My second acceptance is here!

It’s Release Day for my short story appearance with Prosetrics Magazine!

This one is still very much…unreal to me. I admittedly haven’t had the same excitement as my first release with Livina Press. I’m not sure if it is shock yet of how quickly I got two acceptances for two different pieces, or if it is a mixture of disappointed expectations that I held after my first publication. Either way! This second release is still a milestone for me, and it is still a proud accomplishment. (Technically, this would be my third publication if I’m counting the first short story acceptance with Victory Tales Press eight years ago. The one that went out of print within a year, but… Who’s counting? Lol.) Luckily, there was roughly two weeks in-between acceptance and publication this time, too, which lessened the chaos that I went through in the last three weeks as I juggled emails, promotional graphic making, social media marketing, and plenty of blog tweaks and updates.

Now, I could have released the title of my story and the magazine I got accepted with the day I got the email, but I seem to enjoy teasing with vague social media posts and little hints sprinkled throughout my blog posts. It’s my version of sharing the chaos, I suppose. When the day comes that I sign an agent and my first novel is picked up I know for a fact I will not be vague. I will be shouting that at the top of the mountain the second I am allowed to. Until then, you get me in my vague era with short stories. Sometime next week I will also share the backstory to this story as well, though it isn’t quite as interesting as the backstory to “Circles of Revenge.”

Now without further ado…

I am proud to announce that my story, “Necromancy’s Birthplace,” is out NOW in Issue 7: Reflections!

Issue 7: Reflections features the poetry, fiction, art, and photography of THIRTY-EIGHT creators!

Issue Blurb:

“And what is a reflection if not another dimension?

Welcome to the other side, where the world is made of words, pixels, and colours, where realities are penned with raw ink and where every pixel tells a story, a world where colours are not just colours but poetry.”

~Arzu Deniz, Editor in Chief

My contribution to Issue 7: Reflections is a dark fantasy short story titled “Necromancy’s Birthplace.” It is also a short little thing of roughly 1,500 words, and, unlike like most normal short stories, this tale contains scene breaks.

Short Story Blurb:

How far are you willing to go to see?

Voldarin, the Wizard of the Northlands, has a penchant for tinkering and creating the impossible, and he has a new experiment in mind. Something he has been working on for months: a way to treat ailments that are considered untreatable. All he needs now is someone willing to be his first, and hopefully only, human test subject.

Alaric is nothing but a poor boy living on the streets, dreaming of things he would never have and never again know due to his blindness. When he hears the townspeople muttering about the crazy old wizard looking for another crazy volunteer, hope begins to bloom once more. Might the crazy old wizard be the answer to his dreams?

In a time where magick is still developing and has only been used for good, and medicine is primitive at best, one wizard and one boy will put sight and imminent death on the line to combine the two at last.

Short Story Excerpt:

Voldarin paced, hands clasped behind his back as he awaited the knock on his door. It had taken months to find the right candidate, a person in need of his kind of services and desperate enough to take the chance. What if the boy changed his mind and didn’t show?

What if he did and this worked?

When the rap, rap, rap of the brass knocker came, his heart lurched. He smoothed his blue robes, straightened his shoulders, and went to open the door. The lanky, freckled boy who stood before him couldn’t have been older than twenty. His clothes dirty and somewhat tattered, an indicator of his desperation.

Voldarin tamped down his enthusiasm.

“Alaric, I presume?” he asked.

The boy nodded. “And you’re Voldarin? The Wizard of the Northlands?”

“I am. Please, come in.” Voldarin stepped aside, holding the door wide.

Alaric shuffled over the threshold, his walking stick tapping back and forth as he went, his sandy-brown hair falling over his eyes. A flicker of reflected sunlight gleamed from the emerald pendant strung around Alaric’s neck, capturing the wizard’s attention. A spellstone.

Issue 7: Reflections is available NOW in print through Peechu*! Grab your copy today and check out my tale among many other very talented individuals! You can also view the first twenty page preview on Issuu!

*If you missed my NEW Release Details post, this is a reminder that Peechu and Prosetrics Magazine are based outside of the United States. The print issue ships out of the Netherlands. Unfortunately, as of this issue, Prosectrics will no longer create an online digital edition. However, I have learned there will be a Kindle eBook edition coming soon. Once I have those details I will share them.