Literally Lyndsey

Welcome to the latest instalment of Literally Lyndsey! It’s been a busy few months, with some exciting things to share, so read on for that, plus sub calls, updates, book and story recommendations, submission calls, folklore facts, cat pics, and more!

Cover Reveal - Dark Crescent!

I’m so delighted to reveal the cover for my forthcoming book with Luna Press Publishing, Dark Crescent! The artwork is by the extremely talented Jenni Coutts, and I couldn’t be more happy with the cover - it features various hints of folklore - selkies, kelpies, a Ceasg, a Cat-sìth, sluagh, and more! And if the cover wasn’t already amazing, I’m still slightly in awe that I got a cover blurb from the Joanne Harris, an author I’ve been a huge fan of for a long time, especially her mythology and folklore works. You can pre-order Dark Crescent direct from Luna now, with more order options coming in the Spring. Pre-order now!

Limelight is on the BSFA Longlist

Was really excited to see Limelight and Other Stories on the BSFA longlist for Best Collection! Voting is still open for a few more days, so if you’re a BSFA member, please do keep Limelight in mind for the collection category!

Other Writing News

A big highlight from last month is that I have a new agent! I’m so delighted to now be represented by Mike Mungiello at InkWell Management in the US, and…we’re officially on sub! It’s not been long, but I’d forgotten how tense I get email watching at this stage and really hoping that my glitz, glamour, and guts space horror book will find a publishing home soon!

Short fiction coming soon!

• ‘To Reap, To Sow’ a new Scottish eco-SF story about genetic modification and exploding tomatoes, will soon be published in Analog SF, my second story there and the perfect home for this strange science tale!

• ‘Under a Bleeding Sky’ a Scottish-folklore inspired story based on the Mirrie Dancers and Bloodstones folklore, will be out in Parsec Magazine, likely in March/April.

What I've Been Reading

• 2025 has been off to a great start for reading, a mix of SF, fantasy, and horror-tinged works - here are some highlights!

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir -pacy, wondrous, full of intrigue and tension, and unexpectedly moving!

• Lightfall by Ed Crocker was brilliant, high stakes (not literal…), fun, and unputdownable with phenomenal worldbuilding and a great cast of characters - need book 2 immediately!

• Deathbound by Heather Palmer what a delight this dark and deadly fantasy was! An excellent premise, stunning worldbuilding, great characters, and intrigue aplenty...! The audio production was just brilliant too!

• Awakened by Laura Elliott very lucky to have an ARC for this, no spoilers but brilliant, and will be a must read for fans of dystopian, near future tech, and gothic-vibes fiction. Out in June 2025 so do check it out!

• Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor - a first contact book like no other - compelling, poignant, action-packed, fun, weird, beautiful, and fable-like!

• Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black - this one was darkly fun, escapist, fantastical, charming and wholesome!

• Currently reading: Authority by Jeff VanderMeer - great to be back in the Southern Reach, and intending to get through the full series this year as Annihilation remains one of my all time favourite reads! Also, Cascade Failure by L.M Sagas which is a lot of fun so far.

Some short fiction I’ve enjoyed recently!

• Last month, I judged Elegant Lit’s short story competition on the theme of Fearsome Folklore - you can read the shortlist, as well as the winning story Kissed by a Moonlit Fly by HD Gwyn here.

• Climate and eco fiction fans - I recommend checking out Grist’s Imagine 2200 2025 collection here. Hopeful, radical, resistance visions of the future, and the stories have so much beauty and imagery. If you’re thinking of entering their 2025 competition (usually opens in March), worth checking these out!

• Some to Cradle, Some to Eat by Eugenia Triantafyllou in Lightspeed Magazine.

• Wild Violets by Marisa Celeste Montany in Crow & Cross Keys.

• Song of Water by Anna Madden in Abyss and Apex.

• The Great Ivories by Alexandra Lane, 2nd Place in the Scottish Arts Trust Edinburgh Flash Awards.

• On the Water its Crystal Teeth by Marissa Lingen in Uncanny.

Submission Calls

• Enter Elegant Lit’s prize for new writers (any author that doesn’t yet meet the SFWA membership requirements in paid publications), and the prize is $3,000. The theme this month is Loud Music & Dark Places, judged by J.A.W McCarthy - it’s open until the end of the month, after which a new theme will be announced for March. More here.

• Remains is a new UK horror magazine, with submissions now open.

• If you published an eco-spec fic story in 2024, then this Apex/Violet Lichen call is for you! Submit by end of this month.

• Submit to Reckoning’s new call edited by Sonia Sulaiman by 22nd June - It Was Paradise. 

• Scottish Authors (or authors with a Scottish connection, see eligibility in guidelines), submit your stories to the Cymera Prize for Short Speculative Fiction by 30th March.

• From 7th-21st March, Cursed Morsels Press are open for their Zine call, with various themes including Endlings, Liminal Workplaces, Strange Entries in the Guinness World Book of Records, and Sexy Ghosts - guidelines here!

• Haven Spec, now a pro-paying mag, are open to submissions until 28th Feb, and then all of march for their Limited Demographic window - find all the details of their 2025 sub calls here.

Scottish Folklore of the Month

If you’ve been following the viral Anglerfish story as obsessively as I have been, here is a fun Scottish folklore fact about the anglerfish-resembling sea monster from Shetland!

With its flame crest, the Marool is found glowing phosphorescent in "mareel" or sea-foam. When ships capsize in stormy weather, the Marool sings with joy...this Shetland lore appears in my story “To Gut a Fish, First Gather its Bones” which is in Dark Crescent.

I even joined TikTok just to share this video about it…and in other news, if anyone wants to come show me how TikTok works, please send help as I am very out of my depth! I’ll be (hopefully) sharing some more folklorey content in the run up to collection launch!

What I’m working on/what I’ve been up to

It’s been a strange few months, and there have been a couple of disappointments alongside exciting things. I had a book offer and another exciting thing fall through, and I really felt the hit for a bit, but…onwards! With being on sub I’m keeping fingers crossed for good news soon, and, just last week I signed a contract to work with a publisher I love for a new thing in 2026, so watch this space - something Scottish, haunted, and gothic coming your way!

I also wrote a new novella that I really love and I’m excited about - I’ll be working with both my film and lit agent on this, and I’m looking forward to working on edits before sending it out into the world. It’s another dark sci fi book set in a strange alternate future city, that I’m describing as the vibes of Gotham meets the themes of Black Mirror. And it has eight POVs, which I swear makes sense, so has a bit of a collection feel to it.

Meanwhile, after a bit of a hiatus to get ready for sub/other things, I’m back to edits on the deep sea book, which I finished drafting at the end of last year - it’s nice to come back fresh to it after a bit of a break.

Otherwise, I’m really glad the February is almost at an end - I’ve struggled a lot with winter blues this year, but already feeling the Spring-like energy coming back. I’ve been hibernating and reading, crafting, and gaming lots, kept company by Pippin of course, but definitely hoping to be a bit more active in the months ahead! Here’s a Pip pic to round things off - he’s as giant, fluffy, dinosaur-like, and mischievous as always.

Spring is nearly here, and until then, happy writing and reading!