I’m so excited to announce that my first hard fantasy story plain of swords has been published in Outposts of Beyond. I call it my first hard fantasy because I have written some other things that are arguably fantasy-esque, such as Demon Zone, but nothing like this: We have a knight, a princess, and a dragon. But don’t expect this to be a straightforward tale either. It’s not really what you’d expect just from those details.

plain of swords is an experimental story. I try to indicate with the all lower-case title that this piece is approaching the conveyance of prose in an unusual way:

a plain of swords is made to kill. The knight surveys the glinting blades . . . crows swoop low . . . a daring game . . . “a death dance,” the locals say . . . a love affair with the polished edge and the gore of impaled pilgrims who have flung themselves from the cliffs above . . . a reenactment of Saint Leemarrow’s ancient miracle . . . only with less flying . . . yet just as much faith.

As you can see, it’s their January issue, but there was a delay at the printers, so it came out just last month (and I got my copy in the mail—check enclosed—just yesterday). This is also the last issue of Outposts of Beyond. I’m super happy to see that it’s a very reasonable price, only $9 USD. I think people spend more than that for coffee and cookies on the regular.

If sci-fi and fantasy isn’t your thing, I’ll understand you probably won’t buy it unless you’re a huge fan of mine (I see you waving your arm in the back there, Mom!). So if you’re really wanting to see the rest of the short story, you’ll have to purchase a copy of the magazine since I don’t know when I’ll have a collection coming out with plain of swords in it. Probably not anytime soon (though I certainly have been building a collection of stories which will include plain of swords).

Thanks for all the support, Bookworms. Let me know what you’ve been reading lately. If you’re a writer, me know what you’ve been working on and if you’re been writing outside your usual genres and how you experiment or keep it traditional within your own work.