Good morning, all...three weeks in to Substack, and beginning to get my bearings; so many talented folks here, and I've read so much great work here in such a short period of time. I invite you to visit my Substack "The Lengthening Shadow", where you will find several short horror/speculative stories that I wrote over the past couple of weeks; the most recent is titled "Fly". Looking forward to reading everyone's work here...! Thanks, Tony
Gautin’s Errand is the story of a young boy entrusted with a sudden burden too great for most men to bear. Born with a crippled leg, and without even understanding his mission, Gautin must carry a package through absolute peril, all to save his family—and his father—who have only ever treated him with contempt.
I’m a writer who deals in the weird and the wild. This piece is all about the savagery most of us hide under our skins. It’s a short piece (<1000 words) but part of a series of brief but equally-strange stories I’ll be releasing as part of my fortnightly schedule. Take a look 🦈
I started a brand new serialisation! Wake me up in Dystopia is subtitled An autobiographical future, so yours truly is a main character, except it starts in the year 2053 when I am 80 years old, and am facing the imminent almost-mandatory 'assisted dying' law, which requires a 'reasonable exemption' if you want to keep on living. The young nurse is approaching my house, but her neural implant isn't working, and my home assist computer doesn't behave like a normal one should. There is clearly something strange going on... what is going to happen to me? or any of us, when the time comes?
Chapters drop every Friday (follow the Sci-Friday tag on Notes for this, and other goodies in the SF community here!).
A few years ago, I lived on a 52-acre farm with my wife and grandchildren. My daughter stopped over one day before going to work. She left her car door open. While on her way to work, she called her mom and said, "I've got a chicken in my car."
She tried to get my wife to meet her at work, get the chicken, and take it back to the farm with her. But that wasn't going to happen. So, she called her grandmother, who went after the chicken and brought it back to the farm. In honor of Elizabeth, our oldest daughter, I wrote this story, titled Piedro Peacock and the Red Rooster Heist:
Alex Hearth is a top-level classical performer, playing for the upper classes of society around the globe. But can she escape from her privileged position and all that comes with it?
A bumbling plow truck sasquatch is thrust into a Pennsylvania Wilds murder mystery during a blizzard, as local bakers fall victim to a strange drug called Outrage, and the only clue is a clan of British-speaking mice. In honor of February snowstorm forests.
Five hundred years in the future, in a world not too much unlike our own, a century-long cold war has just gone hot. WAYBOUND focuses on the people stuck in the middle in a "character-focused, world-driven" series of vignettes diving into many different events and genres from pulse-pounding military sci-fi to conspiracy thriller to an interview about sandwiches, all tied around the central mystery: what is Project SUNRAY hiding?
On a frontier world where boundaries prevent bloodshed, a line rider discovers that stability is being preserved through a convenient lie. “The Line Returned” is a space-western about stewardship, moral authority, and the quiet cost of refusing the safer story. A boundary restored, not to end conflict—but to keep it honest.
https://tonymcnichol.substack.com/
Good morning, all...three weeks in to Substack, and beginning to get my bearings; so many talented folks here, and I've read so much great work here in such a short period of time. I invite you to visit my Substack "The Lengthening Shadow", where you will find several short horror/speculative stories that I wrote over the past couple of weeks; the most recent is titled "Fly". Looking forward to reading everyone's work here...! Thanks, Tony
Gautin’s Errand is the story of a young boy entrusted with a sudden burden too great for most men to bear. Born with a crippled leg, and without even understanding his mission, Gautin must carry a package through absolute peril, all to save his family—and his father—who have only ever treated him with contempt.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ericfalden/p/gautins-errand?r=3ecd72&utm_medium=ios
I’m a writer who deals in the weird and the wild. This piece is all about the savagery most of us hide under our skins. It’s a short piece (<1000 words) but part of a series of brief but equally-strange stories I’ll be releasing as part of my fortnightly schedule. Take a look 🦈
https://open.substack.com/pub/philipwebbgregg/p/there-was-a-lady-who-had-sharks-under?r=850gz&utm_medium=ios
I started a brand new serialisation! Wake me up in Dystopia is subtitled An autobiographical future, so yours truly is a main character, except it starts in the year 2053 when I am 80 years old, and am facing the imminent almost-mandatory 'assisted dying' law, which requires a 'reasonable exemption' if you want to keep on living. The young nurse is approaching my house, but her neural implant isn't working, and my home assist computer doesn't behave like a normal one should. There is clearly something strange going on... what is going to happen to me? or any of us, when the time comes?
Chapters drop every Friday (follow the Sci-Friday tag on Notes for this, and other goodies in the SF community here!).
https://inadifferentplace.substack.com/p/wake-me-up-in-dystopia-first-part?r=2s9hod
The finest buttons in town come from the river house; along with a scandal. [short story]
https://open.substack.com/pub/quietlittlejourneys/p/pearl-without-sea?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=56bd9y
A human/AI crew to Alpha Centauri—🧐—🤖—🚀—🪐
A search into the origins of consciousness—🧬
A First Contact with inscrutable aliens—👽
Combine into:
THE THREE REFLECTORS OF CONSENSUAL REALITY
Your mind will be blown.
First chapter starts here: https://jetse.substack.com/p/the-three-reflectors-of-consensual .
A few years ago, I lived on a 52-acre farm with my wife and grandchildren. My daughter stopped over one day before going to work. She left her car door open. While on her way to work, she called her mom and said, "I've got a chicken in my car."
She tried to get my wife to meet her at work, get the chicken, and take it back to the farm with her. But that wasn't going to happen. So, she called her grandmother, who went after the chicken and brought it back to the farm. In honor of Elizabeth, our oldest daughter, I wrote this story, titled Piedro Peacock and the Red Rooster Heist:
https://substack.com/@allentaylor/p-186898791
Death Knight Nectar. 🗡️
https://gav1393824.substack.com/p/death-knight-nectar?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7owd0z
Alex Hearth is a top-level classical performer, playing for the upper classes of society around the globe. But can she escape from her privileged position and all that comes with it?
https://coraclevoyager.substack.com/p/elite
A bumbling plow truck sasquatch is thrust into a Pennsylvania Wilds murder mystery during a blizzard, as local bakers fall victim to a strange drug called Outrage, and the only clue is a clan of British-speaking mice. In honor of February snowstorm forests.
https://stomproams.substack.com/p/stomp-bigfoot-drives-plow-and-solves
Five hundred years in the future, in a world not too much unlike our own, a century-long cold war has just gone hot. WAYBOUND focuses on the people stuck in the middle in a "character-focused, world-driven" series of vignettes diving into many different events and genres from pulse-pounding military sci-fi to conspiracy thriller to an interview about sandwiches, all tied around the central mystery: what is Project SUNRAY hiding?
Check it out at https://www.waybound.space/
We've also got a site to introduce the world of the series, if that sounds interesting to you: https://intro.waybound.space
They've been liberated from the empire which banned old books. Now they need to find the books they need, and prepare in case the rules change again.
https://gallagherstories.substack.com/p/coffeehouse
Here's the link to my speculative sci-fi dystopian novel. I'm serializing it here on Substack. 👉🏿 https://vivianotoo.substack.com/p/amber-stone-and-the-dead-doctor-chapter?r=333hjr
Hook: In a world ruled by the Elite, hiding who you are isn’t enough—Amber Stone’s abilities are becoming too dangerous to ignore.
Bonus: I had one question. What if the color of your eyes decided your place in society?
On a frontier world where boundaries prevent bloodshed, a line rider discovers that stability is being preserved through a convenient lie. “The Line Returned” is a space-western about stewardship, moral authority, and the quiet cost of refusing the safer story. A boundary restored, not to end conflict—but to keep it honest.
This link will be active March 6 at 9:00 AM.
https://larryarmstrong101.substack.com/publish/post/187196999?back=%2Fpublish%2Fposts%2Fscheduled
It's to my story