Publishing News:

David B. Harrington has published “Inclinations,” his apocalyptic musings on where the world is headed. Congratulations, David, on a job well done.

Received from Jeani Rector, author of “Around a Dark Corner,” and am in the process of personally reviewing it (which means one story a day). I have been impressed in what I have read; it is professionally written and is an easy read for our horror fans – and the book is a very solid piece of work by an author who loves writing.

Check out Jeani at www.aroundadarkcorner.com and visit her ezine, “The Horror Zine” at www.thehorrorzine.com . She has worked hard and deserves the recognition. Having spent a week reading a story a day – I dare not read them at night – I can say that the ten short stories, told through the eyes of a young woman are a definite read that will haunt you throughout the day.

Michael Battaglia a/k/a The Pretentious Twit, reviews in this month's Scribal Tales, Day of Reckoning and Death Comes Again. Michael changes his style for this dual critique: “…and yet both writers are doing their best to subvert our expectations so that the stories are what they are and yet are something else entirely…” Yep, the Pretentious Twit has outdone himself in his review and critique once again. Read his column and be enlightened.

To Robert T. Tuohey, an apology as his chilling tale of Winter's Warm Embrace should have been published in the Halloween issue, found its way here at last, a perfect tale for December.

What's Up, Perseus by Tala Bar. Our long-time contributor sent me this story about a year ago – in my usual computer confusion, it remained lost – then I stumbled across it, and loved the irony of the story. The “Greek gods” are never easily understood, and this story explains why.

The Hunter, by Lakesha Landrum, a horror tale by a new writer for Scribal Tales will help close out this year with a distinct and cold shudder.

Shared World Tales: The long-awaited round-robin tale has begun with: The Guest at the Inn, by Joel Weichs Levy and Daniel Olarnick. We invite all the authors to join us in a story line that we hope will become a regular feature on Scribal Tales.

Docked, Cropped and Clipped by Daniel Olarnick (yes our erstwhile editor) is a short story by a nameless scribe (perhaps an ancestor of Odan but no one knows for sure) as he gives his own take on the end of the – no, no, perhaps it is the beginning of the world. I had entered this story in a writing contest some years ago, and came across it in my files. I thought I would share it with our subscribers.

The Elixir, Chapter 16 in the on-going story of Odan the Scribe, by Daniel Olarnick: Moultrance finds his long-dead adversary alive and well in Talos Valley; the Vixen, Charisse, having hired the assassin Tayson (a being from another dimension) to do away with Odan, finds herself and her immortality – not to mention Moultrance's – in immortal danger. It is a new twist to the on-going story and submitted for your review.

As to my poker career: I scored my fifth win in Atlantic City this weekend at the Showboat Casino, and it was, perhaps, with the exception of my 86 th place in the Senior Division of the WSOP, my finest performance. I entered the final table “short-stacked” in 10th place, made a few daring moves and battled my way to fourth place, but still short stacked (approximately 65,000 in chips to the 300,000 chips of the remaining three players). Through a Prometheus Stratagem ploy, I ended up in first place and declared the winner of the tournament. In 2010, I will commence playing tournament poker circuit. I will keep you all informed.

I would take a moment to wish everybody a happy holiday and a happy New Year. Thank you for being part of the Scribal Tales family.

Dan “O”
Publisher and Editor of Scribal Tales and the Scribe's Gazette.