DOUGLAS SMITH | Writing the Fantastic

In the opening chapter of The Lost Expedition, the final book in The Dream Rider Saga trilogy, the witch Morrigan returns to Castle Rushen, her childhood home on the Isle of Man, where she searches for and finds the Unicorn Tapestry, a lost and powerful artifact of the long dead White Coven of Ellan Vannin.

The tapestry I describe in the book is closely based on an actual tapestry that hangs in the very real Castle Rushen. The real one is not made of silk and is not in a hidden chamber, but it does contain all the other elements described in the book, all of which play a major role in the story and in Morrigan's journey: the emaciated unicorn and pale maiden at its centre, and the four creatures hiding in the corners—the bat, the rat, the fire drake, and the eel.

If you’re interested in seeing the tapestry in more detail, click on the photo shown here, which I took when I visited Castle Rushen in 2013 on a trip to the Isle of Man. Finding the tapestry on that visit gave me the idea to create the magical artifact for The Lost Expedition.

I'd written earlier this year that my story "If I Should Fall Behind" had been selected for The Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 2, edited by the award-winning writer and anthologist, Stephen Kotowych. I'm happy to announce that the book is now published and available for purchase in ebook and trade paperback.

My story selected for the anthology first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in September 2023, giving me my first appearance in my dream short fiction market. So this little tale is doing all right so far.

I'm thrilled to be appearing with some of the best Canadian speculative fiction writers, including Nalo Hopkinson, Julie Czerneda, Cory Doctorow, Kelly Robson, Gemma Files, James Alan Gardner, Eric Choi, and many more.

If you want to sample some of the best fantasy, horror, and science fiction of the past year, pick up your copy of the anthology at your favourite retailer.

I am chuffed to announce that my story "The Walker of the Shifting Borderland" has been translated into Farsi and reprinted in the online magazine Metaphor Space.

This is the first story I've had appear in Farsi, which becomes the 28th language in which my stories have been published.

On the right, you can check out the very cool illustration that accompanies the story, showing the Walker contemplating the Seas of Chaos. If you happen to read Farsi, you can also read the story online on the Metaphor Space website here.

"The Walker of the Shifting Borderland" was first published in the excellent and long-running Canadian speculative fiction magazine, On Spec in 2012, and won Canada's Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction in 2013. It will be featured in my upcoming collection (planned for 2025), or you can buy an ebook copy of the story from my store or your favourite retailer.

My Norse mythology tale, "The Last Ride," has been reprinted in the anthology, Odin: New & Old Norse Tales, published by the very excellent Flame Tree Publishing.

This is my second publication in a Flame Tree anthology, and I can testify that they are a very professional press. They pay pro rates for first rights and a very healthy rate even for reprints, and provided two hardcover contributor copies. If you're not aware, one paperback author copy is typical, so two is a bonus and hardcover copies are almost unheard of. Plus, the hardcovers are gorgeous, with beautiful shiny red page edging and bookmark ribbons. Very cool.

"The Last Ride" first appeared in the DAW anthology Hags, Sirens and Other Bad Girls of Fantasy (great title, right?) in 2006. It tells the story of Vaya, immortal Valkyrie and favorite daughter of Odin All Father, sworn to carry dead heroes from the battlefields of Earth to live forever in Valhalla.

One day, she intervenes on the battlefield to save the life of a soldier who has captured her heart, and is forced by Odin to choose between immortality and the man she loves. Vaya chooses love, not knowing that the hardest choice still lies ahead of her. Some of the original reviews:

"…exemplifies the best elements of Douglas Smith's writing. A Valkyrie falls for her hero, gives up her immortality for him then has to make that inevitable and awful choice afterwards. As always, even for such a brief time, there is so much life in these characters. I don't bother to marvel at how quickly I come to care for Douglas Smith's people anymore, it's a given. " —SF Crowsnest Reviews

"A gripping portrayal of Vaya, a Valkyrie, and the ultimate sacrifices one makes for love." —SFRevu

You can order the anthology here.

My story, "If I Should Fall Behind" has been reprinted in the urban fantasy anthology, Street Magic II, from Camden Park Press. I also had a story, "Out of the Light," in the first volume of this antho series, so that's cool.

"If I Should Fall Behind" that gave me my first appearance in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, one of the top pro markets for speculative fiction in the world and my dream market since I started writing. I wrote about that sale earlier. It appeared in their September 2023 issue and was a finalist for Canada's Aurora Award for Best Short Story this past year. The story was also selected for this year's volume of The Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, vol. 2., so it's already accumulated some nice kudos in its short life.

Some reviews of the story when it first appeared:

“The story has great emotional appeal and the plight of the two lovers is sure to touch the reader’s heart. … [A] powerful tale.” —TangentOnline

“It’s a tale of a teenager with the ability to see possible futures, using it mostly to keep himself and his lover one step ahead of the mysterious forces that have pursued them since his ability first manifested at a summer camp years before. The premise is interesting enough, but the narrative voice is absolutely outstanding and takes the story from fun and entertaining to one of my very favorites of the year. I mean, just check this out:

A three-times-tried, three-times-died fear screamed in his brain. He booted that fear away so he could memorize his death scene before this chance branch slid into the never-will-be. Memorize. Brain camera. Click.

… [The ending’s] an emotionally satisfying cap on a tremendous tale, a tale which itself is a tremendous cap on the September/October issue of F&SF.” —Tar Vol’s Reviews

“An interesting and moving story.” —Iridescent Book Reviews, New Zealand

Pick up the antho at Amazon or other retailers.

If you're a book blogger, please consider signing up here to host any day of my upcoming blog tour for my multi-award-winning fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga. The tour will run from Jan 4-11, 2025.

All you'll need to do is share the info for the books, along with possibly excerpts and your own thoughts on the books in a post on your site. The tour is hosted by Silver Dagger Book Tours, and they make it very easy by providing HTML, social media blurbs, and graphics for you.

The tour also includes a giveaway for the books that you can share with your readers (and you are more than welcome to enter to win as well). Also, you'll get perma-linked back on the Silver Dagger site, for new traffic and new followers. Here is some selected praise for the books:

THE HOLLOW BOYS

Winner of the Aurora Award for Best YA Novel

Winner of the juried IAP Award for Best YA Novel

"Thrilling YA fantasy." —BookLife (Editor’s Pick)

"A must-read story for YA fantasy fans." —Blueink Review (★ Starred review)

"Inventive, engaging, and boundless fun." —The Ottawa Review of Books

THE CRYSTAL KEY

Finalist for the Aurora Award for Best YA Novel

"This thrilling superpowered urban fantasy series continues to grip." —BookLife (Editor's Pick)

"This fast-paced story delivers in a big way." —Blueink Review (★ Starred review)

THE LOST EXPEDITION

“A lavishly concocted ride brimming with magic, mystery, and mayhem…  Takeaway: Explosive conclusion to this spectacular fantasy joyride.” — BookLife (Editor's Pick)

Anyone with a blog, Facebook, Bookstagram, Booktok, Booktube platform (or any other notable posting platform) where you can drop a decent sized post are more than welcome to join. Sign up here.

I'm happy to report that my twisted little tale, "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down," is the closing story in the dark fiction anthology Tangle & Fen from Crone Girls Press.

This was the first pure horror story I ever wrote. It was an Aurora finalist in 2002 and was selected for The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #13 that same year

A short movie adaptation of the story was done by TinyCore Pictures and toured film festivals in 2010, winning a bunch of awards, which was very cool. You can read more about the movie here.

The story has been reprinted many times, including translations into Galician and French. You can also listen to a wonderful audio adaptation of the story at the always excellent NoSleep Podcast.

Just a reminder to any of you who are new here: I maintain a page of links to free audio versions of many of my stories that have been created over the year's by the many excellent podcast speculative fiction markets out there, like Escape Pod, The NoSleep podcast, Tales to Terrify, Far Fetched Fables, and Star Ship Sofa.

I also include links to a bunch of translated stories in French, Galician, Italian, Spanish, and more.

An easy way to sample my writing. Enjoy!

I have officially deleted my account on that 1-letter social platform FKA Twitter, and have opened up a BlueSky account (along with, it appears, a huge portion of the writing community).

I had a few thousand followers on Twitter, but haven't used the platform much lately, since it stopped being Twitter, if you know what I mean (yeah, you do), so I'm starting from zero on BlueSky and would appreciate a follow if you're there, too. Come by, say hi.

You can find me at https://bsky.app/profile/smithwriter.bsky.social.

If you live in the Greater Toronto area, I have two more library appearances coming up:

• Sunday October 27, 2-4pm: Local Author Showcase

Georgina Public Library, 261 Garrett Styles Dr, Keswick, ON

• Saturday, November 2, 1-2:30pm: Indie Author Day

Richmond Hill Public Library, Central Branch, 1 Atkinson Street, Richmond Hill ON L4C 0H5

I'll be doing a short reading at each of these, as well as selling and signing my books. Hope you can attend one of these. It would be great to meet you.