Those of you whom have signed up and supported Dark Hoard will undoubtedly be puzzled by the lack of updates over the last few months.

The good news

The project is still very, much alive. Dark Hoard has always been a long-term project - the authors and artists are not being paid for their submissions - It's all being done to have fun, take part and get some work in print. (Which may lead to everlasting fame - who knows.)

The bad news

I have had several problems of a personal nature - not least of which is finding myself redundant without pay for two months and no job to go to. As you can imagine, keeping a roof over my families head has been a priority, so I've been unable to keep stoking the fires here and ensure that people don't get bored.
I will, in the coming weeks, endeavor to update everyone on the project and compile more of the work that has been submitted.

Thank you for your patience.


Nick Button (Editor)

There's been a lack of updates recently, due to pressure of work in the last month or two. The project is still very much alive and I hope to get back on it as soon as possible.

For now, please bear with me, I'm still receiving submissions which is great, so please get in touch if you have a question or need some feedback.

Nick.

We've been appraising a great deal of story submissions in the last week. I'd like to thank everyone who has submitted work, the quality has been superb.

We're not quite ready to publish a list of titles that have been confirmed yet, as each of the persons involved with submissions needs to agree, so apologies to anyone who hasn't heard back yet. We will endeavour to publish a list of the stories that have made it through as soon as we can.

In the meantime, why not take a look as the 'excerpts' page. There is a new story added "The Broken Egg-Timer" by A.J. Kirby. A fine piece of work - although taking an excerpt from it can't do the story justice.

Full stories will be available to members shortly, obviously this must be strictly members-only, this it will help to inspire writers and illustrators alike.

Labels: confirmed stories, excerpts

To commemorate the anniversary of the first Spinetinglers Anthology release, Jodi is offering FREE story submission from now until the 15th of September (the closing date for submissions). Check out the website for more information, it's well worth a look.

I've not exactly shouted about it, but there is a forum for members of the project to join. If you haven't joined yet please do.

I've created it for the members to get to know each other, for you to ask for opinions on your work and ideas, to post confirmed stories on and so that illustrators can get involved with creating artwork for the book.

I've recently created a Facebook group titled The Dark Hoard Project (cunning eh?). Apart from being a shameless way of trying to increase awareness of the website and the project, it's another way for the project's members to get to know each other.

(And earns me a few more people on my Friend's list!)

Thanks to those who've already joined, too.

Once more we've been knocked over by the wealth of talented people who've agreed to lend their pens to the project. So we'd like to welcome following:

John Morgan, Rachel Green, Richard Smith, Caroll Ellis, Ian Cassidy, AJ Kirby and Simon Wicks.

We'll add them to the contributors list shortly, but for now click here to read the contributors list.

Steven is a published author, who has already submitted work to the project.



I'd like to welcome him on board and mention his website: www.stevendeighan.co.uk where you can find out more about, or purchase his work.

Welcome to Elizabeth de Jager, an avid reader and writer of the very interesting book review blog My Favourite Books. Liz has pledged support and is actively looking at ways to step up the project with me. Why not take a look at her site?

We are delighted to report on the great deal of new authors and artists who've joined the project. Thanks to some of the sites and their members who've passed on news of the project, we've experienced a wave of new recruits - so a big thank you to all who've helped.

Here's a list of the latest members:

Derek Ardolf, Minnesota. USA
Daniel Steven Oles, Seattle. Washington
Shaina Craft, Philadelphia. PA
Jon O'Shea
Jacob Joel Swanson, Roscoe, Illinois. USA
Douglas R. Burchill, Boalsburg, USA
R. Jill Fink, Atlanta, GA. USA
Richard James, London. UK
Gina Wisker, Cambridge. UK
John Vault, Wellington. New Zealand
Alan Sailsbury
Simon Gill, Worcester. UK
Steven Deighan, Edinburgh. UK

(If I've missed anyone, or have any incorrect information, please let me know)


We still need more members though - whether you're a published author who wants to take part, or a budding amateur, we welcome your submissions - all will be judged on their individual merit.

Labels: contributors

Please read through the Terms and Conditions page, if you want to get involved - and if you've already read it, we've made some small tweeks to the details. Nothing major, just tightening things up a bit - Thanks Emma!

Many thanks to Jodi at Spinetinglers who has lent support and advice to this project.

Spinetinglers have a huge reader base and ezine, which will feature Dark Hoard in its next issue.

A Big welcome to the following newly signed up authors and artists:

Daniel Diaz, Chihuahua. Mexico
Tristan Sellers, California
Joshua Cannar, Bradford. UK
Kendra Phillips, Texas, USA
Isaac Javier, Mexico
Juancho T. Dizon, Philippines
Anna Freeman, Utah. USA
Jessica Altemose, Oklahoma. USA

More to follow soon, just compiling details!

Labels: contributors