Austin Worley's Blog: Writing, Reading, and Living with Austin Worley, page 7

“Decisions” Reprinted in Flights of Fantasy

Some good news totally lost in the shuffle over the last few weeks: my fantasy flash fic “Decisions” has once again been reprinted, this time in Flights of Fantasy, a fantasy flash fiction anthology from Iron Faerie Publishing!

After the story was accepted way back in September of 2021, I didn’t hear anything more from Iron Faerie and assumed the project died because it couldn’t fill all of its slots. But as it turns out, they contacted me this past September informing me the anthology would be published in early October. This marks the first time “Decisions” is available in an e-book, which is super exciting!

About “Decisions”

After joining the Order of Watchers—a monastic organization which protects folk from monsters and magic—Arlise Dun believes she has found redemption. But then an encounter with a werewolf cub leaves her facing the same dilemma she did at Laufenden. Will she make the right choice this time?

About “Flights of Fantasy”

Dive into a realm where magic knows no bounds, and legends come to life. From the mystical depths of ancient forests to the soaring heights of dragon filled skies, these tales will transport you to worlds where heroes rise, kingdoms clash, and the extraordinary becomes ordinary. Whether you seek epic adventures, tales of mystical creatures, or stories of unlikely heroes, this anthology has it all! Prepare to be spellbound and experience the magic of an entire universe in a single book.

If you’re interested, you can find the anthology in e-book and paperback on Amazon.

“A Helping Hand” Release Day!

After a long, long wait, “A Helping Hand” is finally published in Brief Encounters #9!

If you were expecting it to be Issue #12, you’re not alone. The original draft cover concept shown to me was for Brief Encounters #12, so I guess Adekon decided to go ahead and use it for Issue #9.

“A Helping Hand” is my earliest story following the vigilante Whippoorwill. At this point in her career, she’s a lot more raw. Inexperienced, unrefined, and isolated, but still recognizable to anyone who’s read “An Oath to the Sun” or “Law, Love, and the Whippoorwill”.

This story also serves as an origin for her adopted daughter and eventual sidekick Rosa Coronil, the Kingfisher. I hope everyone enjoys this peek at their past!

Here’s my blurb for “A Helping Hand”:

Since the Crash of 2026, Whippoorwill has fought a one-woman war on crime and corruption in Oklahoma. And despite the crushing loneliness of life as a vigilante, it’s gone well…until now.

Bleeding from a gunshot wound and on the run from gangsters, she finds herself forced to lie low with an orphaned little girl. But even as they bond over shared history, the gangsters are closing in. If either of them is to survive the night, she’ll need a helping hand from an unlikely source.

If you’re interested, you can find Brief Encounters #9 on Amazon

“A Helping Hand” Update

Well, I have some good news and bad news on Brief Encounters #12.

First, the bad: Adekon has delayed the release of the issue again. My editor tells me the delay is from marketing, so it’s probably just a matter of trying to avoid any conflict between their new releases.

The good news? This delay is really brief. We’re now looking at Sunday, September 17th.

Also, I’ve finally cooked up a blurb for “A Helping Hand”:

Since the Crash of 2026, Whippoorwill has fought a one-woman war on crime and corruption in Oklahoma. And despite the crushing loneliness of life as a vigilante, it’s gone well…until now.

Bleeding from a gunshot wound and on the run from gangsters, she finds herself forced to lie low with an orphaned little girl. But even as they bond over shared history, the gangsters are closing in. If either of them is to survive the night, she’ll need a helping hand from an unlikely source.

I’ll be making another post on Sunday, either to announce the release or inform you of further delays. Fingers crossed the new date holds!

Tentative Release Date for “A Helping Hand”!

This announcement is a long time coming, but it looks like we’ve finally got an actual release date for Brief Encounters #12: September 15th!

“A Helping Hand” is my third story starring vigilante superheroine Topsannah Price, better known as the Whippoorwill. This one takes place just a few years into her career. Her legend is already starting to spread, but she’s still young and out of her depth when it comes to fighting crime and corruption in OKC. She also hasn’t formed any of the relationships critical to her success in “An Oath to the Sun” or “Law, Love, and the Whippoorwill”…but that’s about to change.

Even though it’s told from Whippoorwill’s point of view, “A Helping Hand” is in many ways an origin story for Rosa Coronil. Writing kids is always a balancing act, especially when those kids are preteens. You can’t make them sound too childish, but they can’t sound like adults in tiny bodies, either. After some revisions to the original draft, I think we threaded the needle perfectly. You can already see hints of the Kingfisher in Rosa, but you can also tell they never would’ve come to the forefront without guidance and support from Topsannah.

Adekon is still finalizing the cover, so it’s always possible the release date will slip again, but I can’t wait to share this story with you all!

Update July & August 2023

Where has summer gone? It seems like it came, I blinked, and we’re already almost at the end. The last few weeks in particular were hectic, so there’s a lot to cover in this combined monthly update.

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First, I’ve been hard at work on prewriting for my military sci-fi romance The Captain and the Crown. Typing up character sheets took all of July and the first week or so of August, and I’m somewhere between a quarter and a third of the way through my outline. Some of the early scenes are based on ones from the novelette version of this story I started last year, but they’ve all been adapted by now. While my original goal was to start drafting in September, I feel like it’ll take most of next month to craft all the new scenes necessary to take this book from a novelette/novella to a full-length novel.

I’ve also done a little setting development thanks to another free trial of Canva Pro. A few flag concepts for the relevant star nations, rough seals for military branches, and even a map of the star system where most of The Captain and the Crown unfolds. Graphic design isn’t usually my forte, but they all turned out quite nicely.

Seal of the Eleutherian League NavySeal of the Eleutherian League ArmySeal of the Eleutherian League Marine Corps

Outside of my current projects, the last few months have seen some exciting stuff. Summer of Sci-fi & Fantasy: Volume 2 released with a reprint of my fantasy short story “Lightning Between Your Fingers”, and The Lorelei Signal reprinted “Decisions”. I loved seeing the latter the way it was meant to be read, and they picked some lovely art to accompany my little story. Fantastic Detectives has already yielded royalties, and we should be looking at the launch of the hardcover soon. I’ll make another blog post whenever World Enough gets back to me with details on that edition of the anthology.

If you follow this blog, you may already know I finally inked a contract with Adekon Publishing for “A Helping Hand”. This third story featuring my vigilante superheroine Whippoorwill will be published in Brief Encounters #12, which I’m told is currently looking at a release date in the first week of September. I’ll let you know once I have an actual day!

Otherwise, things are quiet on the publishing front. “Good Boy” still appears to be under consideration at Nobilis Erotica. I’m trying not to read too much into anything, but the fact it’s been sixty-six days and they usually send rejections in less than ten–most of them in less than a week–seems like a sign this story at least made it to the second round.

I have way less data to work with on the handful of other stories on sub. “Warden of the Wex Wood” is the best of them, though the right fit has proven elusive so far. Folk of Rock and Water is also under consideration at one or two markets, but I’m not pursuing it as aggressively as before. Since I’m pivoting toward speculative romance, I’d like my debut novel or novella to be in one of those subgenres instead of a fantasy western. Nevertheless, I won’t turn up my nose if somebody wants to buy.

The rest of my current submissions are reprints, some for pay and some for exposure. “Lightning Between Your Fingers” and “An Oath to the Sun” are both making the rounds right now. We’ll see if anyone bites.

Since I’ll be writing military sci-fi, it seemed fitting to go back and fill in the books I haven’t read in David Weber’s Honor Harrington. I polished off Cauldron of Ghosts on Friday, and I’m already about a third of the way through Storm from the Shadows. Afterwards, I’ll be polish off the series with To End in Fire and read a few select stories from What Price Victory? I’m especially interested in “The Silesian Command” by Jan Kotouc, since Silesia is one region of the setting that hasn’t received much attention since its partition and annexation by Manticore and the Andermani.

The Double ClusterThe Sturgeon MoonThe Butterfly Cluster

July and August both ended up being wonderful for astronomy. In fact, they were so spectacular that I’m a little short on good targets for this scope under Bortle 7 skies. Fortunately, we’re getting into Fall, so new sights should be rising shortly. I’m especially excited to go after Uranus, which is the only planet I haven’t managed to photograph yet.

Outside of astronomy, July and August weren’t so spectacular. At the very end of July, our air conditioner broke down right before the arrival of a heat dome. We’ve managed to make do with some window units and fans, but the only long-term solution is to replace the air conditioner in its entirety. Talk about a massive–and expensive–undertaking!

Fortunately, we only have a few more weeks of summer left. We may have hot days all the way into October, but if we can stay cool through the heat dome set to arrive this weekend, everything afterwards should be bearable.

Hopefully everyone else is staying cool and enjoys the rest of their summer. I’ll see y’all in September!

“A Helping Hand” Update!

It’s been a long road, with a lot of delays, but I finally inked the contract with Adekon Publishing: “A Helping Hand” will be published in Brief Encounters. While I still don’t have an issue number or cover yet, we’re looking at a release sometime in August!

This will be my third published work featuring the vigilante superheroine Whippoorwill as she roots out crime and corruption in a near-future Oklahoma. “A Helping Hand” is once again a departure from the other stories in the series. Where “Law, Love, and the Whippoorwill” is a second-chance romance and “An Oath to the Sun” is a mystery, this piece blends the action and suspense of a thriller with some simultaneously heartfelt and heart-wrenching moments.

If you’ve ever wondered what exactly led Topsannah to adopt Rosa, keep your eyes peeled for more updates on “A Helping Hand”!

“Decisions” Reprinted in The Lorelei Signal

This past week has been so hectic, I forgot to mention “Decisions” is out now in the latest issue of The Lorelei Signal!

This fantastic piece by Marge Simon accompanies “Decisions”

The Lorelei Signal has been one of my dream markets since 2015; being dedicated to three-dimensional fantasy heroines, it seemed like a perfect place for one of my stories featuring Arlise. The fact its editorial staff agreed is a massive confidence boost!

“Decisions” was my first published piece starring my most prolific heroine, so seeing the story reprinted–without the missing italics marring the version published in Fifty Flashes–is awesome.

After joining the Order of Watchers, Arlise Dun believes she has found redemption in shielding folk from magic and monsters…until a familiar dilemma rears its ugly head during an encounter with a werewolf cub. Will she make the right decision this time?

“Decisions” is available to read for free here. And don’t forget to check out some of the other fantastic stories in The Lorelei Signal!

Happy Fourth of July!

Hope my fellow Americans are enjoying a wonderful Independence Day!

Summer of Sci-fi & Fantasy Release Day!

The latest edition of “Lightning Between Your Fingers” is out now as part of Summer of Sci-Fi & Fantasy: Volume 2!

MetaStellar already reprinted “Lightning Between Your Fingers” last year, but it’s always nice to share this story with a brand-new audience.

In Volume Two of the hugely successful Summer of Sci-Fi & Fantasy anthology series, editor Dustin Bilyk brings tales to you that will shatter your speculative fiction expectations while introducing some of the most hard-hitting and evocative short stories on the market today.

Pick your poison:

Dragons, space aliens, demons, AI, celestial sea creatures, gods, portals, or robotic locusts that feed on human flesh.

These are just a few of the things you can expect in this professionally curated collection of Science Fiction & Fantasy. From one story to the next, you will have no idea what to expect.

In this volume, we have included 22 stories from 22 authors, every single one of them chosen on merit and merit alone. Whether you have a hankering for a mountaintop melee between a barbarian and a fire-breathing dragon, a harrowing, horrific tale about one man’s account of the moon gone missing, or a lighthearted quest about a coward prince trying to prove to the King that he is worthy of the crown, we have something for everyone.

Included are epic, never-before-read short stories from Gustavo Bondoni, Elle Andrews Patt, Katherine Westermann, David L. Updike, William Schwarz, John Forrester, Eliza Langhans, Jeff Sullins, Blake Jessop, Keira Reynolds, Rob Butler, Aaron Beardsell, Dustin Bilyk, and Nick Clements.

PLUS, reprints by Mike Morgan, Paul Alex Gray, Marlaina Cockcroft, Avra Margariti, Sydney Paige Guerrero, Adam Jarvis, Austin Worley, and Sam Muller.

A young woman slain, apparently by lightning. But she died indoors, and it hasn’t stormed in weeks. Arlise Dun has seen more than her share of strange cases during her service with the Order of Watchers, but this takes the cake. As she pieces together the clues surrounding Emerei Dawson’s death, a sordid tale of vice and corruption takes shape. Can Arlise solve the case before the perpetrators slip away?

If you haven’t already read “Lightning Between Your Fingers” and are in the mood for some short spec fic, definitely take a look at this anthology…and don’t forget to let me know what you think!

Amazon

Update: June 2023

June came and went so fast! It feels like just last week, we were still in May, and now June is simply…gone. Maybe that’s because it was a really eventful month.

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First, I actually finished off the superhero erotica story! Now entitled “Good Boy”, its final word count sits at 2,360 words. Enough for Nobilis Erotica, where it’s currently under consideration, but still short enough finding other markets for the piece if they reject it will be difficult. Nevertheless, I’m glad I saw this story all the way through.

Since “Good Boy” is finally done, I’m turning my attention to the future. One of my goals this year was to write at least the first draft of a novel or novella. There are three obvious candidates: my enemies-to-lovers military sci-fi romance The Captain and the Crown, the novelization of my superhero romance novelette “Law, Love, and the Whippoorwill”, and a fantasy romance starring Arlise that would weave together “The Gale at Quiet Cove” and “Enough”.

Of these, The Captain and the Crown seems the most straightforward. It looks like either a long novella or a short novel, and I started revamping my outline and character sheets for it this week. Bits of my original, abortive draft from last fall are still usable, but my vision for the opening scenes is different. Since this story was originally conceived as a novelette, that draft uses less subtext and faster pacing than this version needs.

Law, Love, and the Whippoorwill doesn’t need anywhere near as much prewriting, since the story is already laid out in broad strokes by the original novelette, the old character sheets are still good, and entire scenes can probably carry over into the novelization. However, I do need a deeper plot running through the second act. I also want to do more research and bring in some consultants/sensitivity readers to ensure the depiction of Topsannah’s Comanche culture and background is accurate. Also, this will definitely be a full-length novel. It’s a lot of work, so tackling a smaller project first might be better.

The fantasy romance with Arlise will be reimagining “The Gale at Quiet Cove” more or less from the ground up, and I’m currently overhauling my old worldbuilding notes to align them with my current vision for the setting. Of these three, it needs the most work, so I think it makes sense to push this one onto the backburner.

I do intend to tackle my other military sci-fi romance–tentatively entitled A League of Honor–at some point, but with The Captain and the Crown being shorter and taking place earlier in the setting, it seems natural to write the latter first. Maybe League will end up the second book in the series.

Amid all this prewriting ahead of me, a fantastic idea for a flash fic hit me yesterday. I may try to multitask and write it while outlining just to keep my skills sharp, but I don’t want to stretch myself too thin and end up bogged down for months like with “Good Boy”

On the publishing front, “Lightning Between Your Fingers” received its latest reprint in Summer of Sci-fi & Fantasy: Volume 2. Only the Kindle version is out right now, with the print edition releasing tomorrow. Stay tuned for release day posts about it and “Decisions” getting published in the July issue of The Lorelei Signal.

No updates when “A Helping Hand” will be published in Brief Encounters, though there’s obviously been schedule slippage. I’m trying to get in touch with Adekon through Upwork and will share further details as soon as I learn more.

On a brighter note, I’m submitting Folk of Rock and Water again. This publisher seems promising, so hopefully one of my future blog posts is the announcement of my first novella being accepted for publication.

I’ve been so busy writing and brainstorming I haven’t read as much as I should’ve in June. My focus is split between His Sacred Incantations, the fun little romance Red, White & Royal Blue, and my contributor’s copy of Fantastic Detectives. My TBR is a mile long, so I’m hoping I can find more time to read in July.

The Lunar TerminatorSaturn

As promised last month, here are a couple of the astrophotos taken through my Apertura AD8. Seeing so much detail on the Moon or Jupiter and Saturn is truly breathtaking. Afocal astrophotography is tougher with deep sky objects, but visual observing is fantastic. Just this week, I caught my first planetary nebula: M57, in the constellation Lyra. When the skies are steady, you can resolve individual stars in globular clusters, especially M13.

I’ll leave you with a few more of my best shots.

JupiterVenus

Hopefully the writing–and the stargazing–goes even better in July!