@talesfeathers
Slice of life fantasy. Pro-paying, open worldwide. @augursociety.bsky.social's little sibling. Publisher @kercoby.bsky.social Managing Editor @loukoren.bsky.social Socials @andregeleynse.com Follow #TinyTalesTuesday for weekly cozy writing prompts!
My nearest neighbor brings me stories of all the songs she hears from her tree of birds. She has a sketchbook full of colorful featherfriends we page through during tea.
But I am happiest of all, living in a cottage no one wanted, swamped by honeysuckle, hearing secrets from the bees.
Aw shucks! 🥹💚💚💚
The tree next door? It's a popular poplar! The first residents were Cardinal Jay and J. Cardinal. The Cardinal is a religious Jay, sacré bleu! J-for-Jake is a bit more secular despite his red. Then there's the Morning Mourning Doves, ooh-ing and coo-ing, grooving and grieving, to start each day.
I flick back and forwards on the calendar. Here's Wednesday the 4th. And there's Monday the 2nd. And in between...
My vision blurs and I find myself at the front of the shop. "I'm sorry," I say. "Your order ought to have come in yesterday but I couldn't find it."
"Is this it?" And yes it is.
The tree outside my house is knobbly and overgrown, too big for its planter, its roots rucking up the pavement and sidewalks on either side. But the squirrel matriarch lives in it, and whenever the city tries to mark it for removal her entire clan comes to support her and jeers at the arborists.
A classic Tiny Tales Tuesday On A Wednesday because we forgot what day it was yesterday and now it's Everyone's Problem
Streets twist and buildings wedge into unlikely shapes to avoid the trees. Any tree hosting enough creatures counts as a dwelling and cannot be removed without permission from its inhabitants. The squirrels rarely allow that. Who lives in the tree outside your door?
#TinyTalesTuesday #WritingPrompt
Delighted to share that I have a new story out in Tales & Feathers volume 4 -- and what beautiful art for the volume's cover!
happy days everyone! augur came out with another banger yesterday & i have a story in it!! please enjoy <3
New story day! ✨
Ever wondered what it's like to be an NPC living in a TTPRG world? Get your weekly update in "Duskhollow Township Unbituaries, Week of the Harvest Moon"!
I’m so excited to have a story in this incredible issue! “The Trees and the Frogs and the Sun on the Water” is 50% insistence that queer love is magic, 50% insistence that poetry is magic too. I hope you love this one. 🌳 🐸 ☀️ 🌊
It's my first publication in English, and I loved each and every step of the editorial process. I'm more than happy to announce that Tales and Feathers volume 4 is now live. ❤️
Guess who's in here...
A HUGE thank you to everyone who backed us on Kickstarter in 2024! Your support made this possible, and we hope you love reading this volume as much as we loved creating it! 💛
🎉 Special thanks to our Managing Editor, @loukoren.bsky.social, and the amazing @augursociety.bsky.social's Editorial and Production teams, First Readers, and Designers for bringing this issue to life!
🎉 Thank you to our featured illustrators:
@nimasprout.bsky.social - “The Little Mouse Knight”
Andrea Viñas Notaro - “The Embroidered Garden”
Check out their incredible work in the issue 👉 augursociety.org/tales-and-fe...
T&F Volume 4 features...
✒️ “Divinity, Abloom” by @nebulouswrites.com
✒️ “A Village Born After the War” by @awintersplace.bsky.social
✒️ “The Little Mouse Knight” by Aaryan Balu
T&F Volume 4 features...
✒️ “Duskhollow Township Unbituaries, Week of the Harvest Moon” by @rjaurand.bsky.social
✒️ “Through the Doorway, I Watch Her Come and Go” by @diogolsramos.bsky.social
✒️ “Assisting the Necromancer” by Marie Pabelonio
& more! 👇
T&F Volume 4 features...
✒️ “nohkôm’s Coffee” by Benjamin Johns
✒️ “The Embroidered Garden” by @manahil.bsky.social
✒️ “The Privilege of Copper, the Price of a Scale” by Kelsey Hutton
& more! 👇
OR purchase a copy today to read the full issue!
T&F Volume 4 features...
✒️ “Covenant of Salt” by @keatingnotkeats.bsky.social
✒️ “I Will Bring You Tokyo” by @pscwillis.bsky.social
✒️ ”The Trees and the Frogs and the Sun on the Water” by @mruthrobinson.bsky.social
& more! 👇
An illustration with a green overlay of a small group sitting by a campfire in the countryside woods under the blue night sky. A cloaked figure sits beside a small furry animal with a tail, and in front of them is a storyteller whose body glows yellow from the fire. A deer is lying nearby, and there are three ghost mice with wings perched on a wooden fence watching. At the top of the image is a hanging wooden sign that reads: “Read it now” in white text. Underneath it reads: “Tales & Feathers Volume 4” in white text. At the bottom of the image are the last names of the authors: "Keating. Willis. Robinson. Johns. Bandukwala. Hutton. Aurand. Ramos. Pabelonio. Agoawike. Winter. Balu" in white text.
HUGE shoutout to @dikalaha.bsky.social for this GORGEOUS cover! It makes us want to gather close to the campfire and get lost in a story. 😻
Our next free piece is “The Little Mouse Knight” by Aaryan Balu! A battle-worn mouse and the shelter beneath an old hawk. Featuring this stunning art by @nimasprout.bsky.social! 🤩
READ IT NOW 👉 augursociety.org/the-little-m...
Our first free piece is “Covenant of Salt” by Erin Keating. It’s about a lighthouse keeper, the sea, & a salt-made ghost. 🌊
READ IT NOW 👉 augursociety.org/covenant-of-...
Dear readers,
TALES & FEATHERS VOLUME 4 IS NOW LIVE! 🎊
Fantasy is full of world ending dangers. Of wars & high stakes & lives on the line. But what comes after?👀
Subscribers can find the issue in their inbox within 24 hours, & we have 2 FREE pieces on our site RIGHT NOW!
Click the link below!⬇️
"Such a clever loophole," one spectator comments, peering through her opera glasses.
"Quite," her companion agrees. "Nothing but jumps. Why, it's hardly touched the track at all!"
They watch in silence as Frogger leaps forward. Then back. Then a bit to the side.
"Shame it's not exactly Faster..."
It took a year of planning, designing and painstaking construction, but on the morning of the race, it was finished. Six wheels, a body built for speed, suspension and shocks perfect for long jumps. The fresh paint gleamed, its name emblazoned on its side in bright, ketchup-red: HOTDOG-MOBILE.
They laughed when they saw it slowly clanking up to the start line steam hissing, water dripping.
No laughter after the Mole Mobile's first lap, running barely subterranean. Only the MM could use the ruptured track after its first lap.
I laughed, tho', when "in contact" later became "rest upon".
Most people believe in the Way of the Wheel. Every year there are at least two Trojan Horses and one Apple Car.
I can’t promise we’ll win, but the look of awestruck fear as the shadow falls across the track and a great honk reverberates through the earth makes the Goosemobile my favorite entry yet.
An illustration of a collection of shells on a wooden table with a brown overlay. There is a quotation mark in grey, and beside it reads: “Tales & Feathers Volume 3” in white text and beside it is a white square outline. Below is a white box and inside it reads: “You would have been impressed by my ability to mimic the brown and yellow colours and the delicate spires and grooves of the shell. So lifelike was my imitation that other molluscs kept their distance from me.” in black text. Underneath is the cover of Augur Issue 8.3, and beside it is a white rectangle that reads inside: “The Shape of Life, Jo Telle” in blue text. At the bottom of the image reads: “Read for free at augursociety.org/the-shape-of-life” in white text.
"The Shape of Life” by @jotelle.bsky.social, from @talesfeathers.bsky.social Vol 3, is a story of love, loss, and the shapes life asks us to take. 🦋
Check it out 👉 augursociety.org/the-shape-of...
An image under the sea with rocks at the bottom. There is a quotation mark in blue, and beside it reads: “Tales & Feather Volume 3” in white text and beside it is a white square outline. Below is a white box and inside it reads: “Each morning, we go down to the sea at sunrise, before di estate bell ring. We take a dip, as if to remind di sea, that she promise to carry us away. We are di second generation born free.” in black text. Underneath is the cover of Tales & Feather Volume 3, and beside it is a white rectangle that reads inside: “Galina, Carol B. Duncan” in purple text. At the bottom of the image reads: “Read for free at augursociety.org/tapetum-lucidum” in white text.
“Galina” by Carol B. Duncan, from @talesfeathers.bsky.social Vol 3, is a mythical tale of a fish-gyal, the rising sea, and ancestral memory. 🌊
Read it here ➡️ augursociety.org/galina/