The last Monthly Recap of 2024 is upon us. And while I will spend a little time reminiscing one last time this year, I am deep in the weeds of the first week of 2025 already! But let’s save that for January 6th. For now, let’s get to this last monthly recap.
First, I want to say, this crazy idea that I had this past Summer became even more successful than I could ever have imagined. You came together to support each other and that is a wonderful sign of things to come in 2025.
Second, because this is the last day of 2024, some of you may not open this today or even tomorrow, as you’re busy celebrating the end of one year and start of a new one with family and friends, and that’s okay. This email will be waiting for you when you have a free moment, or when you are looking for a distraction. What better kind than these stories that will transport you elsewhere for a time.
You will notice this issue has 20 stories instead of the usual 16 and that’s because we’re covering 5 TiF Weekly issues instead of the usual 4. There are 10 brand new featured stories and 10 recap stories (5 featured and 5 honorable mentions from the past 5 weeks).
To close out the year I want to give personal Thank You’s to everyone who volunteered their free time to help TiF grow to where it is today! Without all of you we could’ve easily fizzled away over time. But there are many others who deserve their own recognition:
TiF Ambassadors: Hanna Delaney / S.E. Reid / Claudia Befu / Meg Oolders / Bridget Riley / Daniel O’Donnell
You truly did give me a break from putting these weekly lists together and for that I am forever grateful.
I need to also give personal thanks (again) to Meg Oolders for offering to make the TiF Medallion as awesome as it looks with her redesign skills, S.E. Reid for helping me redesign the PDF (that you’ll all get to see in 2025), Hanna Delaney who helped me out behind the scenes with some weekly posts while I was battling months of illness this season, and in the early days to Claudia Befu who suggested we use the Template system for our Friday recommendation posts! All unsolicited help that I appreciate immensely. Please do, keep’em comin’!
One Last Thing: On Wednesday, January 15th The TiF Annual Recap of 2024 issue will be ready for you. It will include a list of 750+ stories by over 300 writers throughout Substack! I know what you’re thinking; that is a lot. It will be organized by GENRE which should hopefully make it easier for you to find what interests you most. Because the list is very long the only way to view it is by downloading a PDF that will be in the email.
And because this took me no less than several months to put together, I’m including a “donate” button in the email. It is NOT required to donate anything to download the PDF and read all of the amazing stories that came out of 2024, but if you’d like to show your support, the option to do so will be there. What is my reason for including the donate button so prominently in this issue? Well, it’s two-fold and I promise to share more information about both in the New Year:
A TiF Rebrand - I’m looking to hire MARK of the BRAND to do a complete overhaul of the logo, banner, and other aspects of TiF to give us a bit more class and professionalism. I intend on taking TiF beyond the confines of Substack to share the stories it features and help the writers growth (and sales) as much as possible. Having the right look and feel to carry us into that next chapter is key and for this kind of rebrand funding is needed. I will share more on the exact cost on January 6th.
The TiF Scholarship - I’ve been thinking a lot lately on how to make this work in a way that will help more than just one person. There are so many aspects to publishing that some people might need over others and by taking whatever monies come in, through donations, I can work with those who are serious about publication to determine their needs and how TiF can help them financially. I will share more specifics in February.
And with that, I want to wish you all the best 2024 happy ending.
Sincerely Yours,
POETRY
The Apple Tree and the Sun - 12/7/24 [Free Verse]
Rostislava Pankova-Karadjova of Airings
*Maples - 12/4/24 [Free Verse]
Sen of Pic Poesie
*The fisherman and the black shell - 12/13/24 [Free Verse]
Alexander Semenyuk of Lighthouse
MICRO/FLASH FICTION
Whale Eater - 11/27/24 [Science Fiction]
James Kenwood of Grim Acres
Analgesia - 12/2/24 [Speculative Fiction]
Jon T of Ferns of Columbo
*Life Among Clouds - 12/6/24 [Speculative Fiction]
Lena Darkly of Stories Darkly
*Meatballs - 11/29/24 [Literary Fiction]
Faith Amenn of Scrap Paper
*Flicker - 12/6/24 [Horror]
Jason Duck of Jason Duck- A Writer's Journey
SHORT STORY
**Of Teeth and Heart - 11/26/24 [Literary Fiction]
Ian Dunmore of Dunmore Dispatch
**Albuquerque Crusade - 12/3/24 [Literary Fiction]
Henry Allsebrook of Open Letter
The Beautiful Who Will Be Damned - 12/15/24 [Fantasy]
Renni Grier of Cosmos Etherika
**Fiona's Floating Bed. - 12/19/24 [Literary Fiction]
c.s. mee of sanctuary
*Horn of Plenty - 11/27/24 [Horror]
Garen Marie of Only Child Originals
*The Last Cup - 11/24/24 [Speculative Fiction]
John Ward of Written Ward
*Harlan's Christmas Wish - 12/13/24 [Literary Fiction]
Lyndsey Resnick of Poison Ivy House
*An Inheritance of Ash and Rain - 12/6/24 [Literary Fiction]
Connor McGwire of Ars Corvi
**Christmas Pinch - 12/25/24 - [Literary Fiction]
Thomas Foydel of False Choices
SHORT SERIAL
**The Student Ripper Killings [Part 2] - 12/9/24 [Thriller]
Jack Croxall of The Jack Croxall Newsletter
The Scream [The Cooperatives, Ch. 2] - 12/27/24 [Science Fiction]
Claudia Befu of Story Voyager
SERIAL
*Freedom House - 12/5/24 [Literary Fiction]
Ben Woestenburg of SCRIBBLER
Read the Meet-Up Comments for Even More Stories!
Meet-Up #21 | Meet-Up #22 | Meet-Up #23 | Meet-Up #24 | Meet-Up #25
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Thanks for the mention! This is a fantastic list you've put together, I'm ecstatic to be a part of it. 🖤
So stoked for 2025! 🥳