Merry Christmas | Featuring "Write More With Simon K Jones"

December 2022 Newsletter

Winston Malone

Dec 24

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Banner artwork for *The Storyletter* by Shivana Brhamadat

Happy Holiday Greetings,

The Storyletter is a place for writing, reading, and talking about fiction. It’s grown in several unquantifiable ways over the past year, and that’s because the more I engage with you, the more I understand what it is I’m creating and how The Storyletter fits into the larger “indieverse”.

I’ve never been more tapped into a community as deeply as I have been with Substack. Okay, maybe I led a competitive online squad in Killzone back in the mid-2000’s, but that’s ancient history. What I’m trying to say is that my dedication to The Storyletter can be derived from two distinct factors: 1) My passion for creating, and 2) Interacting with like-minded peeps such as yourself.

We’re in this together, and there’s a strong bond forming between us as writers, artists, founders, creators, readers, and friends. I’d go so far as to say we’re an unorthodox family in a way. And what is the purpose of family¹?

The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as members mature and learn to participate in the community.

It may seem cheesy, but throughout my time in the military it was never taken lightly. Losing one soldier is one too many. Every person matters, every member of the community is vital and has value, every member of a family is loved and necessary. That means you.

If you’re alone and need someone to talk to this holiday season (or anytime), I’m always available. I won’t be in a position to give you advice, but I will listen. Even if you want to talk about Substack or writing, I’d love to talk shop. Send me an email at storyletter@protonmail.com, or, if it’s more serious, please dial 988 (in the US) for confidential support.

I’m really looking forward to 2023 and all of the wonderful possibilities that lay ahead.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! ~ WM

Announcements

I’ve got a wonderful news! A Western Horror story I wrote was accepted by Timber Ghost Press to be included in the Along Harrowed Trails anthology. This marks my first story accepted by a publisher and the first time I’ll be in market print. More info to come in 2023!

Make sure to secure your 50% off paid subscription to The Storyletter before the end of the year, or share one as a gift with someone you think might enjoy it. All proceeds go directly back into the community in one way or another. Thank you for your continued support!

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What’s Happening in December

Writing Prompt - Flip a Common Trope

As a continuation from last month, we’re hosting a writing event. Click on that link to get all the details. We’re sticking with a broad one for several months to allow time for writers to submit. We’ll test this format out and adjust as needed. Can’t wait to read your submissions!

Featured Substack - Write More with Simon K Jones

This month I’m featuring Write More with Simon K Jones because of his dedication to helping others in the early stages of writing speculative and serial fiction, and for providing invaluable insights into navigating Substack (and the market) itself.

The greatest aspect of Simon's delivery is his complete transparency at every stage of the process. He's very open with how he approaches his writing and graphic design elements, such as using AI art generators like Midjourney.

One of the most beneficial posts for me was where he presented the steps to publishing his novel, No Adults Allowed, which I'm currently reading, and will hopefully Showcase (review) in the near future.

A few months ago, Simon completed a survey of online fiction writers. This survey had some very interesting statistics on display, as seen below:

Image from Write More with Simon K Jones

Simon has an ongoing science fiction crime thriller serial called Tales of the Triverse where a wizard accidentally tears a hole into three different universes. It starts off like a police procedural which I think is really unique. I’m only a few chapters in, but so far it has dark tones layered with comedy and action, and a ton of characters to get familiarized with. I’m eager to find out how the three universes interact and what overarching chaos might ensue. One of my favorite TV shows was called Fringe, and I see parallels that will excite most sci-fi fans looking for a good multi-verse story.

If you’re ready for engaging science fiction and a writing community with a focus on improving your craft, I highly recommend Write More with Simon K Jones.

Write More with Simon K Jones

For anyone who wants to find out how stories are made

The Indie Promo - Join Arthadian’s Podcast

M. S. Arthadian would like to put out the call to all of the creative types out there that during Season 4 of his Arthadian Anthologies podcast, he’ll be gathering others for group discussions on writing, worldbuilding, TTRPGs, and much more.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, consider emailing arthadiananthologies@substack.com, or join the New Expanding Universe Discord.

*If you’d like to promote something in The Storyletter’s monthly newsletter, send me your pitch in an email to storyletter@protonmail.com

Tips + Tricks - 404 Fiction Tropes by Writers Write | Worldbuilding with World Anvil

Looking for some more inspiration for our current writing prompt, or wanting to learn more about tropes in genre fiction? Here are 404 examples found in Fantasy, Horror, Romance, and Science Fiction:

During this month's fruitful Storyletter Thoughts thread on writing software that garnered over 80+ comments, T Van Santana introduced me to a website called World Anvil. It’s a worldbuilding website that helps you design your science fiction or fantasy world by establishing a wiki-like presence. You can even publish your world publicly for others to check out and learn how it works. Mine is private for now. We’ll see what comes of it next year. It has features that are locked behind a paywall, so I’d recommend trying it out for a few days before committing to an annual subscription. Here is an example of the templates that it helps you create:

Gift of the Month - 5% Off For Limited Time

All proceeds go to supporting independent creators. 5% discount applied at checkout. Offer expires December 31.

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Up Next on The Storyletter

I’m hoping to finish a short story called A Crooked Cane Comes a Knockin’. This story was first outlined in a collaborative effort among The Storyletter paid subscribers, so I’ll attribute co-authorship to those involved in its initial conception. It’s not your typical Christmas story, definitely not what I originally had in mind for this holiday season.

I also started working on another more cheerful Christmas story called Winter Wonderland, but it’s shaping up to be more in the novella territory and likely won’t be ready until next Christmas. So you’re stuck with the horror story—although, I know some of you are more excited about that.

Our XPress Access post for December will be “To Build a Reason” where I dive into why I write and what motivated me to create my Substack in the first place. I think it’ll be a useful look into the creative process for those seeking inspiration and tips on writing.

January is totally up in the air! Of course, with the new cross-post feature I’ll be able to share outstanding fiction from the amazing writers I’m following here on Substack. I’ll also be splitting my time more with my other Substack called Tales of Havek by Winston Malone, where I’m building a new planet from the ground up in order to host my shared science fiction and fantasy stories.

POLL

Which serial chapter do you want to see next?

A Doge Tale Part 3

Project Biotica Part 3

Thanks for reading. If I don’t speak with you, have a wonderful rest of your 2022. See you next year!