Grave's Daughters - Bastien Lecouffe Deharme commission

Grave's Daughters, a commission fulfilled by Bastien Lecouffe Deharme for a cover of Dyscrasia Fiction tales due out in about a year. 

Holiday Card 2024 from the Lindbergs

Happy Holidays 2024!

This card continues a longstanding tradition of sharing homemade art. 

Wishing everyone a peaceful holiday season and a new year.  Sincerely, 

Seth, Heidi, Erin & Connor

Some family updates: Connor is in his 4th year at UC's Environmental Engineering program and remains fascinated with water quality; having done three rotations with the Army Corp of Engineers, his last two co-ps will be at Stantec). Erin is already over 2 years at P&G in Corp Digital Innovation, and Seth is well into his 27th yr. Heidi continues as a Special Education Aide at Lakota Schools.

2024 Card Notes

Heidi still is taking charge of the card marking (Seth has been funneling his creative energy into writing weird fiction instead of drawing :)).  Hope you enjoy it! It echoes elements from the 2023 card (the Cardinal) and 1998 sketch of a central tree being decorated (image of that below).

Below are 30sec and 3min movie renditions of the making of the 2024 illustration; the actual duration was 7.5hrs (spread out over a few weeks).  The final version harmonizes the color palette with the 2023 card (making that card link).

• Heidi has some of her illustrations on Instagram (link)  
• Lindberg Holiday cards made since ~1998 are viewable on Team Lindberg Crafts - Blog (which often does not load at workplaces, but it's just a Google Photoblog).
• Individual posts about all the previous ones are tagged/listed on SELindberg's blog.

2023 and 2024 cards

30secs time sequence (click to play; click 2x for full screen)

3min sequence (click to play)

Some Previous Cards

Previous cards adorning our entryway mirror

Besting the Beast and Other Fantasy Tales: Scott Forbes Crawford’s Weirdly Accessible Adventure

2024, Oct 27, Simulcast on Black Gate: Besting the Beast and Other Fantasy Tales: Scott Forbes Crawford’s Weirdly Accessible Adventure

Besting the Beast by Scott Forbes Crawford

(2024, Kindle); Cover art by Ben Greaves

Besting the Beast is Grimm-like tales for Grimdark readers

Fantasy readers often seek escapism and encounters with the unknown, but those adventures can become too weird to be accessible. Shorter forms help. Incorporating some grounding in history or reality helps too. One of the most accessible styles is the fairy tale, and Scott Forbes Crawford delivers five remarkable fun, and easy-to-read, adventures bridging the short story and fairy tale form in Besting the Beast (Aug 2024). All are rooted in Asian history/myth and feature relatable human protagonists to lead the way.

The cover art by Ben Greaves is appropriately derived from “Recovering the Stolen Jewel from the Palace of the Dragon King” (1853) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). Don't let the friendly style fool you. The beasts herein are pleasantly weird and gory. Excerpts from all the stories are below so you can get a flavor of the horrific creatures and antagonists you'll experience. Sword & Sorcery and Grimdark fiction fans will enjoy these (indeed, Besting the Beast is Grimm-like fairy tales for Grimdark readers).

The contents of Besting the Beast have all been published before (in SNAFU: Holy War, Bards and Sages, Sword and Sorcery Magazine, and more). Also, expect more of these characters in future publications since Crawford has a few acceptances brewing for other Sword & Sorcery venues. My favorites are "The Carving of a Warrior" and "Half-baked Hero" since I am fascinated with weird art and human sculptures. I am thrilled that the character Janza from "Half-Baked Hero" has more stories penned in her honor.

Crawford's blending of weird adventure and global history/myths is expressed in his other books like  Silk Road Centurion (which had an excerpt inside Besting the Beast) featuring a 53 B.C. Roman soldier Manius Titinius who is held captive by a warband of nomadic Xiongnu, and The Phoenix and the Firebird that explores a realm of magic and monsters inspired by Chinese and Slavic folklore (The Han-Xiongnu War: 133 BC–89 AD). What inspires Crawford? Well, he's been traveling the world during his life, including stints in Japan and China.

Don’t let the friendly, fairy tale style fool you. Crawford's beasts are pleasantly weird and gory

Besting the Beast: Table of Contents & Excerpts

The Carving of a Warrior (first published in Bards and Sages, 2020)

A young woman named Resh desires to be an artist when she grows up but must cross a monster-infested forest to sculpt a new destiny.

More leaves crunched. Nearer now. Before Resh’s eyes grew a hulking, barely comprehensible form. Humanoid – vaguely – its bulbous torso was a purple shade and it lumbered nearer on limbs of black chitin. Four tentacles swelled from its chest in place of arms. Two organic tubes, the hue of intestine, stemmed from its back and bent over its shoulders, belching a stream of the lavender gas. No features contoured its face; utterly flat, the head served only to host a single mammoth eye, white but for some speckles of red, like blood-spattered milk...In a hollow of her mind, Resh sensed the Imps were nothing more than phantasms born of the gas. This demon, though, was all too real as it stood before her father and wreathed him in gas. The creature’s tentacles embraced his head and chest. He dropped the spear without a fight, his empty hands savagely clawing air until they froze and he flopped beside the useless weapon, his head pulped, a rotten melon.

Heart of a Samurai, (first published in Pulp Modern 2019)

In the tradition of Japanese ghostly tales, a proud warrior, Kokoro Kenzo, learns the limits of his purity, courtesy of the cat Scrapper

...he spied a furry lump outside the first hut – what was that? He moved closer: a large, floppy-eared dog, torn into ragged, gory thirds. There, at the next hut – three more, and there, beside the well, seven bodies of cats, sworn enemies, who had in death become brothers and sisters. Loosening his katana in its scabbard, Kokoro quickened his step – and then he froze. A stack rose ahead of him, like of firewood. A stack so tidy and geometrical and perplexing, Kokoro took a moment to recognize it was made of men. Children, grandmothers, sun-browned farmers. What had happened to their chests?

A Thief’s Work (first published in The Society of Misft Stories, 2020)

A novelette of intrigue and conspiracy in a city enslaved to the magical drug Sorcel (zombie-like drug addicts are called Droolers). Can a burglar recruited into the resistance free her people?

... a gauntlet closed around her throat and lifted her. Choking, she stared at the blank eyes of the Drooler, her mind flailing for some action to take. The edges of her vision darkened. Another moment and the dark would swallow her. But an idea sparked. The Drooler hadn’t fully locked her right arm. Slowly, she reached for his wrist and with fingers made cunning by years picking pockets, she untied the lacings which fastened the gauntlet to his forearm. Her vision clouded and she felt consciousness dwindling away, but finally she undid the last lacing. The gauntlet fell and she tumbled free, rolling as the Drooler tried sweeping her up. Shaking off a woozy head, she leaped into the mill wheel, folding herself in the cramped hollow between the wheel’s blades as it swooshed her down and away.

Besting the Beast (first published in SNAFU: Holy War, 2021)

The titular tale covers the aftermath of a demonic invasion; a bandit orphan Kai is one of the few survivors of a grand melee with winged demons. He seeks revenge for his lord and family in a confrontation with the mother of evil gods.

On an impossibly long, spindly arm, a hand shot from the water, snatched a Jomon trooper from the front rank and yanked him screaming into the pool. A red cloud mottled the surface. Another arm whizzed out. Another. Long fingers raked in Guardians. Now the water swirled and frothed. A head broke the surface and swooped up on a lengthy, sinuous neck.

The whole of the chamber released a collective, ecstatic sigh. Kai reeled at what hovered above the water – a woman’s head, in some demented fashion, with strings of blue-black hair. Eyes like moons filmed in the hue of blood, a jumble of sharp teeth set in an outsized mouth. What form of body lurked beneath the surface?

Half-baked Hero (first published in Sword and Sorcery Magazine, 2019)

When the female bodyguard Janza encounters an outlandish client, she faces a choice between her past and future, vengeance and honor.

Kong parted his robe.

Waist up was immense flab, the flesh of his belly coarse, grainy, gloppy. Incongruously, his legs rippled with muscle. Kong began massaging his stomach and chanting ancient words. Cruel, bestial words Janza had never heard, yet somehow, her blood recognized them, recognized and feared them. Janza could only lie there, frozen and terrified, until the sorcerous, blood-thieving assassin had his final say.

Yet with every bead of sweat wetting Kong’s brow, more disgusted heat blasted through her body. Rage warmed her. By inches her limbs began melting free.

Kong rubbed his paunch furiously . . . and he dug his fingers in and tore away bloodless wads of paunch. These he piled on the floor.

Silk Road Centurion - Novel Excerpt (Published by Camphor Press., 2023)

The book chronicles a 53 B.C. Roman soldier making a life on the ancient Chinese frontier. However, Manius Titinius falls captive to a warband of Xiongnu, nomadic horsemen who rule the seas of grass between the Gobi Desert and the Mountains of Heaven.

Hooves pounded nearer. They were almost on top of Manius. He snatched the two pila javelins he kept on his horse, just as the enemy rounded the bend. The lead rider now was a squat man wrapped in furs, not that giant. Judging his speed, Manius drew back a pilum, coiling his muscles like a tensed spring before whipping forward and launching. The javelin arced true, striking the horseman to the dirt.

Manius readied his throw against the next man. No, only a beardless boy, unarmed. From his speeding horse he looked up at Manius and their eyes locked, the boy’s seeming to register in that split second his life had been spared. Around the bend came the giant. Manius sent his last javelin soaring up and as it arced, he knew it had its victim’s scent. The barbarian seemed to freeze, gazing stupidly at the onrushing projectile, at his end foretold. ... Mouthing a curse, Manius clawed out his gladius, dashed at his surprised foe and thrust for his ribs. In one fluid motion the giant drew his sword. There was a clang and a silvery flash as the barbarian’s curving steel batted away the short, straight Roman sword. Manius was open now to a follow-on strike and braced to receive the killing blow...

About the Author

Scott Forbes Crawford is the author of the historical novel Silk Road Centurion, the history book The Han-Xiongnu War 133 BC – 89 AD, and co-author, with his wife Alexis Kossiakoff, of the Middle-Grade historical fantasy novel The Phoenix and the Firebird. His short stories and articles have appeared in a range of magazines and anthologies. After spending many years in Beijing and Taipei, Crawford now lives in Japan with his wife and daughter. You can learn more about Scott Forbes Crawford at the author's website, his Facebook page, or his newsletter site.

---

S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Black Gate, regularly reviewing books and interviewing authors on the topic of “Beauty & Art in Weird-Fantasy Fiction.” He is also the lead moderator of the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group and an intern for Tales from the Magician’s Skull magazine. As for crafting stories, he has contributed eight entries across Perseid Press’s Heroes in Hell and Heroika series, and has an entry in Weirdbook Annual #3: Zombies. He independently publishes novels under the banner Dyscrasia Fiction; short stories of Dyscrasia Fiction have appeared in Whetstone, Swords & Sorcery online magazine, Rogues In the House Podcast’s A Book of Blades Vol I and Vol II, DMR’s Terra Incognita, and the 9th issue of Tales From the Magician’s Skull.

 

Mortal Dogs, Celebrate the Day of Might, this Oct 23rd

 

2021 Day of Might Video and Skull Speaks

Three years ago our Sword & Sorcery champion "the Skull" ordained Oct 23rd the Day of Might.

Trube believers and immolatible minions should go forth and drink beers of root and cheer for the ultimate adventure subgenre!

Howard Andrew Jones is more than the original Skull, he remains an outstanding role model in the fiction community. I recently captured my thoughts on this mentorship and friendship (blog) since he, sadly suffers from a real condition. Howard Andrew Jones is battling cancer in a very real way. Sorry to switch gears. If you haven't yet, please consider supporting the below Go Fund Me for him.  

Go Fund Me for Howard Andrew Jones  - Aid the Skull in his time of need (link)

Hi, friends. This is C. S. E. Cooney, John O'Neill, Sean CW Korsgaard, Greg Mele, James Enge, Mark Rigney, Scott Oden, and Seth Lindberg, representing the hordes of family, friends, fans, and followers of the marvelous writer, beautiful human, husband, father, mentor, editor, and friend Howard Andrew Jones.

In August, many of us received this update from Howard and his family:

"Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I have been diagnosed with brain cancer––multifocal glioblastoma. People I trust––my doctors and my family––inform me it will be fatal, and we are deciding now on a course of action to make the most of the time I have left.

Many of you have been reaching out with well wishes, and I am greatly appreciative. It’s heartening to know that so many people are cheering me on. I am surrounded by family and friends, and they’re taking good care of me.

For now, if you are looking for updates and details about my condition, you should contact John O’Neill, whom most of you know, or Mark Rigney, whose contact information is below. Between them, they will serve as a conduit to me and my wife, Shannon.

Thank you all for your support, not just now, but down the years, and I hope this message finds you well.

Howard"

Since this message, our community is gathering its loving might to help Howard and Shannon and the Jones family in this time of great stress and financial burden. This GoFundMe shall go to forthcoming medical bills in the months to come and any other funding the family might need.

Please, help if you can. Please spread the word, share this link, or buy Howard's wonderful books. We thank you: for Howard is a true wizard among dragons, and we love him very, very much.

Yours truly, C. S. E. Cooney (Claire)

Swords Together!

Some other Day of Might Links:

• 2021 Skull Video link
• SELindberg 2021 Day of Might
• 2022 Goodman Games -1
• 2022 Goodman Games
• SELindberg 2021 Day of Might - 2

Teaser Reveal - Interior art for a Collection of Tales in the Works: Grave's Daughters

Teaser Reveal

Samuel Dillon crafted this beauty, the most revealing portrait of Dr. Grave and his three daughters ever made.  It will be part of a collection called "Grave's Daughters" due out sometime in 2025.

In 2022, I was thrilled to have my short story "Orphan Maker" appear in Tales from the Magician's Skull #9.  It was granted two illustrations, one by Samuel Dillon depicting the skeletal Lord Lysis battle with his ax-wielding brother Brood. I purchased the original of that.

Book Blurb for B J Swann - Good vibes from reviews

I am currently reading Scott Crawford's Besting the Beast and Other Fantasy Tales which is a collection of grim fairy tales. 

Enjoying that, I recalled the uber-grim Crimson Crown tale by B J Swann [reviewed on Black Gate Fringe Grimdark: Crimson Crown by BJ Swann [2021], so I went to check out his collection [Aeon of Chaos which contains Crimson Crown] and was honored to see my review incorporated into the description.

Praise for B.J. Swann's The Crimson Crown

"The Crimson Crown is Intense, Emotive, Dark Fantasy; Equally Enjoyable and Discomforting." - S.E. Lindberg, author of Lords of Dyscrasia and Helen's Daimones

Grimnir personally insults S.E. Lindberg! Or perhaps just the Fat One is slandered

Cheers to Scott Oden (and his live-in companion, Grimnir)! I've reviewed his books over the years (see below) but those were all electronic versions. Having the chance to get signed copies from him (apparently known as the "fat one" by Griminir), I pleaded for Grimnir to contribute.... and the orcish bastard delivered.  I am proud to have been personally trolled by the brute. 

Scott Oden wished me "All the best!" but Grimnir expounded on that:

- "Nar! All the Best What? Wine? Women? The fat one [Oden]  makes no sense!"

- "Bah, You Wretched Kneeler! This is the good one! This will put hairs on your arse!"

- "Faugh! The fat one [Oden] said you wanted an insult!? Ha! Only an idiot would give good coin for this tripe!"

My reviews of Scott Oden's Grimnir Series:

• Goodreads A Gathering of Ravens - Grimnir #1  [April 2016]
• Black Gate The Doom of “Oden”: Twilight of the Gods (Grimnir #2) [April 2020]
• Black Gate Lord of a Shattered Land and The Doom of Odin: Howard Andrew Jones and Scott Oden Deliver High-octane, Euro-Mediterranean Adventure  [June 2024]