David A. Riley's Blog, page 2

Future covers for Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy

Not only have I now got the cover sorted for Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 11 but those for volumes 12 and 13 too. All are the work of Jim Pitts.

 

 

Proposed covers for the Collected Horror Stories of David A. Riley

 

These collections will include all of David A. Riley's horror and occasional science fiction stories. They do not include any of his fantasy or swords and sorcery stories, most of which were written over the last five years and number thirty-five at the moment.

 

The Collected Horror Stories of David A. Riley - further update

I spent several hours yesterday preparing the first stages for these books.

They would comprise four volumes:

1970-2000 - which would be 342 pages

2001-2010 - which would be 344 pages

2011-2020 - which would be 298 pages

2021-2025 - which would be 253 pages

These would be all my horror and science fiction stories, but would not include my swords and sorcery/dark fantasy tales. It ends at 2025 because I have stopped writing horror and am concentrating solely on swords and sorcery and dark fantasy.  

The chronological order in which these stories are printed is based upon their date of first publication, not on when they were originally written. At the moment I intend to write brief introductions to each story with any pertinent details, anecdotes, etc., plus a full publishing history. Existing collections of these stories, such as The Lurkers in the Abyss & Other Tales of Terror and His Own Mad Demons will be made out of print shortly before these are brought out. 

At some time in the future I am aiming to see publication, hopefully by other publishers, of my swords and sorcery stories, along the lines of Tule Fog Press's Welgar the Cursed. Titles I have in mind are Horbeck: Tales of a Mercenary Barbarian and Tales of the Azure Sea, though these are just tentative at the moment. I have 35 swords and sorcery/dark fantasy stories written at the moment, totalling 252,000 words, plus a 70,000 word novel called The Sorcerer's War which is currently "doing the rounds".

My next big task? Selecting stories for Volume 11 of Swords & Sorceries Tales of Heroic Fantasy in October, then the same for a new anthology series in February, Swords & Rockets: Tales of Futures Past. 

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Collected Stories of David A. Riley

Through Parallel Universe Publications I am thinking of publishing the first in several proposed volumes of my collected horror, SF and fantasy stories.

These stories would be included in the chronological order in which they were first published and have brief details of their publication history since then. 

For instance some stories have been reprinted quite a few times, especially "After Nightfall":

1970 Weird Window 1, Shadow Publishing edited by David A. Sutton

1971 The Year's Best Horror Fiction 1, Sphere Books & DAW Books edited by Richard Davis

1985 Fantasy Tales #15 edited by Stephen Jones & David A. Sutton

1992 Tayaschiysya Horror 2, (Таящийся ужас 2) published in Russia, translated by Vladimir Vladimirov

2011 Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! edited by Otto Penzler, Vintage Books

2012 Zombies: A Compendium of the Living Dead edited by Otto Penzler, Corvus/Atlantic Books

2013 The Lurkers in the Abyss & Other Tales of Terror, Shadow Publishing

2017 Gallery of Curiosities edited by Kevin Frost

2018 Gallery of Curiosities webzine edited by Kevin Frost

2020 After Nightfall & Other Weird Tales, Parallel Universe Publications

2022 Phantasmagoria Fantasy Tales Special edited by Trevor Kennedy 

 

The books would be published in hardcover, paperback and as kindle eBooks. 

Volume 1 would be subtitled "The Early Years 1970 - " to whichever date the last story to be included was first published. At the same time my earlier collections of stories published by PUP will be retired. I am already in discussions with David A. Sutton, who publishes The Lurkers in the Abyss & Other Tales of Terror about that book becoming out of print soon. 

My latest story - The Temple of the Aspirants

I have now finished the first draft of my most recent story, "The Temple of the Aspirants", which is my first solo tale about Asnar the Josanian, who has always before appeared with Horbeck as one of his constant companions. 

The story is 9,100 words long and the seventh I have completed since the start of July.

This makes 61,000 words in total, which is equal to a short novel!  

Six New Stories Completed Since The Start Of July

I have been enjoying a (for me) unique writing spree since the start of July, with drafts finished for six new swords and sorcery tales:

5th July - "From the Ashes" - 6,800 words

9th July - "Masks of Deception" - 7,000 words

13th July - "Trapped in the Dreamlands" - 6,600 words

26th July - "Escaping the Dreamlands" - 15,200 words

28th July - "The Narcolopsia" - 4,500 words

4th August - "The Dark Sacrifices" - 11,800 words 

51,900 words in total.

Four concern my hero Welgar,  one is about Horbeck and another is about Ossani the Healer.

I am now two thousand words into a story about a companion of Horbeck, Asnar the Josanian. 

How long this spree will last I have no idea, other than it will certainly end by the start of October when I begin reading submissions for Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 11. From past experience this always puts a complete dampener on the own writing, which is unlikely to revive before I start reading submissions for Swords & Rockets: Tales of Futures Past in January. Still I have now 34 swords and sorcery, dark fantasy tales finished and another likely to be finished soon, which I am happy about as I only fairly recently began to concentrate on this genre.

New Horbeck tale finished - The Dark Sacrifices

Since starting it only a few days ago I have finished a new 11,800 word Horbeck tale, "The Dark Sacrifices", which includes the death of one regular character, a dramatic change of life for another and the elevation ro a higher status and another dramatic change of life for a third. 

My Horbeck tales started with "The Demon  from Another World", which was published in Anthology of the Damned: Necromorrium last year.

Here is a full list of my Horbeck tales so far, both published and unpublished:

"The Demon from Another World" - Anthology of the Damned: Necromoirrium, 2024 - 10,000 words

"Lies and Treachery" - Crimson Quill Quarterly issues 6 and 7, 2025 - 11,100 words

"The Mummified Demi-God"  - 4,800 words

"Dead Thieves in the Night" - 10,300 words

"The Sorcerer's Casket" - 15,700 words

"A Murder of Necromancers" - 13,600 words

"The Dark Sacrifices" - 11,800 words

 

77,300 words in total! 

 

 

 

A new Welgar story just completed - The Narcolopsia

 

 I have just completed another Welgar story at 4,500 words, but as it is not really a complete story in itself but reads more like the chapter in an ongoing novel (all of my Welgar stories can be read chronologically) I may keep it in reserve for when, at some time in the future, I might decide to publish all my Welgar stories as a full-blooded saga.  The story is currently titled "The Narcolopsia".  

Escaping the Dreamlands

My third Welgar story since publication of Welgar the Cursed by Tule Fog Press earlier this year has now been completed, at least in its first draft, standing at 15,200 words. 

"Escaping the Dreamlands" is the ninth Welgar story since I introduced the character in "Ossani the Healer and the Beautiful Homunculus" in 2023. Curiously, I have already begun to outline another inside my head (nothing on paper so far). 

The Welgar stories so far are:

"Ossani theHealer and the Beautiful Homunculus" © 2023 First published in Swords &Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 7 

"The DarkPriestdom" © 2023 First published in Savage Realms Monthly 

"Welgar theCursed" © 2023 First published in Swords & Heroes (Tule Fog Press)

"Mask of a MadGod" © 2025 First published in Welgar the Cursed (Tule Fog Press)

"The ForbiddenCity of Cyramon" © 2024 First Published in Swords & Heroes eZine

"Emerging fromTheir Twilit Realms" © 2025 First published in Welgar the Cursed (TuleFog Press)

"From the Ashes" - new

"Trapped in theDreamlands" - new

"Escaping theDreamlands" - new

 

Escaping The Dreamlands - my third new Welgar story since publication of Welgar the Cursed

I am now up to 12,000 words of a new Welgar tale, "Escaping the Dreamlands", a direct sequel to "Trapped in the Dreamlands" which I finished a few weeks ago. This marks the third new Welgar story since publication by Tule Fog Press of my collection Welgar the Cursed. 

All of my Welgar stories follow on from each other chronologically to form one ongoing saga.