Austin Worley's Blog: Writing, Reading, and Living with Austin Worley

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you’re looking for a short little read this Black Friday, have I got the book for you: The Gale at Quiet Cove is out now on Amazon!

Even better, their review of the paperback edition went very fast, so you’re already free to choose whether to grab one of those or the ebook on Kindle.

After a month on the road battling monsters and magic, Knight-Mother Arlise Dun just wants a hot bath and a decent meal. Not conversation with some selkie at Quiet Cove. But when Earc Mac Toghda tells her about the endless storm threatening his clan with starvation, she vows to discover who—or what—is behind it. Faced with wild magic, an unruly subordinate, and her own self-loathing, Arlise must battle monsters real and imagined to unravel the mystery behind the gale at Quiet Cove.

Refined for release as a standalone novelette, The Gale at Quiet Cove is a dark heroic fantasy novelette of approximately 9,000 words.

If this little teaser has piqued your interest, or you’re just a fan who wants the standalone edition of the novelette, you can find it at the embedded link below:

And if you want more where that came from, you can circle around to Hanging at Crosbhothar or check out The Skull in the Tree when it comes out on December 19th!

This November has been a fantastic month! Maybe the best all year? There’s a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Let’s start with the best news of all: “Dusk and Dawn at Laufenden” is done! The rewrite took five months of hard work, and I never want to read it again, but it’s done. Even better, it’s a significant improvement over the original. The final scene unfolds more naturally, never flinches from the horror, and concludes with a sorrowful, despairing tone far more appropriate for the story.

Final word count for the rewrite is 10,826. This makes it the longest story I’ve ever written about Arlise, beating out The Skull in the Tree by about 200. Proofread and added to the manuscript of the short story collection, it brings the current word count to a little over 48,000. There’s still quite a ways to go, since I’m shooting for 70-75k, but since there are six stories left to write, it shouldn’t be too hard to hit the mark eventually. Given three of those ideas are likely to be novelettes, it might actually be harder to hold it under 100k!

Burial Books finalized their lineup for the anthology set to include “One Bitter Note”, so things are getting more concrete over there. We’re looking at title, cover, and table of contents all being announced in January, with a tentative release date in September. Can’t wait until January!

Meanwhile, as I announced earlier this week, Lovecraftiana has accepted my horror drabble “The Goatskin Codex” for their Halloween issue in 2027. Far off, but I’m glad it didn’t take long for this little story to land. Even better, it’s an established zine with a fair bit of history. Where better to make my horror debut?

Reprinting the novelettes as standalones continues without a hitch. Just last week, I launched preorders for The Skull in the Tree, and The Gale at Quiet Cove is out on Friday. Sales continue to be slow as molasses, but that’s to be expected: novelettes don’t sell well on their own, and I don’t have a wide reach so far. Even so, I’m pretty happy. The covers are fantastic, the interior format is professional, and I can be proud of these books.

Since there’s no reason not to at this point, one of my projects for December will be preparing the ebook editions of all three novelettes for a wide release via Draft2Digital. I don’t think I’ll go wide with the paperbacks, since the formatting will be a lot harder, POD needs uneconomical list prices to turn a profit with novelettes, and the current covers might not even work if differences in formatting cause differences in the page count. Wide ebooks with paperbacks only on Amazon seems like the best route. Look for the wide launch sometime in 2026!

Draft2Digital also figures into one of my other plans: a standalone reprint of “He Who Sows”! Since there’s a lot of erotic content right from the start, this one will probably be exclusive to Smashwords. Amazon can be capricious when it comes to the risqué, and there’s no reason to brave those waters over a mere novelette. Plus, there’s a better chance it finds its niche on Smashwords.

I’ve been in touch with a cover artist who seems like a good candidate and has offered me a very steep discount, so I intend to commission her once I’ve sketched out a workable idea for the cover. For now, there’s no timeline on this one. Just a vague aim for sometime in 2026.

Given how awesome this bust of Tanis from Siobhan (@BonSquiggle on Twitter) turned out, I’m seriously tempted to write more stories about her and her (mis)adventures. Alas, the traditional market for what’s best described as fantasy erotic comedies is almost nonexistent. Still, if the standalone “He Who Sows” finds some fans, there could be a small collection sometime down the road.

Otherwise, I don’t have a lot on my agenda for December. At least not in terms of actual drafting/writing. “The Throne of Ptalis” still needs to be finished, but it’s flash fiction; there aren’t more than 400 or 500 words left to write. If I can fit it all in less than 869 words in total, I’ll send it off to Bothered Stories.

Outlines are likely to be my main focus next month. “Out of Oblivion” is clear-cut from beginning to end, and it has the added benefit of filling the last hole in one of the two arcs of the collection about Arlise, so I’ll start there. Afterwards…well, who knows?

My reading has been a little eclectic this month. Since all the horror in September and October offered a refreshing change of pace, I decided to return to sword & sorcery with The Fortress of the Pearl, the second Elric novel featured in Elric of Melnibone. It was a fun and satisfying read, if weird and psychedelic. But what else can you expect from a story that unfolds primarily in a dream world?

After The Fortress of the Pearl, I dusted off a collection of Louis L’Amour short westerns I started literal years ago for a palate cleanser in the form of Showdown on the Hogback. It started off quite strong, but I think the finale lacks tension after the battle at Yellow Butte. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable read, and I’m glad to finally check Big Medicine off my reading list!

Right now, I’m a little torn on what to read next. Maybe it’ll be the third Elric novel, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate. Maybe I’ll circle back to Imaro. Maybe I’ll look into one of the romances still sitting on my Kindle. I’ve got a lot of options!

One thing I am hoping for in December is more time for astronomy! I’ve neglected the hobby this year. Most of the spring and summer were abnormally rainy, and even when the skies were clear, I was so laser focused on “Dusk and Dawn at Laufenden” that I didn’t have the time. With a little luck, the end of the year will be different.

The winter sky is wondrous, and I hear we have some comets about, so there’ll be no shortage of targets.

If I bag anything spectacular, I’ll be sure to share the pics in next month’s update. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a cover to share, too? Until then, take care. I’ll see y’all to wrap up the year with one final update in December!

Yesterday, I woke up to some fantastic news in my inbox: Rogue Planet Press has accepted my horror drabble “The Goatskin Codex” for their Halloween 2027 volume of Lovecraftiana!

The fact this drabble was my first effort at cosmic horror and the Cthulhu Mythos makes it all the sweeter. Granted, Halloween 2027 is so far off right now, but I can’t think of a better fit for “The Goatskin Codex” than Lovecraftiana.

If you’re a fan of horror, especially cosmic horror, I think you’ll love this one. Feedback so far has been unanimously glowing, which is a very rare thing. I can’t wait to share it with all of you!

I didn’t mention this last month, but I commissioned a bust sketch of Tanis, heroine of my bawdy sword & sorcery heist “He Who Sows”, back in October. Well, the finalized version arrived late last week!

Isn’t she gorgeous? From the bare-breasted dress taken from Minoan fashion to the ornate emerald necklace to features heavily influenced by Maria Callas, the artist (@BonSquiggle over on Twitter) did an awesome job weaving all my influences together to construct this bust. She even included the steel hair sticks; if you’ve read the story, you know those come in handy at the climax

In fact, Siobhan worked in a lot more detail that I expected, given this was just a bust sketch in black and white. If you’re ever in need of character art, definitely give her a look on Twitter (@BonSquiggle), Instagram (@bondraws), tumblr (Bonsquiggle) or Blue Sky (@bonsquiggle.bsky.social). Her rates are very reasonable for this kind of quality, especially if you aren’t asking for limited commercial rights or intricate detail like I did on this one!

This won’t be the last you see of Tanis. Now seems as good a time as any to mention I intend to reprint “He Who Sows” as a standalone novelette in 2026!

Hard to believe it’s so close, but The Gale at Quiet Cove is out on Black Friday!

There’s still a week for preorders on Kindle, and paperbacks should follow by December 1st. Behind this fantastic cover from Rachel Bowdler, you’ll find an atmospheric fantasy mystery driven by a selfless heroine and the question of what it means to find redemption.

After a month on the road battling monsters and magic, Knight-Mother Arlise Dun just wants a hot bath and a decent meal. Not conversation with some selkie at Quiet Cove. But when Earc Mac Toghda tells her about the endless storm threatening his clan with starvation, she vows to discover who—or what—is behind it. Faced with wild magic, an unruly subordinate, and her own self-loathing, Arlise must battle monsters real and imagined to unravel the mystery behind the gale at Quiet Cove.

Refined for release as a standalone novelette, The Gale at Quiet Cove is a dark heroic fantasy novelette of approximately 9,000 words.

If you’re interested, check it out on Amazon:

Preorders for the standalone rerelease of The Skull in the Tree are now live on Amazon!

Knight-Mother Arlise Dun rode into Ó Méith in search of a warm meal and soft bed. What she found instead was a skull in an old oak tree. A skull inscribed with dreadful curses on an innocent mother-to-be.

Arlise knows the horror of maledictions bound in blood. Even better, she knows how to break them. But she isn’t on business for the Order. She’s on leave with her infant daughter, bound for a reunion at Quiet Cove.

If she’s to ferret out the hexer before their curse claims a stranger’s child, Arlise may be forced to endanger her own…

Refined for release as a standalone novelette, The Skull in the Tree is a dark heroic fantasy tale of approximately 11,000 words.

The Skull in the Tree will be out December 19th, a little ahead of Christmas. Same as with Hanging at Crosbhothar and The Gale at Quiet Cove, this date only holds for the ebook edition. Since these stories are reprints, I can’t schedule the paperback releases ahead of time, so it could be another few days for them. Still, they should be out before Christmas, so if you’re in need of something to read over the holidays, definitely check out this novelette. The Skull in the Tree is probably my favorite of all my stories!

Preorders for the standalone rerelease of The Gale at Quiet Cove are now live on Amazon!

After a month on the road battling monsters and magic, Knight-Mother Arlise Dun just wants a hot bath and a decent meal. Not conversation with some selkie at Quiet Cove. But when Earc Mac Toghda tells her about the endless storm threatening his clan with starvation, she vows to discover who—or what—is behind it. Faced with wild magic, an unruly subordinate, and her own self-loathing, Arlise must battle monsters real and imagined to unravel the mystery behind the gale at Quiet Cove.

Refined for release as a standalone novelette, The Gale at Quiet Cove is a dark heroic fantasy novelette of approximately 9,000 words.

The Gale at Quiet Cove will be out on November 28th, just in time for Black Friday! Same as with Hanging at Crosbhothar, this date is set only for the ebook edition; paperbacks could be another day or two, as I can’t schedule them because these novelettes are reprints. Nevertheless, they should be out by December 1st.

Expect more updates as we draw closer to the 28th!

Good news: Amazon has finished their review of Hanging at Crosbhothar, and the paperback edition is live now!

Costs make their price rather steep for a novelette, but if you want to hold this little book in your hands, you can find them here.

Corpses hung from the ancient maple like leaves…

Brutal. Valiant. Monstrous. Heroic. Folk say many things about Eoghan One-Ear, but Knight-Mother Arlise Dun has seen for herself what the rebel-turned-bandit leaves in his wake: butchered innocents and burned-out villages.

After half a decade of faithful service with the Order of Watchers, Arlise knows all the faces of evil, and she knows this evil is more than a man. The distinct whiff of demonic influence surrounds these atrocities. Yet no demon seems to dwell inside the man himself.

If she’s to uncover the bandit lord’s true nature and deliver justice for those lynched at Crosbhothar, Arlise will need to contend with a carnomancer, a band of fanatical reavers, and her own thirst for vengeance.

Happy Halloween! Even happier, it’s release day for Hanging at Crosbhothar.

Corpses hung from the ancient maple like leaves…

Brutal. Valiant. Monstrous. Heroic. Folk say many things about Eoghan One-Ear, but Knight-Mother Arlise Dun has seen for herself what the rebel-turned-bandit leaves in his wake: butchered innocents and burned-out villages.

After half a decade of faithful service with the Order of Watchers, Arlise knows all the faces of evil, and she knows this evil is more than a man. The distinct whiff of demonic influence surrounds these atrocities. Yet no demon seems to dwell inside the man himself.

If she’s to uncover the bandit lord’s true nature and deliver justice for those lynched at Crosbhothar, Arlise will need to contend with a carnomancer, a band of fanatical reavers, and her own thirst for vengeance.

The Kindle edition is live on Amazon, while the paperbacks are in review and should be out in the next few days. Expect another announcement when those are available. If the blurb has piqued your interest, or you’re already a fan who wants this novelette as a standalone, you can find it at the link below.

And if you’re interested in more where that came from, I’ll be launching preorders for The Gale at Quiet Cove on November 1st!

A cold front blew in over the weekend, so it actually feels like autumn now, just in time for Halloween … and for me to let you know what I’ve been up to all October!

“Dusk and Dawn at Laufenden” continued to consume almost all of my attention this month. Scene 4 has moved a lot faster than Scene 3 so far, but it’s not without its own difficulties. Balancing the needs to set a horrific scene in the aftermath of the battle without also becoming too grotesque is one, and taking Arlise from “This was the lesser evil” to “This was monstrous and so am I” while also making this progression feel natural was another.

Fortunately, the start of the scene features a lot of dialogue, which made it easy to get the ball rolling. If not for my operation last week, I could’ve finished the story by now!

At the start of the month, I also wrote a fifth fantasy drabble. Entitled “Sacrifice”, this one sees Arlise reflect on herself, her love for Earc, and her role as a Watcher in the aftermath of one of their liaisons on the beach at Quiet Cove. It’s heartfelt, far more optimistic than all the other drabbles, and makes for a nice conclusion to this little micro-fiction cycle.

Once I made some final tweaks, I submitted all five drabbles to Mistletoe and Vine, the seventh volume of Hawthorn & Ash, a flash fiction anthology series from Iron Faerie Publishing. A week later, I received word all five had been accepted!

There’s no release date yet, but the drabbles should be out sometime in 2026, same as “What Good Fathers Do” in Bullet Points and “One Bitter Note” in the sword & sorcery anthology from Burial Books. It’s shaping up to be an eventful year!

The Nightmare on Story Street horror contest will announce their winners on Halloween; if “The Goatskin Codex” isn’t one of them, I’ll see if I can find some other good horror markets interested in micro-fiction. Lovecraftiana seems like an excellent fit, but I want to save it until I’ve exhausted all the ones with better rates.

Preorders for Hanging at Crosbhothar launched this month, as I’m sure those of you who follow this blog closely know by now, and it’ll be out on Halloween! After all these months working on these reprints, it feels more than a little surreal to see them come to fruition like this. Of course, there won’t be any rest for the wicked: once this first release is done, it’ll be time to lay the groundwork for the second. The Gale at Quiet Cove should be available for preorder on November 1st!

Heading into November, my main goal is to finish the rewrite of “Dusk and Dawn at Laufenden”. I doubt it will take more than a week or two, but I’ve consistently underestimated the work needed to write this accursed novelette. If I can tie a bow on the finished draft before Thanksgiving, I’ll be ecstatic!

From there, I aim to outline future stories and concentrate on promo for The Gale at Quiet Cove and The Skull in the Tree. Because I want the latter out before Christmas, I’ll be launching its preorders around mid-November so there’s a full month before its release in December.

I may also return to my erotic S&S flash fic The Throne of Ptalis. Aside from being a nice little palate cleanser, it’s about half done, and I hate to leave such an inventive tale unfinished. Hopefully it’s a good fit for Bothered Stories!

I have some fantastic ideas for several stories to be included in the collection about Arlise. One, with the tentative title “Out of Oblivion”, will offer some closure in relation to the fate of her first husband Beren. I’ve noticed that isn’t something the other stories have covered, so this one will feel the hole with a bit of an homage to the Solomon Kane ballad “The Return of Sir Richard Grenville”.

The other one covers what leads Arlise to join the Order of Watchers. I’ve only vaguely alluded to these events a handful of times, and the middle still needs a lot of work, but I’m very excited to show off the skinstealers after all these years. Until now, there just hasn’t been an opportunity to use them, but their deviousness seems like the ideal fit for a monster that would draw a someone as self-destructive as Arlise is at this time into collaboration with a Watcher. I can’t wait to write this novelette!

By and large, I’ve continued my stroll through classic horror this month. Ramsey Campbell’s The Inhabitant of the Lake & Other Unwelcome Tenants has been a fun read; my favorites so far are the titular “The Inhabitant of the Lake” and “The Plain of Sound”. The former feels like classic Lovecraft, while the latter is weird and as alien as “The Colour Out of Space”.

Speaking of which, I revisited several more of Lovecraft’s greatest hits. “The Call of Cthulhu” first, then “The Dreams in the Witch House” and “The Colour Out of Space”.

After thinking to myself there didn’t seem to be any classic werewolf tale with the same cultural cache as Dracula or Frankenstein, I did a little digging and found The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman. It’s unfortunately obscure today, but the folkloric atmosphere made for a wonderful read. The fact the titular werewolf is female also felt novel–werewolves seem to be strongly associated with the masculine–and I’d love to see what someone like Guillermo del Toro or Robert Eggers could do with a film adaptation. It certainly deserves to be brough to a modern audience!

Meanwhile, going down the rabbit hole with Halloween music led me to Disney’s 1949 adaption of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which in turn gave me the nudge to read the story for myself. I was surprised to learn it’s on the short side for a novelette and even more surprised to see how few pages are dedicated to the actual horror given what an icon it made of the Headless Horseman. Nevertheless, the tension builds nicely, and the ambiguity created via unreliable narration is a layer most of the adaptations lose (Disney was actually extremely faithful to the original).

It’s now been a week since I went in for a wisdom tooth extraction. I’m very glad I was on top of things: by the time my appointment rolled around, the left one was partially erupted, which would’ve made it very difficult to keep clean. In turn, it would’ve been very easy for a cavity or abscess to form and threaten the molar in front of the wisdom tooth. The one on the right wasn’t near as dire, but we went ahead and took it out as well.

So far, my recovery has been far easier than last time around. Far less painful, far less time to get back on my feet, and far easier to keep the sockets clean. Perhaps I shouldn’t have cleared the entire week? Ah, well, nothing to be done about it now. This break has at least given me some time to think, which yielded a bunch of ideas for future stories and where to take “Dusk and Dawn at Laufenden”.

Hopefully I’ll be able to start putting those into practice in November!