Tag Archives: short stories

COVER REVEAL – ‘The Worlds of Nathan Marchand, Vol. 2: Tales of the Lost and Lonely’

After a few too many years, I’m publishing a new collection of rare and unpublished short stories! While Volume One was all science fiction and fantasy stories, this book will be all literary stories with the occasional thriller. Many could even be called “romantic comedies.”

This cover is a photograph taken and edited by my sister, Sarah Marchand. It was snapped in a back alley in the small town of Columbia City, Indiana. The cape, which is part of a Christopher Reeve Superman costume I own, factors into my favorite story in the collection, “The Discarded Gift.” Appropriately, it’s a Christmas story.

The (current) promo copy for the book reads:

FOR THE HOPELESS ROMANTIC IN ALL OF US…

Nathan Marchand dipped into his story vault to take you to fantastical worlds in his first collection, and now he takes you to…your neighborhood.

These (mostly) down-to-earth literary stories feature lost souls in search of redemption and lovelorn romantics in search of, well, love. They look in a graveyard, Washington, D.C., a WWII airplane hangar, an arcade, and the small Midwestern town of Vienna. Their problems range from flat tires to a discarded Superman cape to a kidnapped daughter. At every turn in every story, loneliness and love wage battles for the seekers’ hearts and minds. These everyday heroes never come out unscathed, but their very human quests for connection, no matter how unattainable it seems, cannot be denied. Each story includes a short introduction by Marchand, which gives readers insight into his creative process.

So, get cozy in your favorite reading spot for 15 Tales of the Lost and Lonely, many of which are published for the first time in this little volume!

The tentative release for the book is December 16. Watch for more announcements!

ANNOUNCEMENT: ‘Worlds of Nathan Marchand, Vol. 2’ Cover Reveal Monday and Short Stories Removed from Website

In case you noticed, the posts with my short stories on this website are no longer accessible. That’s because I’m publishing them in my new collection, The Worlds of Nathan Marchand, Vol. 2: Tales of the Lost and Lonely. I did the same thing when volume one was published. Fret not! This collection will include those and previously unpublished stories–including a sequel or two to some of the ones posted here.

More importantly, I will post the cover for Volume 2 Monday, December 1. It will be here and on all of my socials. It’s a photo cover created by my sister, Sarah Marchand, although I did add text.

My goal is to have the book published before Christmas. I need to get into the habit of publishing a new book every year. I’m sure I’ve said that a few times on this website.

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

Works in Progress, Website Updates, and Possible Substack Coming Soon

Hello, friends, fans, foes, and everyone in between! It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update, but that’s mostly because I’ve been keeping myself busy. I have an uncanny talent for trending toward workaholism. There’s a lot I need to tell you, and a bit I’m keeping close to the vest for the time being.

First, I’ve been thinking that, while I’ve used this website as a blog to post both updates and opinion pieces, I may shift the latter to a Substack. I’m still looking into that platform, but if it seems viable, I may start a new blog there in the next few months. If I do, this website will focus more on updates pertaining to my book and fiction projects.

Speaking of which, I’ve finished editing my next short story collection, The Worlds of Nathan Marchand, Vol. 2: Tales of the Lost and Lonely. The next step is to create the cover, which I’m doing with my photographer sister, Sarah, this week. Hopefully, this book will be out before Christmas. It’s a collection of mostly unpublished literary short stories (although some have appeared on this website). My goal is to get back into the habit of publishing at least one new book every year, starting with this.

On the podcasting front, I continue to record and publish episodes for both The Monster Island Film Vault and Henshin Power V3. However, I am neck-deep in production for a special audiodrama episode I’m co-writing with my friend Joy Metter called Gamera Saves Christmas. In this fanfic, an angry teenage girl and her younger twin siblings are swept up into an adventure where they must help Gamera defeat a reindeer kaiju at the command of Santa’s evil brother, Krampus, who has invaded the North Pole with his Goblin horde. The script should be finalized and sent out to the actors this week. My plan is to release the episode Christmas Eve.

The next book projects for 2026 will be sequels to Destroyer. The first is my current WIP, Apollyon: Body and Soul (working title), which will be followed by Apollyon: Haunted Legacy (working title). I have one publisher who is interested in picking up these and the first book (which may get retitled). I have a second publisher to whom I’ll send proposals for these books.

Amidst all of this, I’ve updated my website with my portfolio. This is an ongoing project, as many of my online articles were on websites that no longer exist, or they were only published in print. A key part of this is the redesigned Books page. It looks much better now and includes all the anthologies I have short stories and essays in.

All of that to say, you have a lot to look forward to from me in the next year! Stay tuned!

But I Digress…, Episode 47: Unboxing ‘A Time for Everything’ (NEW ANTHOLOGY!)

(I intended for this to be set as a premiere on YouTube, but it didn’t work. Oops).

I’ve been sitting on this video for a while now, and I finally got around to editing and uoploading it. In this, I unbox a new anthology from Onward and Upward Media, A Time for Everything, which is a collection of short stories to which I contributed. Each of the tales within is based on a line from Ecclesistes 3. I chose “a time to dance” because I’m a ballroom dancer in my spare time. Enjoy this fun little video!

Website Update: Several Short Stories Removed

As an FYI to my readers, I have removed several of my speculative fiction stories from my website. These include “Bow to Your Sensei,” “Baptized in Fire,” and several others. I did so because they’ve been published in my short story collection, The Worlds of Nathan Marchand. You can always read them there. I appreciate your readership and support. Thanks!

You can purchase and review The Worlds of Nathan Marchand on Amazon.

The cover that CreateSpace kept refusing to approve.