JUST THE AXE, MA'AM #10
A Monthly Curated Newsletter of New And Notable Sword & Sorcery
WEIRDPUNK BOOKS ANNOUNCES PROFANE ALTARS: WEIRD SWORD & SORCERY ANTHOLOGY
+ Weirdpunk Books was founded by Sam Richard, an indie horror publisher whose publication of Matthew Mitchell's post-apocalyptic action novella Chaindevils drew interest within the S&S community. Now, the publisher is targeting those fans with a new anthology, Profane Altars.
Name-checking authors Robert E. Howard and Karl Edward Wagner, as well as films like Lucio Fulci’s Conquest and Ralph Bakshi’s Fire and Ice, the anthology promises to push the boundaries of Sword & Sorcery through stories by the following horror authors:
”Two Mothers” by Emma Alice Johnson
”Maybe Just Us” by Adam Smith
”Knight Rumors” by Matthew Mitchell
”Never Threaten a Spider” by Sara Century
”Queen of the Fire Arch” by Charles Austin Muir
”The Song of the Nameless Phallus” by Edwin Callihan
”Light from a Dead Star” by Sam Richard
It also pays tribute to those who came before with a cover from the legendary Jeffrey Catherine Jones.
The book will be released around June 15 and can be ordered here.
BEATING HEARTS AND BATTLEAXES, A ROMANTIC SWORD & SORCERY ANTHOLOGY ANNOUNCED BY BRACKENBURY BOOKS
+ Oliver Brackenbury first became a publisher with New Edge Sword & Sorcery and is now expanding the magazine into a publishing company. They are keeping things S&S with their first book, Beating Hearts and Battles Axes.
This book will contain approximately 72,000 words of fiction, six novelette-length spicy Sword & Sorcery tales with a romantic relationship at their heart.
You can click here to find out when the crowdfunding starts live next month.
While there, you can see the full wraparound cover art for the book by M. E. Morgan, while Trevor Ngwenya will do the interior art.
All funds raised past the minimum goal will cover stretch goals like Sextuple Art and help get Brackenbury Books off to a strong start, beginning with paying for the commission of a logo based on Oliver's beloved fox terrier, Polly.
(This won’t be the last time we see Trevor Ngwenya’s name this month; scroll down to the comics section for more.)
STORYTELLER: A TANITH LEE TRIBUTE ANTHOLOGY SUCCESSFULLY FUNDS ON KICKSTARTER
+ Tanith Lee’s legacy in fiction is widespread across science fiction, fantasy, and horror. On the tenth anniversary of her passing, Julie C. Day has assembled a number of authors, and set up 6 open slots for authors for an anthology that has successfully funded on Kickstarter.
Lee’s legacy is bigger than Sword & Sorcery, but so much of her early work fits the genre. The first woman to be admitted into Lin Carter's informal coterie of authors, the Swordsmen and Sorcerers Guild of America (SAGA), Lee was rightly included with luminaries like Roger Zelazny, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, and others. We are glad to see her greatness continue to be recognized and look forward to what the book will have in store.
In the meantime, they are hosting a discussion of Lee’s first adult work, the unmistakably S&S The Birthgrave, on Saturday, June 15th at 2 pm EDT | 7 pm BST. It will be broadcast on YouTube here.
IN OTHER NEWS
+ Laird Barron updated his Patreon to discuss his childhood fandom for Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs, and how that led to the Conan the Barbarian story he is writing for Heroic Signatures.
His story, The Halls of Immortal Darkness, will be published in August.
+ Congratulations to , who has announced that he will be co-editing an anthology at Baen Books. He’s said that he can’t reveal what it’s about yet, so it may be unrelated to Sword & Sorcery.
We want to note, however, that Finn is one of the foremost scholars of Robert E. Howard, with his biography Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard being nominated for a World Fantasy Award, and from the issues he edited of Skelos's “The Journal of Weird Fiction,” where he published Sword & Sorcery from the likes of Howard Andrew Jones, Scott Oden and Jessica Amanda Salmonson.
If Baen is looking to do a Sword & Sorcery anthology, he would be an excellent candidate for coediting.
+ Matt John from the Rogues in the House podcast gave a sneak preview of the cover and back copy of his upcoming book, To Walk on Worlds.
The book is a collection of Sword & Sorcery short fiction he has published in various venues over the past ten years. The cover is by Mike Hoffman, and the book will be released this summer!
+ ponders the differences between Sword & Sorcery and The Planetary Romance in a well-researched essay. Admittedly, I am biased, as I am referred to within it as “Sword & Sorcery Advocate Kevin Beckett,” for which I should get some business cards printed.
+ has revealed the cover done by Jay Wolf for their new installment in the Song of the Scourgelands series following last year’s The Bringer of the Scourge.
+ Prashanth Srivantsa let us know the venerable publication Interzone has an S&S adjacent story by him: “The Spirit Machines,” in which, to quote the author,
“It has ancient sword-wielding automatons involved in a millennia-spanning underground war to protect a relic of Buddha.”
+ Bona Books successfully funded their anthology I Want That Twink Obliterated! in December 2023. This anthology of Science Fiction, fantasy, and horror, inspired by classic pulp magazines, stars LGBTQIA+ heroes and villains and held a submission call.
They now have revealed the Table of Contents:
“In the Garden of the Serpent King” by James Bennett (he/him)
“Dusk and Dawn in the Grand Bazaar” by John Berkeley (he/him)
“The Dearth of Temptation” by Christopher Caldwell (he/him or they/them)
“Narcissus Munro, Thief for Hire” by Kieran Craft (he/him)
“Shoggothtown” by Julie Danvers (she/her)
“The Tutelary, the Assassin, and the Healer” by Aliette de Bodard (she/her)
“A Heart of Broken Steel” by Rien Gray (they/them)
“Jenseti, You in Danger Girl” by Brent Lambert (he/him)
“Tea, Shade, and Drag Crusades” by Bailey Maybray (he/him)
“The Three-Bussy Problem” by Ng Yi-Sheng (he/him)
“Ganymede” by Anthony Oliveira (any)
“In Sheep’s Clothing” by Caleb Roehrig (he/him)
“Your World Against Mine” by Adam Sass (he/they)
“Hazard Pay” by Malcolm Schmitz (he/him)
“Dotch Masher and the Planet “MM”” by William C. Tracy (he/him)
“Yesterday’s Heroes” by Charlie Winter (he/him)
“Plezure” by Derrick Webber (he/him)
COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS
+ Dark Horse Comics released Heartpiercer #1, written by Rich Douek and illustrated by Gavin Smith. We discussed it in January, and the premise still sounds fascinating.
”Atala thought she was saving the world—but hunting the great beasts wound up dooming it. Betrayed by her lord and left for dead, she awakes in a dark world overrun by nightmares, with a single mission on her mind: revenge.”
+ Trevor Ngwenya released the first issue of a comic book series he wrote and illustrated!
"Delve into the pages of a different kind of sword and sorcery; one set on an ancient and savage continent teaming with all manner of dark secrets and lurking mysteries. A land richly inspired by pre-colonial African cultures, civilizations, myths and histories... a tale of sword and soul!
One which begins with this issue, as it follows an “unnamed” outlander, who awakens to find himself the last survivor of a caravan that had camped along the banks of an oasis nestled in the vast, cruel desert known only as Karshen.
A tale that will recount the events that led to his current predicament as we see how one night of passion can quickly turn to madness and horror by the actions of a single man; but importantly, it also be the start of an adventure which will set in motion the threads an unrecorded destiny that will, hopefully, lead us to much grander, darker conclusion..."
Shakar: The Eye of the Midnight God is available through Global Comix and GumRoad, with a free six-page preview also available on GumRoad. You can also enjoy the trailer for it below.
INTERVIEWS
+ Monsters, Madness and Magic interviewed Jonathan Maberry, owner of an excellent Hawaiian shirt, to discuss Maberry’s position as editor of the current Weird Tales, his ongoing decades as a horror & fantasy author, Conan the Barbarian and more. Listen to the show (or watch the video to see that excellent shirt) at this link.
+ Sarah Macklin sat for a quick interview at JordanCon about her Heretics trilogy.
+ Matt Holder sat down with
to discuss the novella Hurled Headlong Flaming, which was just issued as the first installment of Spiral Tower Press’ Keen Blades imprint.
MUSIC
+ The band Castle Rat will have a listening party for their album Into The Realm on Bandcamp on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at 7:00 PM EDT. You can listen to the full album, chat with the entire band, ask questions about the album's making, and even maybe make friends with other fans.
+ New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine has begun a new feature on their social media called Dungeon Synth Sunday, spotlighting notable releases in the music genre with a Sword & Sorcery theme. This month’s selections are:
All is Dust by Atlantean Sword
Swords Against Sorcery by Castle Zagyx
PODCASTS ON PARADE
+ The Cromcast continues to examine Poul Anderson’s landmark pre-Tolkien fantasy novel, The Broken Sword. In this episode, they examine the first ten chapters and discuss the revisions between the 1953 original edition and the revised edition Anderson released in 1971.
+ Analytic Dice sits down with Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games to discuss the gaming industry.
+ The first question, however, reveals why Goodman Games sold Tales from The Magician’s Skull magazine to Outland Entertainment this year. As suspected, it is because the gaming and magazine distribution markets did not overlap enough to streamline.
+ Madeline James Writes sits down with publisher Oliver Brackenbury and editor Jay Wolf to discuss Beating Hearts & Battle Axes, including authors' names revealed before the crowdfunding next month.
+ Weird Fiction podcast The Outer Dark sat down with Judith C. Day to discuss Tanith Lee. It included an audio-only version of the roundtable conducted in January of this year with Terri Windling, Craig L. Gidney, Lisa Kröger, Melanie R. Anderson, and C.S.E. Cooney.
+ Pondering the Orb returns this month with a look at the more epic end of Sword & Sorcery with spotlights and reading excerpts from The Eyes of God from The Bronze Knight series by John Marcos and The Royal Heretic by Sarah Macklin, plus melodic death metal from Dragonbreed, and synth-wave from Wellside.
+ This new episode of Pseudopod has an interview with editors Judith C. Day and Carina White over their Storyteller: A Tribute to Tanith Lee anthology and an audio dramatic reading of Lee’s horror story “The Gorgon.”
You can listen to it here.
REVIEWS
+ Liam’s Lyceum does a review of Hurled Headlong Flaming by Matt Holder, the new novella put out as part of Spiral Tower’s Keen Blades imprint.
+ Jack Myers looks more in-depth at Hurled Headlong Flaming for his channel Short Story Focus.
+ On SFFInsiders, Konstance reviews Bringer of the Scourge by M Daniel McDowell, name-checking the Black Company novels of Glen Cook and old-school Dungeons & Dragons as influences on what they consider a gripping modern fantasy tale.
+ Gregory Mele at Black Gate reviews the anthology Neither Beg Nor Yield, declaring it A Paean to The Outsider and a celebration of the genre and the fans who love it.
THIS MONTH IN SWORD & SORCERY MAGAZINES
HEROIC FANTASY QUARTERLY: The ezine celebrates the milestone 60th issue with several leading lights of the current Sword & Sorcery revival.
”City of Dreadful Light,” by James Enge
”Discordant Factions,” by Howard Andrew Jones.
”Death Upon the Turquoise Road,” by Gregory Mele
Plus the poems:
”And All the Devils Follow”, by Jennifer Crow
”Encounter At Mons”, by Ann Schwader
And page 11 of the ongoing adaptation of “Spear and Fang” by Robert E. Howard, as adapted by Gary McClusky.
The e-zine is always free to read, but they have a Patreon for those interested in supporting.
INDIE BITES: We have listed their submission calls before in previous issues of Just The Axe, Ma’am, and now we can confirm that the newest issue of Indie Bites features two confirmed Sword & Sorcery stories:
”Aloof Stars and Their Distant Answers” by Eric de Roulet.
”The Ysidra” by Adam McPhee.
You can read for free the entire issue, which, as the editors note, ranges in tones and styles of fantasy from cozy to dark, from humourous to bittersweet, exploring wide-ranging themes from sweet first love to the ethics of magic and war.
Bonus link: Adam goes a little into the inspiration of his story in this entry.
NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY: NESS finished their open call for flash fiction held in April. The magazine announced that the following were selected to see print, as a crowdfunding extra of a story printed on a sticker and six other stories printed in upcoming issues.
The story for the sticker will be “The Barber of Rem Um” by Andrew Whalen.
And, in no particular order, the six new stories for the magazine are:
“Against the Witch-Prince of Emdal,” by W.O. Balmer
”The War-God's Hound,” by Samantha Rich
”Of Cabbages and Stone,” by Timaeus Bloom
”The Ferryman's Price,” by Melissa Burlock
”Sister Soldier,” by R.L. Summerling
”High Water,” by James A. Estes
OLD MOON QUARTERLY: Issue #7 was released in e-book form this month. The Table of Contents are as follows:
”The Ember-Eyed” by James Enge
”Stolen by Moonlight, Bretrothed” by E. Catherine Tobler
”Torrent of Souls” by Harry Laurie
”Footnotes on ‘Only Forever.’ The Grey Witch’s Last Poem” by Calie Voorhis
”The Last Gift” by Jason Mills
”Last Day on the Farm” by Matthew John
”Bleed Me in the Water” by Haily Piper
”Of Decadence a Child” by David Costa
”In Her Waters, Raging” by Lora Grey
”Letter from Aulis” by Monica Joyce Evans
They have informed the backers of their recent decision to postpone mailing the physical copies until August so they can send issues 7 and 8 together and save the extra shipping and handling costs for backers.
SWORDS & SORCERY: Editor Curtis Ellett has set up a new Patreon. The funds will be used to add art to the webzine. At the same time, work begins on a Patreon-exclusive comic by Alison McGlone.
In his opening essay for issue 148 this month, Ellett reveals that this particular issue will include three stories and a piece of film criticism.
The table of contents are:
“Away with the Fairies”, by Rick Danforth
“Chasing the Adur Myth”, by Dave Hangman
“Pilgrims of the Swamp Waste”, by Benjamin Sartison
and
“Why the ‘X Has Fallen’ film series is (and isn’t) Swords and Sorcery in a suit, and why it would be better if it went the whole way”, by Joel Glover.
TALES FROM THE MAGICIAN’S SKULL: The Kickstarter set up by the magazine’s new owners, Outland Entertainment, is not active yet; this will be for issues 13 and onwards.
Click here to be notified when it goes live.
TRIAPA:
Issue #9 was released this month, and the following authors contributed a 2-page amateur zine.
Neil Willcox, Solar Orbit Cinderella, Issue 1
Carl Ellis, Tales from the Valley VI
Liam Q. D. Hall, Walking With Wolves, Issue 6
Andy Derby, Because The Bastards Won’t Write Themselves, Issue 1
Jonathan Olfert, Cave Scrawl (Apr 2024)
Jason Donaldson, The House Half Under a Hill, May 2024
Black Cavalier Designs, 12 Leagues To Averoigne Vol 1, Issue 9
Rom Parsons, Brazen Blades, Issue 1
David J. Lynch, Ink and Hatchet: Musings on Larger than Life Fiction (Feb/Apr 2024, Issue 9)
Matt Holder, Pandemonizine, Vol 2 (May 2024) Issue 8
Aaron Cummins, Views from the Pig Sty 1.8
TRIAPA is an Amateur Press Association founded by Spiral Tower Press, the people behind the Amateur Zines Way Station, Whetstone and Witch House.
If you want to submit a zine for TRIAPA, please send a 2-page zine (maximum) to spiraltowerpress@gmail.com. They invite and encourage all fans of sword and sorcery, cosmic horror, and space opera to submit.
Find out more and check out all previous editions here.
WHETSTONE:
Whetstone: The Amateur Magazine of Pulp Sword & Sorcery will be on hiatus until 2025.
The archive of all eight issues can be accessed here.
In the meantime, check out Waystation, the amateur space opera magazine they are putting out in its place. The first issue has just been released, and one can see a number of stories from members of the Sword & Sorcery community.
The stories for Waystation #1 are:
”The Desert Hook” by Carl Ellis
“Defenders of the Faith” by Thomas Grayfson
“A Herald of Mars” by Mitchell Hyde
“In Distress” by George Jacobs
“The Pretty Ones” by Barton Paul Levenson
“Eschaton Cycle” by Jack Myers
“The Thief of Khayr Coronnar” by Dariel R. A. Quiogue
You can read it for free here.
The Spiral Tower crew is concentrating on their next project, the next issue of Witch House, the amateur magazine of Cosmic Horror.
They are open to submissions of 1500 - 2500 words until July 21; you can read their submission guidelines here.
SUBMISSION CALLS
The following markets are dedicated to or specified to accept Sword & Sorcery.
+ BFS Horizons, put out by The British Fantasy Society, is always open. 500 - 5000 Words. Remuneration £20. Submission Guidelines.
+ Heroic Fantasy Quarterly has announced they will accept submissions throughout July 2024.
Read about their pay rate and submission requirements here.
+ Indie Bites, a non-profit fantasy anthology series put out by Silversun Books, is available on Kindle Unlimited and is looking for stories for its upcoming Forests & Familiars-themed issue. Deadline: June 30, 2024. Accepts up to 7500 Words. Honorarium £5. Submission Guidelines.
+ Seize The Press, ”Writers, please send us more fantasy! Particularly dark sword & sorcery, historical horror, grimdark, but anything you think falls under dark fantasy and all the weird stuff you can't truly pin down.”
3 pence GBP per word, max 5000 words. Submission Guidelines.
+Sword & Sorcery & Splatter from Slaughterhouse Press announced they want dark, creepy, fun, action-oriented tales from 4k to 9k. Market open till July 1. $25 USD. They have specific formatting requirements. Find out more here.
+ Swords & Sorcery is always open. Takes 1500 - 7500 Words. Payment: $10 USD. Submission Guidelines.
We hope you enjoyed this month’s newsletter! We will be back next month. In the meantime, please tell all your friends, and feel free to share the image below by the talented Ian, The Comic Artist! —KB
Wow Kevin! Super-beefy Sword & Sorcery roundup edition. So much to explore! 🗡
Long time, first time! Love the newsletter, and happy to sneak into it this month