Cead Fáilte
A thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for July 19th, 2024
I am your village scéalaí back again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.
I have four short stories and one poem for you this week. There is the last chapter of From Beyond the Water Wall, a short scary story, two science fiction shorts and a poem about a star who wants to go home.
So gather round once more under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life and let me read them to you, with a little added flare. Select the play button above to listen to this week’s selections.
The only other news I have to share with everyone this week is that I have found more science fiction writers on Substack now. Which I will start reading some of their stories starting in August.
I have read one or two so far this year but I will be be bringing more as the word has gotten out that I am looking for stories. I have read a handful of the stories they have submitted and these folks are very talented. I will let the audience make the final judgement but, from someone who has been reading science fiction for decades, these young folks rival some of the old masters of old.
I will still read stories and poetry from Medium writers to offer the variety that everyone craves. Medium writers are just as talented as any one else. It just seems that the money is in blog articles these days so fictional stories have become a little harder to find. I know I never made a dime off of my fictional stories on Medium. Not that these weekly newsletters generate any bonuses either. If I wrote for money, I would have given up a long time ago.
I am also finding out that marketing a self-published fictional novel is very hard. The retail book industry apparently has a code against putting these books on their shelves for people to pick up and thumb through. And then, there are the marketing scammers
I ran into one such company this week. They hit me up on my Linked In page and said they were a book marketing company. They advertised that they could help me use social media to sell my book.
During the meeting, this shaggy looking man with a dark, blurred background on Zoom tried to convince me that his company had contracts with small, independent book store owners across the country who would, for a large monthly fee, set up delivery of my books to these sellers and I would make money.
My instincts sent off an alarm bell when he started screen sharing with me these ugly looking spreadsheets with all of these book sellers listed. It looked so unprofessional that I said I would think about and left the meeting without offering any commitment.
When I Googled this company afterwards, it was obvious that they were just another fly-by-night company out to fleece unsuspecting people. Meanwhile, I am still trying to figure out the best way to market my book to book stores.
I have a meeting with someone a lot more professional next week to see what he has to offer. I am already advertising on my website, my social media accounts (although I am not a frequent poster so that may be a problem), and my online writing accounts here on Medium and Substack.
I am open for ideas if anyone cares to offer any.
Here are this week’s stories and the poem I selected to read for everyone.
From Beyond the Water Wall
Chapter 25/25 — Beyond the Water Wall
Cape Cod 1942
Horror fiction
Star-4488 (Sol)
No landing on Terra
Her Orbs, Averted
Memories of Teddy Bear
A Dead Star With a Fragile Heart
Stitched by unseen hands
That’s all I have for everyone again this week. It’s been a quiet week in the literary world. It seems that the events of the outside world have taken over everything, everywhere nowadays. It’s times like this that I want to hide away with a good book and let the world slide on by for a while. I thank all of you once again for joining me here and I will be back next week with more. Sláinte
Go raibh maith agat. If you like the show, please like, subscribe and reply as this goes a long way towards reaching more listeners around the world.
As a Seanchaí, I hope you will allow me to continue delighting you with a story or a poem here under the Crann na beatha. Maybe they will bring you a smile and take you away from your troubles for a time.
As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane to the pub. May your friends and relations bring you a pint after you retell these stories and poems I give you here.” Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.
T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic Seanchaí
Crann na beatha Stories and Poetry