Author | Lightnews

Carl Ellis

@carlc75.bsky.social

350 followers 250 following 190 posts

Super amateur writer person. Talk to me about swords, sorcery, and the grinding boundary of the Meso/Neolithic. Also diving deep into my Welsh heritage!

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Nov 16

Want to read my fiction?

I write close fantasy and sci fi with a dash of horror---often with something familial tying it all together. Family bonds are some of the strongest and I want to explore how they fit within my genres of choice.

You can find them by following the links in the replies. 1/?

1 4 9

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · 20d

You have to mention "mind loins" in your cover letter too. I think that was the secret sauce

1 1

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · 21d

Absolutely delighted that my story The Tacet Edge Of A Broken Spear has been accepted by @newedgeswordmag.bsky.social for their 2026 issues. It's a slimy salty Mesolithic story which is my love letter to fatherhood.

It has a boar too!

1 2 19

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Oct 3

The forlorn hope has breached the wall! And there's another slightly shorter one!

ONWARD!

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Sep 23

THE GLUT CONTINUES ✨✨

14 of the best stories from the 60 issues published by @curtissandsm.bsky.social

60. ISSUES.

Can't wait to get my greedy mitts on this

#swordandsorcery

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...

The Best of Swords & Sorcery Magazine, Vol. 1

A collection of stories from the first 60 issues of Swords & Sorcery Magazine, presented on physical media for the first time with a full page illustration for each story and a color cover.

www.backerkit.com

3 3

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Sep 14

FOUR NEW MODERN SWORD & SORCERY STORIES?

NOVELLAS?

ONE IS WRESTLING THEMED?

WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS POST? CLICK THE THING 👇👇👇

New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine @newedgeswordmag.bsky.social · Sep 9

⚔️📚NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY NOVELLAS is live!📚⚔️

This crowdfund is the best possible time to get four exciting new books by @draq.bsky.social, @brynhammond.bsky.social, @breadsonja.bsky.social, and @stevewestenra.bsky.social, featuring killer art inside and out!

👉 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...

New Edge Sword & Sorcery Novellas is live. Will you join the fray?

9 17

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Sep 14

Bard City Blues was delightful! wyngraf.com/bardcityblues/

Bard City Blues

Music, magic, mystery, kissing, drinking, family, and a gelatinous cube. Gally Chaparral is a highland girl with a dream: move to Lackmore, join the Bardic Guild, and get a gig at a fancy tavern on…

wyngraf.com

2 5

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Aug 15

Can cosy be a term applied to sword & sorcery? I don't think you can have both themes sit as equals, but one can certainly flavour the other.

That's what I tried to do in this tale.

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Aug 13

This story was published in Dec '23 in Myriad:Duel. It is my take on a #cosy #swordandsorcery tale.

There is violence and pastries.

www.carlellis.co.uk/2025/08/13/b...

Ballad of Sand and Sweetness

(First appeared in MYRIAD:Duel, Hexagon Press, Dec 2023) Plucked notes rose above the cacophony of the arena. Tightly packed, shoulder to shoulder, people sat on the raised benches that ringed a sa…

www.carlellis.co.uk

Reposted by Carl Ellis

New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine @newedgeswordmag.bsky.social · Aug 14

Some enterprising indie publisher should try to bring this format back, eh? 📚 newedgeswordandsorcery.com/product-cate...

Two softcovers, in mass-market paperback dimensions, of DOUBLE-EDGE SWORD & SORCERY stacked so you can see a bit of each side.

A softcover in mass-market paperback dimensions of DOUBLE-EDGE SWORD & SORCERY, showing the WALLS OF SHIRA YULUN side, against a red background.

A mock-up of SOMETIME LOFTY TOWERS in both mass-market paperback and digital formats.

A mock-up of WHAT ROUGH BEAST? in both mass-market paperback and digital formats.

3 22 61

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Aug 13

This story was published in Dec '23 in Myriad:Duel. It is my take on a #cosy #swordandsorcery tale.

There is violence and pastries.

www.carlellis.co.uk/2025/08/13/b...

Ballad of Sand and Sweetness

www.carlellis.co.uk

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Aug 7

Challenged by @christopherrowe.bsky.social to make a case for Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver being Sword & Sorcery, here’s my take.

www.carlellis.co.uk/2025/08/07/s...

Starlings in Winter as Sword & Sorcery

Challenged by Christopher Rowe to make a case for Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver being Sword & Sorcery, here’s my take. A yearning for action, to be unbound by rules of nature and civ…

www.carlellis.co.uk

1 6

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Aug 1

There is something magical about making a mug of tea, sitting down in the kitchen to make edits, enjoying the quiet... then your son runs in decked out with a cape and puts on a banging Halloween version of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.

Reposted by Carl Ellis

Anthony Clark @nedroid.com · Jul 28

In my experience there are three kinds of fantasy magic novels:

"There are three kinds of magic," said Wizzler, handing us each a balloon. "You can control tigers, you can shoot tornadoes from your fingers, or you can fly by holding your breath. The color of confetti inside your balloon will reveal which kind of power you have."
I felt the panic rising in me. What if my confetti turned yellow, indicating that I was a Tiger-Talker? My family, a long line of proud Tornado-Fingers, would disown me. Could I ever return home, bearing such shame?
I tried to calm myself as I readied the ceremonial safety pin. Green, I thought, willing my hopes into reality. Please be green.
I popped the balloon, involuntarily shutting my eyes. When I opened them, would I see the green I hoped for? The yellow I feared? What if, gods forbid, the confetti were blue?
I opened my eyes, seeing shock on the faces of my classmates. Wizzler himself stared at me, wide-eye. Looking down, I saw myself covered in confetti... purple confetti.

“I don’t understand,” I growled, my body trembling with pain. “I combined eighty percent Earth-elemental mana with twenty percent Fire-elemental mana (Type B), focused through a twenty-four-sided icositetragon made of yellow topaz. This, in conjunction with my blood type, star sign, sense of humor, and nickname, should have produced a blazing column of lightning to vaporize my enemies. Instead, it made a big bubble that smells like fresh laundry. Why?”
Skullgrumbler began to laugh. “You fool! You don’t even realize…” he squealed. “You’re facing east!”

“It’s whatever you want,” explained Magemaster Grampledog. “Magic is just whatever you want.”
I knew he was speaking in riddles, but I couldn’t grasp his hidden meaning. “So the rules are…”
Grampledog lit a sliver of smokereed. “No rules. You say some words and you wave a stick and whatever you want just happens. You don’t even need the stick.”
His wisdom still eluded me. I stared into his face, trying to decipher what he was really saying.
“No, listen.” Grampledog snapped his fingers and his desk turned into a pile of chicken nuggets. “I didn’t even know that would happen.” His hat then came alive and began to yodel.
“It’s pandemonium,” he explained. “It’s complete nonsense.”

80 1.4K 4.3K

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Jul 28

Dark Wishes! carlc75.itch.io/dark-wishes

Dark Wishes by Carlc75

A small dungeon module

carlc75.itch.io

1 1

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Jul 28

DARK WISHES

Tired of an ancient and powerful djinn wrecking havoc upon his court and kingdom, the Sage-Vizier Qayid Hakim tricked them into wishing their prison into existence.

This is my entry for the Appendix N Game Jam 2025.

It was either a genie or a monkey paw!

carlc75.itch.io/dark-wishes

Dark Wishes by Carlc75

A small dungeon module

carlc75.itch.io

1 2

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Jul 28

Hi! I'm in the jam!

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Jul 17

I KNEW IT!

Reposted by Carl Ellis

Jjinandtonic @jjinandtonic.bsky.social · Jul 11

Who up stroking they sword while lamenting social realities

Engraved line of chinese poetry captioned
"Stroking the sword while
lamenting the social realities" (tE
剑伤世路），engravedbyShen
Qianqiu. Ming Dynasty (Fig. 14)

72 3.7K 11K

Reposted by Carl Ellis

New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine @newedgeswordmag.bsky.social · Jun 26

THE CROWDFUND FOR ⚔️SOMETIME LOFTY TOWERS⚔️ IS LIVE

Discover our first novel, an anti-colonial warrior-philosopher of a tale told by Sword & Sorcery veteran David C. Smith.

Remember: You aren't charged until the campaign ends, so claim your pledge today!
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...

Top Caption: JUST LAUNCHED ON BACKERKIT. SOMETIME LOFTY TOWERS IS LIVE!

Illustration: A mighty-thewed warrior stares you down, holding a freshly blooded sword as he stands over the body of a recently dispatched foe, their hand weakly reaching sunward.

Bottom Caption: ...even if this guy isn't. (Then there is an arrow drawn hastily in Photoshop, leading from the caption to the dead or dying guy.

The art is by ‪@azuremeraki.bsky.social‬

1 42 71

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Jun 28

My review of Thing in the Crypt by De Camp and Carter.

Weird to start on a story not written by Howard!

www.carlellis.co.uk/2025/06/28/r...

#review #conan #swordandsorcery

Review: Thing in the Crypt

Pursued by wolves across a frozen landscape, Conan is harried until he finds a small cave to take refuge. Within he discovered an ancient crypt of a long dead chief. Taking his blue iron sword, he …

www.carlellis.co.uk

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Jun 24

Coming Home: Available on Wattpad (www.wattpad.com/1538720633)

A cozy, open-door romance.

When Seil returns to the lakeside town of her childhood summers, she's chasing a council seat, not romance. But in Dara, the brooding postmaster and printer, she finds more than just political opportunity.

Coming Home - Found - Wattpad

Read Found from the story Coming Home by carlc75 ( ) with 7 reads. secondworld, feelgood, emotional. The brass bell sang; its clear notes filling the room as t...

www.wattpad.com

Reposted by Carl Ellis

Su Maya @su-maya.bsky.social · Jun 22

Walking a #narrow path in the woods. #blueskyartshow

27 92 1.2K

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · Jun 20

Trying to really let environment be its own character in my fiction, but it's hard when those environments no longer exist. Trying to imagine what a paleolithic coastline will look like, and I'm hoping these images can help get the vibe right!

1 5

Reposted by Carl Ellis

Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex.bsky.social · Jun 4

The UK government was just defeated in the House of Lords for a *fifth* time over AI training data transparency.

Please watch the electrifying end to Baroness Kidron's closing speech ahead of the vote. Creators have no greater champion.

🧵 1/2

8 280 970

Reposted by Carl Ellis

Jim Zub @jimzub.bsky.social · May 26

Millions of people attend conventions to meet the _people_ who contribute to their favorite things - artists, writers, actors, designers.

We celebrate specific ideas and effort that inspires us, not hollow visual or predictive text content churned out by a machine network.

3 36 240

Carl Ellis @carlc75.bsky.social · May 26

BEHOLD! I have crashed into your car and require your insurance details

1 4