Newsletter: November 2026
Welcome my very first monthly newsletter. It may be a little rough around the edges, but hopefully it will be the first of many… but not too many. I solemnly promise never to send more than one per month.
Upcoming events
- Open Mic & Poetry Night @ Belmont Bookshop, Wednesday 4 November, 6:30pm, Belmont Bookshop. J.R. Essex reads at the bookshop's open mic and poetry night, hosted by Marlo the Poet. Free.
- CWC Open Mic Night, Friday 20 November, 6:45pm, Mugs. A reading at the Charlotte Writers' Club open mic. Free.
Fresh this month
- The Demon in The Box. A short story to be read around the Halloween campfire. First read at CWC's Open Mic Night on 23 October.
In the news
- Meet Falstaff Books authors at Charlotte Comicon on 29 November. John G. Hartness and Theresa Glover of Charlotte's own genre press are at the winter Comicon in Concord.
- NC Comicon comes to Durham on 14 and 15 November. The Triangle's locally owned comics and pop-culture show returns to the Durham Convention Center.
- Writers of the Future: next deadline is 31 December. The free contest for new SF and fantasy writers closes its current quarter at the end of the year.
- The N3F short story contest is free to enter, and closes 31 December. The National Fantasy Fan Federation's contest for amateur SF and fantasy writers, with no entry fee.
- Baen launches the David A. Drake Memorial Award. A new short story award for military SF and fantasy. Entries close 10 December.
- Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+, and it includes audiobooks. Amazon's rename adds audiobooks for US subscribers, with worrying implications for narrators.
- World Fantasy Awards 2026: the winners. M. R. Carey, Eden Royce and Kathleen Jennings are among this year's winners.
- Kismet brings L. Marie Wood's Red Thread Saga to a close. Book Five is out on 14 November from Rock Hill's Mocha Memoirs Press.
- Sage Byrne is looking for advance readers for Nerissa Morgen book two. Sign up to read the Southern gothic urban fantasy sequel before its December launch.
Cover photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash
