short story – Lyndsey Hall

One Fair Eve: a Goblin Market inspired short story

Hello lovely bookish humans! How are we doing this fine October day?

I spent this weekend watching some of the Escape the Plot Forest summit, especially Kristen Kieffer’s seminar on narrative potential and the three act story structure. Kristen is one of my biggest and earliest inspirations as a writer, having stumbled across her blog She’s So Novel way back in the day, before it became Well-Storied.

As a thank you for signing up to the summit, the organiser sent out a really handy guide to plotting short stories with impact, and I spent some time going through it and compiling my thoughts and ideas for One Fair Eve into a coherent outline. I plan to draft it in November while The Solitary King is with my editor, and I’m really excited about it now I’ve got a strong outline. I really think you guys are going to enjoy it!

So, shall we find out a little more about this Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti-inspired tale?

One Fair Eve by Lyndsey Hall

Hartwood, 1880

Pip is an accomplished harpsichord player, but his dreams of travelling the world, playing with an orchestra, are dashed when his application to a prestigious musical fellowship is rejected.

On the Spring Equinox, Pip visits Hartwood market to buy a new string for his instrument and discovers that old Master Dobson sells more than just instruments and sheet music at his stall. He offers Pip the chance to achieve his wildest dreams and ambitions, in return for one thing…

On the day Pip turns eighteen, he must return to the market and accept his fate. Pip must take the place of the current Goblin King when the time comes.

Will Pip take the chance for fame and fortune, sealing his fate with the hobgoblins? Or will he resist the temptation to cheat his way to success?

Find out in One Fair Eve, a short story set in the world of The Fair Chronicles, in the Enchanted Forests anthology, coming July 2022!

What do you think? Are you a fan of fantasy stories that feature musicians and unnatural pacts that promise to grant your deepest, darkest desires? If you loved Wintersong by S. Jae Jones, then you might like this goblin king origin story.

Preorder Enchanted Forests for just 0.99 for a very limited time! This price will be going up in December so don’t hang around, and next July you could be diving into not only this story, but eleven other enchanted tales of woodland creatures and forest-dwelling witches, faeries, dryads, unicorns, and even a talking raccoon.

Lyndsey

Meet Tullia Artfulbeau, Baroness of the Northern Wolves

Last week, we revealed the (frankly, gorgeous) cover of Once Upon a Name, the upcoming collection of fantasy short stories that I’ll be publishing alongside nineteen fellow authors in April 2022.

Today, I want to introduce the main character of my story, Baroness of Blood and Bone.

Meet Tullia Artfulbeau, Baroness of the Northern Wolves.

Tullia Artfulbeau is the alpha of the Northern Wolves, a pack of shifters who rule the Ancient City with an iron fist. Despite being the smallest pack in the city.

On the night of the Blood Moon, Tullia performs a ritual to find out the truth about her mother’s murder. With the help of the local vamp club owner, she’s able to uncover the mystery and reveal her mother’s true killer.

But will she be able to take her final revenge?

Find out on 20 April 2022 when Once Upon a Name comes out!

Preorder the ebook here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09C2TDGJV/

Preorder the paperback here: https://bronzewoodbooks.com/product/once-upon-a-name-paperback/

Add it to your TBR here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58804078-once-upon-a-name

What do you think of Tullia? Are you excited to read the full story next year? I’ll be revealing more snippets and introducing some other characters over the next few months, so slip on your leather jacket and hop on your motorbike and get ready to ride into the Ancient City.

Lyndsey

What lies beneath the waves

I’m so excited to share the cover of Enchanted Waters, a collection of YA fantasy short stories coming this Summer!

If you love The Little Mermaid and Pirates of the Caribbean (but probably not Waterworld – remember that? Sorry Costner, it was rubbish), you’ll definitely find a story that’s perfect for you in this anthology.

My story Daughter of the Selkie King is a prequel tie in to The Fair Queen, following Delta, a girl living in the Ondine Kingdom and wrestling with some pretty relatable issues. Not least of which is the fact she lives surrounded by water and can’t actually swim.

She feels like she doesn’t quite fit in anywhere, her mother is keeping secrets that could change everything she’s ever known, and now a strange boy has appeared out of nowhere and he seems to know more about Delta than she knows herself.

With water-magic wielding Fair, selkie royalty and a whole lot of teenage angst, DotSK is a quick but intense read that will throw you into the deep end of the Fair Realm.

Available to preorder now for just $2.99 on Amazon Kindle, Enchanted Waters will be released on 16 July 2021 in both ebook and paperback, and will be fully illustrated by an incredibly talented illustrator!

Not only that, but all profits from sales of Enchanted Waters will go to support Oceana, an incredible charity working to clean the world’s oceans and protect marine life. So you’ll not only get a collection of fantastic stories by bestselling and up-and-coming indie authors, you’ll also be helping to save the world. What’s not to love!

What’s your favourite water-fantasy story? My mum wanted to name me Madison, after the mermaid in Splash, so that movie has a special place in my heart.

Happy reading lovely folk!

Lyndsey