#substack reader

[adharagranley-writer]

i have a substack now! if any of you want to go there and subscribe to read my random writer ramblings and thoughts that would be very appreciated (i'll giggle and kick my feet in the air if i get subscriber & comment notifications).

any other substack writers here?

[bonbonmacaron]

I started reading this serialized fantasy novel in Chinese called Twig 枝丫. It’s about trees growing in people and controlling them 😱 Very spooky and intriguing. It’s written by a student and specifically for intermediate learners. The Substack has vocab lists for each chapter and audio, which is amazing! The best part is that a new chapter comes out every Friday. I’m only on chapter 10 so far, so I’m not caught up yet. If you also want to read it, you can just look up the Twig 枝丫 Substack. I pasted the chapters into Pleco to look up words.

I’ve also been watching this show called Women in Taipei 台北女子圖鑑 and it’s really good. I feel like I can understand about 80% of it. Apparently it’s an adaptation of a Japanese show, so I might also watch it in Japanese. Oh wait I just looked it up, it’s an adaption of Tokyo Girl, which was the first show I watched in Japanese 😅

[see-arcane]

It's come to my attention that the last time I pinned up all these new chapters, it apparently got lost in the slog of other updates when I first opened my Substack. So many folks are shocked that Penclosa has new chapters, hiatus'd though it is at present. So!

All Chapters of Penclosa (So Far)

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6

“The Parasite” by Arthur Conan Doyle for background.

And for new readers who don't know what this is all about:

It’s been almost a year since Jonathan Harker made that fateful first trip to Transylvania. The monster that imprisoned him, that threatened his love, that died in a box of earth by two blades, has been gone for months. Yet Jonathan’s nightmares have never left. In fact, as the bleak anniversary nears, they have worsened. Van Helsing’s mesmerism has made no progress in freeing him from the nightly horror. But he has come from Amsterdam for a potentially fruitful visit to another professor. 

Prof. Wilson is playing host to a mesmerist of singular and uncanny power, Miss Helen Penclosa. On meeting the troubled young man and his wife, she is only too happy to help…

So opens Penclosa, a story sadly locked in stasis for the indefinite time being. The work is a crossover between Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula and Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story, “The Parasite.” The one features the infamous vampire and the heroes who clash with him, the other stars a professor who gets himself entangled in the amorous-to-villainous intentions of a hypnotist who’s implied to have more than the usual power behind her mesmeric ability. While I was reading both of these stories around the same time, an idea occurred:

Wow. This hypno-lady would be such a huge problem for Jonathan Harker specifically.

Which led to the next thought:

I should make her a huge problem for Jonathan Harker specifically.

And then I did!

(Sorry there’s no grander scheme behind it than that, I just like playing dolls with scary classic lit characters. And terrorizing my favorite gothic horror solicitor in particular. Sorry, Mr. Harker.)

That said, I make no promises as to an if or when of continuing Penclosa beyond the point it was paused at. I have an inkling of other ways to play with the story in a further-down-the-line plot where she meets the Harkers under different circumstances, but I’m also really attached to the bones I’ve already laid down here. So it’s a bit up in the air for now. Let me know what you guys think, I’d love to know what the interest level is.

In the meantime, don’t make direct eye contact with any mesmerists and/or undead horrors.

[sageispunk]

just did my first live reading of a short story🫣

[inkandpaperqwerty]

This is a momentous occasion. Why? Because this is my first Sunday Update that I am posting to my Substack, Qwerty’s Quasar, as well as my tumblr and website! I also enabled the paid subscription option and the chat feature, so I’m trying to expand and become more active over there, which is really exciting!

What’s also exciting is that Rehearsing Tragedies is ready for Update Wednesday (03/12)! I’ll polish it again before actually posting it, as I always do, but it’s ready right now, and the next chapter is basically written, it’s just that a large chunk is in my notebook and needs cleaning up.

DID I MENTION MY INCREDIBLE BROTHER MADE FANART FOR ME?? FOR CHAPTER 6??? WITH SCRATCHED UP CAS ON THE COUCH????????????

Ahem. I’m hoping to update Want is a Wasting Disease on the next Update Wednesday (03/26), and then Rehearsing Tragedies again on the Update Wednesday after that, but that’s not set in stone.

Huge shoutout to @norite for leaving kudos on two of my works associated with my book Cataclysm and my upcoming book, Collision Course! Support for original works and characters is always appreciated, and you put a huge smile on my face!!

Speaking of Collision Course, the final edit is about halfway done according to the page count, but I think the majority of the cleaning up is needed toward the end, so… I’ll say I’m about a third of the way through. My awesome sister is working on the cover art, and it’s not even done yet, but it already looks so amazing!

Thanks so much for reading, and as always, your support is appreciated more than you will ever know!

[benitariums]

writing is so unglamorous it’s such a privilege to do it

[shelbbswrites]

Coming to my newsletter tomorrow

Subscribe now so you don't miss it!

[medusasbush]

ah. figured it out.

[laurahepworth-author]

Opinions please! What are your thoughts on Substack vs. Patreon vs newsletters? I'm asking both for both a reader and writer's perspective. I've hit a bit of a snag with my current newsletter and am exploring different solutions and Substack's come up as a possibility. I'm looking into using it both as a replacement to my current newsletter, but also as sort of a blog and for serializing my chapter drafts. This would also be in addition to my Patreon as an alternative for any that don't care for that site. So, any thoughts on how you like (or don't like) Substack or reader/writer preference between the three?

[b0rtney]

Someone is doing my favorite thing ever: commenting on every chapter of a fic I wrote!!! YES BESTIE TELL ME HOW EXCITED U ARE AND HOW U DIDNT SEE THE STABBING COMING BUT U DID SEE THE SISTER LEARNING ENGLISH COMING!!!!!

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

What Merging of Fable & Everand Mean to Indie Authors

Early reflection and perspectives from an indie author on how this strategic merger empowers book authors to reach engaged, censorship-free audiences across borders. Publishing Case Study #137 Are you a book author looking to reach a broader audience through a proven system supported by a like-minded community? Are you an aspiring writer who wants to publish your first book within 3 months with…

[jolenes-book-journey]

Changing Newsletter Places Can Bring New Readers

Why I’m Moving My Author Newsletter to Substack — And Why You Might Consider It Too If you’re an author juggling multiple platforms for your newsletter, blog, and social updates, you know how overwhelming it can be to keep everything in sync. That’s why I’ve decided to make a change — I’m shifting from using the WordPress newsletter plugin to Substack as the new home for my writing, publishing…

[jrtstories]

Read, share, join, subscribe, donate, and support your favorite stories so we can see what happens next to our favorite characters

On Substack

On Patreon

Give what you can on Buy Me A Coffee

[categorysixkaiju]

[...] I would say that [the opening of Raymond Carver’s “Chef’s House”] qualifies as “in media res” and it is one of the things that differentiates “in media res” from the standard, flat “cold opening.” In media res means in “the middle of things.” Sometimes, people take this to mean “in the middle of the action” with “action” interpreted literally. That is wrongheaded, in my opinion. Good advice deployed badly turns into a crime. It might be more productive to think of “in media res” as meaning, beginning in the thick of the situation. “Chef’s House” begins after Wes and Edna have split up. She’s got a new life. She thinks the Wes stuff is behind her. Then, bang, he calls. The story picks up, then, in the middle of things. Not during their marriage. Not during the decline of their marriage, which is where some people would have begun. No. The story opens in the fullness of the relationships, when the characters have a great deal of history behind them already. The cold open is just a flat, dull misinterpretation of this idea. It’s all action, no relationships. [...]

[that-one-girls-blog-posts]

I have substack now!!! (and no idea how to use it pls help)

[author-mandi-bean]

Facing February

Any other writers trying to get their shit together in 2025?