The Writings on the Wall #4

What to expect in 2022...

Jan 12

Merry New Year! Woot?

So it’s settled. 2021 is over. Good riddance. Now we have a brand new and shiny new year named 2022… how’s that for different? Well, it’ll be with us for at least a year, so we might as well get used to it.

I hope you all have a great year—better, at least, than the previous. I suppose that’s a low bar, so yay! It’s bound to be better.

All the best to you all!

Plans for 2022

I have lots of stuff waiting in the pipeline for this year. So let’s start at the beginning.

One (very) short story and a novella have been picked up by a small press (The Great Void) and will appear in two different anthologies due out very soon (possibly before the end of this month).

The first is “The Creature in the Cabin,” which is also available here. It will be published in a charity anthology of horror flash fiction called “Beyond.”

The other is a longer weird fantasy piece called “The Essence of Symmetry.” This one has never been released anywhere else before. It will be published in the “Fall Into the Abyss” anthology.

As far as this Substack goes, there will only be two new free stories published this month. Starting with “What Once Was Said Must Now Be Done” next Wednesday. This is the first in a series of standalone adventures featuring Jean-Jack Laroch, another of my brother’s creations. The character is somewhat in the style of D’Artagnan, though the stories are set in an alternate version of medieval England, with elements of fantasy and even Science-Fiction!

After that will come the launch of my space opera serial. I’ve decided not to reveal the title until the first chapter is released. The date for that is January 30. The following episodes will be posted on Sundays on a weekly basis. I should warn though that only the first four will be available for free. Beyond that, the serial will be for my paid subscribers only. But I hope those four chapters will be enough to let you decide whether you want to read the rest or not.

I don’t have specific dates yet for what will come after that, but here’s a quick overview:

A serialized novel that I’m currently editing. I also need to come up with a decent title for this one!
More of Reikk’s adventures (hopefully I can release the next one in February).
More Varushka tales (next one due next month).
More Laroch.
Another series of standalones featuring Thimmin and Kelle… I love these two! I’ll tell you all about them very soon. I bet you’ll love them too!
That “Traveler of a Thousand Worlds” thingy I keep mentioning… I will tame this story into submission! Maybe. (coughs)
And more unrelated short stories, just for the fun of it.

I’ll also be writing another novel or two, though I haven’t decided yet what I’ll do with those. We shall see once they’re written (and edited!)

Sounds like fun? I think so too!

Books to read

Here is a selection of books that might be of interest to you. All of these are free to download, though you’ll have to sign up to the authors’ newsletter to grab your copy.

One King One Rule by Jay Toney

To save his world, he must regain the crown

War on Nibiru has caused environmental damage resulting in climate disaster. The cities on the surface have moved underground, and a search for the means to restore the climate is beginning. Two brothers have entirely different ideas of how to rule the planet and save the people. Only one of them can be right.

Anu wants to use the planet’s resources to further develop the infrastructure of the underground cities, whereas Alalu wants to search for [… read more …]