Along the Hudson Updates

Fifties by the Fire, Embers, and more

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Dear Readers,

I hope you are all doing well. Instead of publishing a new story today, I wanted to share some writing updates with you and my future plans here at Along the Hudson. I’ll do my best to keep this brief!

First, I am excited to announce that I am in the beginning stages of development for my book: Birdsong and Other Stories from Along the Hudson. The book will be a flash fiction collection, ranging from 100 to 150 total pages. A handful of stories will be brand new, but the majority of them will have been previously published here or elsewhere.

My goal for this project is to self-publish (though I may shop it around to a few small presses first), with a release date of late 2023 or early 2024. I’ve always wanted to hold my own book in my hands, and I’m done dreaming about it. I want to make it happen!

My second bit of exciting news involves fifty-word stories and trying to continue to build the fiction writing community here on Substack. Some of my readers and writing pals remember me from our time on Medium together. I edited a publication called The Friday Fix. (Check out the beautiful wasteland here.) The goal was simple: create a community that wrote, read, and appreciated fifty-word stories. Though I had a blast running the publication for a solid year and a half, several factors led me to discontinue it.

Though I haven’t settled on a name yet, I’d like to try to reboot the core concept of The Friday Fix here at Substack: building a community of readers and writers who enjoy short-form fiction (or simply enjoy the challenge of trying to write a story, a poem, something in a specified word count).

“Fifties by the Fire” (see the poll below for other name options, or please let me know if you have a better idea in mind) will be a monthly “thread” in which any reader or writer can share a story, poem, or piece of writing that ties into the prompt/theme of the month. I’ll post the thread on the final Friday of every month in lieu of one of my stories. The goal will be to simply have fun enjoying our creations and seeing how every writer interpreted the theme. Plus, it may be a fun way to continue building the fiction and creative writing community here on Substack.

On my end, the task is pretty straightforward: I’ll announce a theme or prompt to get the ball rolling at the start of each month. I’ll send weekly reminders on Fridays, as well. For any willing participants, the goal is pretty straightforward, too: write a fifty-word story, poem, memoir/CNF, or any type of writing you’d like to share that ties into the theme. On the final Friday of the month, post your story in the thread to share it, then check out what everyone else came up with.

The act of joining together with friends around a campfire has always held symbolic meaning for me. It’s a time to reminisce, dream, and share stories with one another. There’s a sense of “togetherness” and community around a fire. I’m hoping we can continue to build something fun here — and something to look forward to at the end of each month. I’ll start building the fire early — 7:00 AM EST, but I’ll keep it going as long as needed. Promise. I’ll host our first campfire toward the end of September.

October 2022 will mark my two-year anniversary writing on Substack. Though I spent some time away in 2021, this is still a big milestone for me. For this reason, I’m going to begin a paid option for any reader who would like to support me and my writing. My fiction will remain free at Along the Hudson, so regardless of your subscription status, you won’t miss out on any new stories I write.

As my way of saying thank you, I will offer Embers — a single monthly post — to all paying subscribers. Within this post, you’ll receive a scattering of at least ten quality writing prompts to help you start some fictional fires of your own.

Here is my rough sketch for going paid: $5 monthly, $30 annually, or $50 annually. If you graciously elect $50, I will ship a copy of my flash fiction collection to you free of charge when it is released. If you remain a free subscriber, nothing will change whatsoever — and I completely understand. No worries!

There. I think I covered everything.

I’d love to hear from you about any — or all — of my ideas. And if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

If you felt robbed of a story today, here’s the first “fifty” I ever published on Substack. It’s titled “Inhaling Her”, and you can read it by clicking here.

Thanks so much for being here and for reading my fiction.

Take care and have a great weekend!

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