DOUGLAS SMITH | Writing the Fantastic

Here's another free short story of mine in audio format. 

My flash piece, “Nothing,” appeared recently on the horror podcast, Tales to Terrify, as part of their episode #740. 

You can listen to the story in its entirety here, as read by Barbara Henslee. My story starts at the 00:02:43 mark of the episode.

I'll add a reminder that you can listen to more audio performances of my short fiction on my website here, including an earlier performance of "Nothing" by a different narrator and on a different horror podcast, The No Sleep Podcast.

Other stories of mine you can listen to include "Doorways," "Out of the Light," "The Dancer at the Red Door," "Enlightenment," "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down," "Scream Angel," "Radio Nowhere," and two Heroka stories, "Spirit Dance" and "A Bird in the Hand."

Enjoy!

If you're interested, here are a couple of interviews I did recently, one a podcast, one written.

Living the Next Chapter — I'm interviewed by fellow Canadian, David Campbell, on his podcast about the release of my third collection, Borderlanz: Tales From the Edges, as well as character-based writing, considerations when putting together a collection, my first story sale, and much more.

The Butchered Writer’s Substack — A written interview by Nora Peevy about the release of my third collection, Borderlanz: Tales From the Edges, as well as writing in general.

A complete list of my interviews can be found on my website here.

Here's a bunch of contests and promotions where you can pick up some complimentary ebooks or enter for a chance to win a bundle of books and even a Kindle ereader. 

For most of these, you'll simply need to sign up for the author's newsletter.

• Fantasy & Paranormal Giveaway (hosted by Bargain Booksy): Prize of 25 ebooks and a Kindle ereader. The more authors you follow, the more entries you get. 

• Fantasy Complete Series on Kobo Plus (hosted by Bookfunnel): A curated list of first-in-series titles for completed series available on Kobo Plus, Kobo's subscription service.

• Epic SF&F giveaway (hosted by Bookfunnel): Grab as many of these ebooks as you want by subscribing to the author's newsletter.

• Young Adult book giveaway (hosted by Booksweeps): The Grand Prize winner receives a signed copy of THE HAUNTING HOUR: Chills in the Dead of Night by R.L. Stine and copies of ten curated YA books.

Multi-award-winning writer and editor, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, is once again curating a package of books on the craft and business of writing. 

Kris curates one of these every year on Storybundle, but this one is different. This time, every book is exclusive to this bundle. That means 15 books to make you a better writer that you can get nowhere else. Well, actually, fourteen ebooks and one online writing workshop (also an exclusive), including my own brand new writer's guide, Brick by Brick: How to Build a Story.

Plus, you can direct a portion of your fee to the charity Kris has selected for this bundle: World Central Kitchen, which provides meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises around the world.

Read more about this Storybundle on Kris's blog, and then get the Storybundle here.

Remember! These books are exclusive. You won't find them anywhere else, and you'll get them at a huge discount.

So now's the time to get your copies of all of these books.

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For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of three books in .epub format worldwide.

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $30, you get all three of the regular books, plus TWELVE more books, for a total of 15! And all of them are EXCLUSIVE to this bundle!

This bundle is available only for a limited time, so don't delay. Click here to grab this bundle before it disappears.

I'm thrilled to announce that the most excellent UK publisher, Flame Tree Publishing, will be reprinting my story "Enlightenment" in their upcoming anthology, Wars in the Stars.

This will be my third appearance in a Flame Tree anthology, and each experience has been very enjoyable. They put out an incredibly beautiful product and treat their authors very well, paying pro rates (even for reprints), performing excellent editing, and providing contributor copies in hardcover (!) with gilt edging (again!).

Even cooler, "Enlightenment" will be the closing story in the anthology. Anthology editors will generally put what they think are the strongest stories as the opening story to pull the reader in, one more in the middle to keep them hooked, and one more as the final story to leave them with a good feeling about reading the book.

"Enlightenment" first appeared in the long-running UK magazine, Interzone, in 2004, when the magazine's new publisher, Andy Cox, invited me to submit a story to the inaugural issue under his ownership after taking over from one of the original founders and long-time editor, David Pringle. The story is a sequel of sorts to my award-winner, "Scream Angel," and was a finalist for Canada's Aurora Award.

Wars in the Stars is expected out in August 2026. It will have 260,000 words of fiction (FYI, that's a lot. Easily twice most modern novels) and feature stories from classic SF authors such as Ray Cummings, Stanley G. Weinbaum, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, as well as contemporary writers. Check out the full list of authors here, and check out this page for ordering information.

I wrote in an earlier blog post that On Spec, one of the best and longest running speculative fiction magazines in the world and a Canadian institution for 35 years, had published its final issue in December.

(If you'd like to read more about the legacy of On Spec, check out this CBC article.)

However, as I mentioned then, the On Spec name will live on for at least one more publication. 

Regina-based Shadowpaw Press, run by Canadian writer and publisher, Ed Willett, is launching a Kickstarter for an On Spec anthology of all new stories, to be released in late 2026. If it does well, it might become an annual publication, keeping the On Spec name alive.

Check out the cool cover by award-winning Canadian spec fic artist, James Beveridge. Jim was a frequent cover artist for On Spec, creating many of my favourites over its run. Jim also did the cover for my new collection, Borderlanz.  

You might have noticed I'm one of the authors listed on the cover. As a frequent contributor to On Spec, I was honoured to be invited as an "anchor author" for the Kickstarter and will be contributing a brand new story for the antho.

The Kickstarter launches March 17 and is offering a slew of wonderful incentives to supporters, including bunches of free ebooks and print books, as well as special offers from contributing authors, such as virtual kaffeklatsch sessions with them, signed and personalized print editions of their books, Tuckerization chances (getting your name used as a character in a book or story), critiques on your own writing, and much more.

If you'd like to support the Kickstarter, just click here. 

I am thrilled to announce that today is release day for my third collection of short fiction, Borderlanz.

Borderlanz contains 15 stories, including award winners, award finalists, and "best of the year" selections, in a mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and more. 

Plus, the book includes an introduction by award-winning fantasy author, Charles de Lint! Full details on the contents of the collection are here.

The book is available here in ebook, trade paperback, and hardcover editions from all major book retailers, including Amazon, Apple, B&N, Kobo, Google Play, Smashwords, and more, at special release week pricing.

Release week pricing: US$4.99

(After release week: US$6.99)

Two of the top book review sites recently gave Borderlanz their top honours:

“Editor’s Pick: A collection that refuses easy categorization. Spanning cosmic fantasy, noir mystery, and psychological horror, … balancing scale with intimacy is one of the collection’s strengths. Smith excels in character work … Internal struggles drive the narratives, [and] even in fantastical settings … emotional stakes remain grounded and affecting.” —BookLife (full review here)

“Starred review: Smith’s impeccable third collection…contains a diversity of compelling speculative fiction tales [which are] a testament to Smith’s mastery at crafting short stories. … Aspiring short-form writers could well use this flawless collection as a primer [which is] sure to delight from the first story to the last.” —Blueink Review (full review here)

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Click here to buy Borderlanz from your favourite retailer.

Another of the top book review sites in North America has selected my upcoming collection, Borderlanz, for their top honour.

Founded by a respected literary agent and an award-winning former book review editor, Blueink Review call themselves "the gold standard in book reviews." Are they? I don't know, but their "Starred" reviews, meaning highly recommended books, are reprinted in top publishing journals, so someone thinks so.

Blueink gave Borderlanz a starred review, their top rating. Here's an extract:

“Starred review: Smith’s impeccable third collection of short stories … contains a diversity of compelling speculative fiction tales … a testament to Smith’s mastery at crafting short stories. The first lines are all solid hooks, … the writing is razor-focused, [and] each story ends with thematic impact … Aspiring short-form writers could well use this flawless collection as a primer. … sure to delight from the first story to the last. ” —Blueink Review

Impeccable? Flawless? Sure to delight? Maybe you want to check it out. See below for how to pre-order it now.

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Borderlanz contains 15 short stories, including award winners, award finalists, "best of the year" selections, and features a mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and more. Plus an introduction by award-winning fantasy author, Charles de Lint! Full details on the contents of the collection are here.

A reminder that the ebook is available NOW for pre-order at special pre-release pricing at all major retailers ahead of its March 15, 2026 release date.

Pre-order pricing:  US$4.99  /  £4.49  /  €4.99  /  CA$6.99  /  AU$6.99

After March 15:  US$6.99  /  £5.99  /  €9.99  /  CA$9.99  /  AU$9.99

Click here to pre-order Borderlanz from your favourite retailer and save!

Recently, one of the top book review sites in North America selected my upcoming collection, Borderlanz, for their top honour.

BookLife (part of Publisher's Weekly) awarded Borderlanz their coveted "Editor's Pick," used to denote "a book of outstanding quality." 

Read the full review here (page down to find the review below the book description). 

Some highlights:

“Editor’s Pick: A collection that refuses easy categorization. Spanning cosmic fantasy, noir mystery, and psychological horror, these 15 interconnected stories share a single preoccupation: what happens to people when systems demand everything from them … 

"Smith excels in character work … protagonists whose internal struggles drive the narratives. … Even in fantastical settings, emotional stakes remain grounded and affecting … [presenting] love, resistance, and balance as ongoing acts rather than resolved outcomes. … Borderlanz is ambitious, exacting work for readers willing to sit with difficult questions about what we owe each other when the world demands too much.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ” —BookLife Reviews

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Borderlanz contains 15 short stories, including award winners, award finalists, "best of the year" selections, and features a mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and more. Plus an introduction by award-winning fantasy author, Charles de Lint! Full details on the contents of the collection are here.

A reminder that the ebook is available NOW for pre-order at special pre-release pricing at all major retailers ahead of its release on March 15, 2026.

Pre-order pricing:  US$4.99  /  £4.49  /  €4.99  /  CA$6.99  /  AU$6.99

After March 15:  US$6.99  /  £5.99  /  €9.99  /  CA$9.99  /  AU$9.99

Click here to pre-order Borderlanz from your favourite retailer and save!