

Previously, a gathering against the dark.

In this episode, Jenny leads the engineers up the mountain.

—

This serial is only available to paid subscribers.

Subscribe or upgrade to read!

Subscribe now

Read more

All day today, March 3rd, Substack writers from all over the platform are joining in with a fun collaborative event: each sharing a quick glimpse into our daily lives using “Day of a _____ Writer” as a template.

I went a bit more…uh…interpretive with the prompt. I’m a full-time writer who works from home, so I wanted to explore the metaphor in my mundane. It was a fun exercise and I really enjoyed putting this together!

I’ve got more fiction in the works—as well as a Spring Season reset post coming up—but for now I hope you enjoy this quick autofiction (unfiction?) piece!

BIG THANKS to for inviting me to participate!

⭐ Check out the others posting today, and maybe you might want to add yours to the mix, too! ⭐

—

New here? Welcome! I write character-driven speculative fiction—from flash length to serial—with a supernatural, spiritual, or uncanny twist.

If you like this piece, please let me know with a like, comment, share, or restack!

And for more fiction fun of various shapes and sizes, subscribe for free!

Subscribe now

Every early morning, after the dogs are fed and the coffee is brewed, I circle the yard and try to remember where I buried the work.

(Some days are easier than others.)

There are unmarked graves all over this patch of ground, places where I scatter the ideas that are too weak to grow. Some winter over. Some sink and are lost. Others find purchase, coalesce, become more than they otherwise would be by holding each other in the dark. Their thin filament roots, like whiskers, vein the under-earth with blind intent.

I take off my shoes.

I bare my twitching hands like searching spiders.

As I pass, small brown birds flutter out from copses of overgrown lawn; it’s early spring, and I am disturbing their annual traditions with my own clumsy rhythms. They have built their nests on the things that died, the sentences I tucked under soil to decay and promptly forgot about. I won’t be able to unearth those—to see what they’ve become—until the little ones fledge.

I am hungry. My mouth waters with want, with bitterness, with memories of half-forgotten phrases. I mumble over my tongue, still stale from sleep.

Beside an old stone freckled with young moss, I find a place that looks promising: a mound of rounded earth like a risen loaf, like a sleeping cat. Kneeling, I pull aside the soft dark loam with my fingers, careful not to disturb what I find there.

I could almost mistake them for small twigs if I didn’t know any better.

They are bones. Thin and delicate, pale and scarred with tiny toothmarks and hairline cracks, but picked clean. Fresh-born with a creek smell. Ready for sinew and muscle. Ready for blood and skin.

I do not have to dig far to find them. The pulse of a temperate winter’s heartbeat—freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw—has pushed them up, up, up to my waiting hands.

I draw them out one by one and set them carefully on the grass beside their grave, their womb, and they rest in a row like an alphabet. When I am sure I have them all, I mend the hole again, patting the soil down. I sing the spot closed like a wound.

Once they are unearthed, the bones are potential. They hum with readiness, and the water runs in my mouth.

I sit on my heels. I rock back, then forward. The yard thrums under my feet.

Taking up each delicate bone one at a time, I swallow them. They go down smooth sometimes, but not always. It is the way of things.

(Some days are easier than others.)

When I am satisfied, I rise, and I carry the work within.

Thank you for reading!

⭐ Don’t forget to check out the other entries from today’s event! ⭐

Want to check out some Talebones fiction? Try this:

✨Talebones runs on YOUR support! ✨

• My Tip-Jar! - Enjoyed this piece? Show your appreciation with a one-time tip!

• Work With Me! - Looking for an editor, beta reader, proofreader, or copywriter? Look no further! Check out my Work With Me page for rates and services.

• Shop My Books! - Explore my self-published works, both ebook and paperback, available from various retailers!

• Visit the Gift Shop! - Grab a piece of Talebones swag for your very own! Mugs, tees, hats, sweatshirts, and more, updated seasonally!

✒ Editor’s Note

Welcome back, Talestack Readers!

[New around here? Check out our FAQ page!]

Welcome to the Merry Month of March! 🍀

And Happy Spring from Talestack HQ!

True, it’s not exactly the warmest of weather around here. Not yet, anyway. But there are signs and signals of growth popping up everywhere: the birds are finding spots to build their nests, the frogs are singing in the evenings, the trees are budding like a secret, and the tiny sprouts and sprigs of the early flowers are finding their way up from below.

Reminds me of this poem by Susan Goldwitz, a Pacific Northwest poet whose work I’ve been reveling in lately1:

Coming Again Around (with reverence to Roethke)

A drifting cloud is homeward blown, 
Rivers froth along in search. 
The world's turning is a turning toward. 

There's breath in any moving. 
The nose of the crocus pokes through. 
We can begin again.

—

Spring is your humble Editor’s favorite season. There’s nothing quite like the annual reminder that life rises green and glorious from the depths of the cold and damp. What looks and feels dead is often teeming with hidden potential.

Our creativity is like that. We all need fallow seasons, times of rest and inaction. It’s not death; it’s germination. What wants to grow will grow in its own good time!

Appropriately, our first spring issue is abundant with the fruit of the community’s hard work. Check out what’s on offer, support what sounds compelling, and maybe you’ll feel inspired to add a few words to your own WIPs! (I know I do!)

Happy reading, 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:

• ’s magical thriller, Darkly, is concluding its second season with three more installments in this “near-future world where the FBI have a Dark Forces Division. The agents are working overtime to contain serial killers with supernatural skills. Episodes drop every Tuesday.” Jump into Episode One here!

New Projects:

• has started a new offbeat speculative fiction serial, Wake Me Up In Dystopia, starring herself as the main character. (Editor’s Note - Evelyn wrote the following herself in third person, and it’s too good not to copy and paste whole-cloth, so here we go…) Synopsis: “Wake me up in Dystopia is an imagining of Evelyn, aged 80 in the year 2053, when a series of catastrophes have enabled the fabled New World Order dystopia to come to pass. At that age, one needs to have a damn good reason to provide an exemption to the assisted dying option, and a young nurse is on her way to Evelyn’s house with an express order to get her to sign the consent form. There is laugh-out-loud humour in places, yet coupled with the poignancy of impending death, and a constant raging against a future that cannot be stopped. This may well happen to all of us, when our time comes. And this version of the future may well turn out to be far more realistic than anyone would like to believe. Chapters have been dropping every Sci-Friday (there’s four available so far). Evelyn, by the way, currently has no idea exactly how long this serial is going to be, but she does have a vague idea of what’s going to happen. Some might call that uncanny. Others might call it cheating…”

• of Suspense that Turns Pages, Not Stomachs, recently published her two-part short story, Bitter and Sweet, “a story of love, bread, and revenge.” Part One can be found here and Part Two here. J.P. writes horror/suspense books and stories from Vermont, where the long, dark winters lend themselves well to fiction writing.

• has added a new live chat feature to his repertoire. From Ben: “I’ve got a new project in addition to all my others. I do live CHAT every Monday night at 10:00 pm PST. Come and join me when you can!” Head over to Stories, After Eight to join the fun!

• recently started releasing his completed literary novella, In the Wake of Dreams, in serial pieces. Abridged Synopsis: “After a friend’s mother dies, one last party is thrown to celebrate the house so pregnant with meaning and memories, and all the high school friends are invited. The party is the perfect catalyst for Nick to reconnect with Jay, his beloved best friend, and Lily, Jay’s adored ex-girlfriend from a bygone era. But with Lily’s tearing up at the first mention of her husband, and married Jay’s wondering if Lily will come alone, Nick is left with an uneasy feeling he can’t understand. […] Come join the party with Nick, Jay, and Lily through this ironic and literary romance, one so full of lust and longing and that dizzying drunkenness of nostalgia.” Jump into Part One here!

Awards:

• Congratulations to , winner of the Fantasy (Round 1) edition of the Lunar Awards’ 11th Season, along with Runner-up ! Learn more about the winning stories and other cool details in this post from awards host and guest judge .

📚 The Bookshelf

(Titles listed in order of release date.)

• ’s magical realism novel translated from Russian, Tulubaikaporia, is now available for purchase in various formats through various retailers. Signed copies are also available. Release Date: 3/1/26

• ’s literary novel steeped in Scottish folk ritual, Hovel, is available for preorder in various formats through various retailers. Release Date: 3/17/26

🫱🏻‍🫲🏾 Connection Corner

• cordially invites the fiction community to join in with Worldbuilding Wednesday, “a collaborative worldbuilding challenge set in a reimagined Minecraft village. Choose your character’s home or workplace from our town map, then write their story as it unfolds alongside everyone else’s.” The event includes writing prompts and a cozy mystery that unfolds from multiple perspectives. Check out the introductory post to learn more about how to get involved!

Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:

talestack.editor@gmail.com