Grimdark Newsletter #2

Ready For Some Juicy Grimdark?

This is the battlefield report from the front lines of Grimdark culture: subreddit skirmishes, editing hell, contest champions, and the ticking clock to the release of The Shattered Line.

Subreddit Momentum & Cultural Foundation

So, how is the subreddit going? Are we floundering, doomed to fall and wither away slowly before Abercrombie ever has to come on for that 10k AMA? Is everything fucked!?!?

Nah. r/GrimdarkEpicFantasy is growing in views, engagement, and joins every single month.

Last month alone, we brought in over 500 new Grimdark members, had over 40k views on the page, hosted Glen Cook's first ever AMA, and the second ever review of Lies Weeping by yours truly. We also saw the launching of episode 1 of Realm Runners, featuring Z.B.Steele. Definitely worth a watch.

I'm sure a lot of you already saw the Community Behaviour Guidelines post, and I thank you for your support on that matter. While it was primarily based on protecting the soul and spirit of our awesome community, it was also personally satisfying to me.

You might be wondering what pushed me to make such an aggressive post, such a public stance against Reddit's worst tendencies.

Well, it was a little personal. As I mentioned in the post, I nearly deleted my account due to the treatment of those on fantasy communities on Reddit. Luckily for all of us, I got angry instead and chose to stick around and forge a better spot online where respect and support were valued instead of egotists. And that was the best decision I ever made.

And because... well, fuck those snobs. We don't need em, and if that makes them seethe... good.

For those wondering, the post itself got over 3000 views by the point of writing this, 54 upvotes at a 94% upvote rate, and 9 shares. It's pretty clear that I touched on something that resonated with a lot of people's experience with Reddit, and that other people are just as sick of it as I am.

u/KerryStinett: Every fantasy sub has some of the absolute WORST gatekeepers on earth. Sad, joyless little people who do nothing but get off on protecting their little realm. Nice to see this statement.

Gifs That Users Commented:

The featured promotion of this month (based on upvotes) is by author Keith Durocher - Bones Before Fortune, Book One of The Torn World Trilogy.

Hey all. You've likely already seen me blabbing about my book in other comments and the like.

My first book, Bones Before Fortune, is out across all digital platforms, and I'm taking order for trade paperbacks now.

It's the first in a planned three book cycle (I'm working on the followup, Seven Crowns of Rust, now) called the Torn World Trilogy.

An ancient cataclysm has ripped a massive scar around the world and severed the connection to the higher realms. Without the connection, the Gods cannot be heard, nor gift their powers to their followers.

All that remains is the magic of pain and agony. Blood Hexers, Wood Witches, Ice Stalkers, Corpse-Eaters, and other practitioners of sacrifice inflict their selfish drive for power on a populace not yet recovered from the fall of the old empire.

It's dark and violent fantasy- death metal lyrics developed into a story.

I'm offering up my first ever hardcover copy as a prize to the most recent short story contest. Go add a story and maybe snag what will undoubtedly be a super valuable eBay auction one day!

And don't forget that Michael Fletcher dropped a Kickstarter campaign with new illustrated special editions of the Obsidian Path trilogy. Check it out below!

Greetings!

I'm releasing gorgeously illustrated special editions of the Obsidian Path trilogy through Kickstarter.

Book one, Black Stone Heart, was a smashing success and now that we're in the fulfillment stage of the campaign I'm getting things ready to launch book two, She Dreams in Blood.

No worries if you missed the first campaign as book one will be offered as an add-on.

The link below will take you to the prelaunch page. Hit that "Notify me on launch" button.

Link

Short Story Contest Winner Teaser

I am always pleasantly surprised when I host a short story contest on the subreddit, and people actually turn up.

And not just turn up, they bring some bangers with them.

The last contest was no different, and I am having such a hard time deciding the winner. I've got four candidates for the winner of the hardcover prize, and while I won't name names, you can go check the post if you really want to know who they belong to.

Option #1:

It rained still. The yard below Blackmarrow’s walls was a sucking mire. The gallows slick with black mold

and rust. No herald cried the charges. No priest gave final words.

Tegg stood shivering in sackcloth, stripped of his cap and motley. His lips moved, but the crowd heard

nothing. Perhaps he prayed. Perhaps he begged. Perhaps he wept. His lips shaped words the rain

devoured. A prayer, a joke, an apology—whatever it was, it died before he did. A raven landed on the

crossbeam, its feathers oily with rain. The hangman pulled the lever.

The fool dropped. His spine cracked loud enough to silence the murmurs. One bell, sewn into the sleeve

they’d missed, gave a final chime—soft, sad, and absurd.

Option #2:

“Do you have a child?”

Jerome shook his head.

“A pet?”

Again, he shook his head.

“You do have something though, don’t you?”

He nodded.

“What was her name?”

Was.

He gulped and steadied his hand against the table, “Katherine.”

“Kat, a lovely name.”

Option #3:

Nouche didn’t really understand what was happening. The Swamp Queen screamed in their tongue, pointing at the jester. The rusted bells on his clothes rattled as he prostated himself on the floor.

Nouche took a bite out of what he supposed was a chicken leg. It wasn’t, but he liked it anyway. He turned to Mairiam.

“What's happening?”

“The jester just committed a sin in Bogger culture…”

“What do you mean? He literally just touched her cat.”

“Exactly. Only the Queen may… What in the Wave are you doing?”

The screams stopped. Everyone in the room turned to Nouche. He was down on one knee, giving little pieces of meat to the royal cat.

“Feeding the cat. Why?”

Option #4:

With a flourish, I gave it a push, and the door creaked wide to reveal the jailor standing on the other side.

Or, at least, what had once been the jailor.

His skin hung like it hadn’t been properly put on this morning. His bloodshot eyes had filmed over, and his mouth drooled, slackly, open.

His ribs twitched, then shifted, then opened as bone flexed outward like fingers, revealing something black and wet squirming beneath. Whatever it was, it pressed against his lungs as if it were trying to climb out towards us.

And hen its jaw dislocated as it began to roar.

I stepped in front of Magren, who had retrieved the block of masonry. “Another fine mess, my dear,” I said.

My Editing & Launch Timeline

For those curious what my editing process and timeline to publication is, this section is for you.

The Shattered Line is a damn beast, weighing in at 730 A4 pages of pure Grimdark devastation. That means editing is nightmarishly complex, and keeping track of everything would be chaotic and end up in failure. That was until my fiancé spent an hour setting up an organisational system for fast annotations and an easy colour-coded system for a visual understanding of what needs work.

I don't have to rewrite or restructure my novel, but I will never be proud of myself if I released it without giving it the attention to detail that it truly deserves. That's why I have developed a complete revision plan. Here are the details:

1) Month One: Annotate 30 pages minimum per day.

I can annotate 1 page in about 5 minutes. That means I need 2.5 hours per day to get through 30 pages. I spend an hour before my day job, 30 minutes during my lunch break, and another hour after work on hardcore polish preparation.

2) Month Two: Focused Second Pass.

This time, I go through with my beta reader feedback and my Dev editor feedback, as well as a fine-tooth-comb to spot anything I missed on the first pass. This should only take me a few days. Once all notes and plans are ready, the actual editing begins with gusto. Expect radio silence from me for a bit.

3) Month Three: Proofread & Line Edit.

This is to wrinkle out as many of those pesky little spelling or grammar errors that pop up in the process of writing 260,000 words. At this point, my cover will be ready.

4) Month Four: Beta Readers & Advance Review Copies.

Finally, the manuscript will be sent to my army of beta readers to test the product of all my hard work for any persisting flaws. If any are found, they will be smoothed out with a vengeance. When I am satisfied, those who are signed up to my exclusive ARC reader list will be sent a copy for free to read and review before the set deadline.

5) Formatting And Final Touches

This should land us squarely in October, the month of spooky. During the time from this point to the beginning of 2026, I will be launching my Kickstarter with exciting tiers and incentives, a testimonial from my editor over just how much you need to read this book, and reviews from my eager readers.

I hope you're excited!

Want First Access To Beta Reads Or An Advance Reader Copy Of The Shattered Line?

Get it First. Spread the Fire!

Click To Become A Beta Reader!

Click To Be Put On The ARC List!

Timeline: These will be sent out closer to final release (3-4 months out).

This is for people who want to be a direct part of the launch and building of The Shattered Line (Book One in The Corrosion of Ages trilogy).

If you want to give me advice and feedback on my beta when it's ready, and help me shape the heart of its story by doing so, then click on the Beta Reader link.

If you want to have first access to free copies of the book in its final form before publication, click on the ARC reviewer link.

This offer and these links are being sent through the Newsletter first and foremost, as you are the ones that chose to support me and the community directly by subscribing here. You are the core audience, and therefore you shall get exclusivity and first dibs on the cool stuff I'm up to.

Get the book before anyone else and help light the signal fires of this beast!

Why This All Matters

I want to thank all of you for supporting me, regardless of how long you have been doing so. Because of all of you, I am able to swing my online reputation around to prolific and popular authors in our genre and get AMA's and events for all of you to enjoy. Because of your support and engagement, we got Glen Cook and Mark Lawrence on the page. We even got Joe Abercrombie to agree to come and show us some love!

So, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and with utter sincerity. You rock.

I have always been vocal about why I do what I do, but I will reaffirm it here for you. When I joined reddit, I wanted a place to talk Grimdark. There wasn’t one, and the other subs were actively hostile if I even mentioned Grimdark. Well, if nobody wanted to run an awesome Grimdark page, I may as well give it a shot. So I did, and here we are.

It’s been incredibly stressful, time-consuming, emotionally draining, and utterly exhausting. But it has also been amazingly welcoming, inclusive to all fans regardless of how new they are, full of humour, surprises, and interesting people of all flavours. To me, it’s a bit like writing. Sometimes it sucks, sometimes it’s the best thing ever, and sometimes it just feels like a job that I don’t get paid for. But it is ALWAYS worth it.

(side note – if you want to help give me some room to breathe, you can support me directly here)

I don’t know where my fire for community building stems from, but I know I have built something special, unique, fresh, and sorely needed online. Grimdark is the deep exploration of the true human condition; darkness, selfishness, and brutal pragmatism, set in worlds where a conscience is grounds for death.

It is the only genre that allows a true dive into the deepest and darkest recesses of the human condition without expectation of healing or redemption. I think that’s beautiful, and it needs to be propagated and protected.

That's all for this broadcast. Don't forget to share the Newsletter around with your friends and anyone that might be interested in what we have to offer!

And if there is anything you want to see discussed here, hit that reply button and let me know what you think.

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