New Novella Announcement!

This just in! While I was in Brighton for World Fantasy Con last week, Grimdark Magazine finally announced the secret I’ve been keeping for the last month—

A BRAND NEW C. L. CLARK NOVELLA IN AUGUST 2026!

What I said to them:

“This novella is about a young woman who wants to become a monster slayer for fame, fortune, and the love of her sweetheart. When she fails to win her apprenticeship, she goes back home with her tail between her legs–only to find the monsters are waiting. And you can’t fight monsters with love.

I’m so thrilled to be playing in a brand new world outside of the Magic of the Lost trilogy. Brand new characters–and monsters. This idea started out as a grizzled older slayer fighting her way home to make good on one last promise, but I found myself just as excited by her origins as I was for her future. I wondered what her ideals were, who she wanted to be, and how she changed. What were the moments that broke her? What set her on this path? And so, this is the making of a monster…slayer.”

So, yes. That’s a bit more work than I was originally planning for next year. Or rather, a different kind of work. But I am really excited about the possibilities for this and I’m in the process of outlining it now. I might share a bit more of the process for that later. For now, though, I’m going to finish a draft of Fell Runner first, because that’s due at the end of this year. Monster Slayer is due at the end of February. And of course, Warmonger will also have revisions in 2026 to work on.

That said, the perks of World Fantasy Con are that a lot of industry folks are around. I got to have a conversation with dear friend and author and artist (and tattoo artist!) and fungi aficionado Adrian Gibson. He’ll be taking on the book design work and we had a great jam session about ideas for the cover and the interiors—some of which has already influenced some of the world building. Just goes to show that the path of inspiration is not always linear. I won’t spoil those ideas for you just yet, though. 😉

It turns out that I caught their eye just as they caught mine. I’ve always liked Grimdark magazine, recently even became a subscriber to catch some short stories by favorite authors. Their new novella line up popped up on my radar and looked great. I found myself thinking, huh—maybe one day I’ll send something over. Then, lo and behold! So I’m really excited to work with this team. You can check out their other novellas here, or you can subscribe to their issues to get your quarterly dose of grimdark.

And yes, if all goes as planned and the novella does well enough, I will still write that older grizzled slayer. Just you wait.