The Return of Red Light Bytes
Your Guide to the Flash Fiction (and Updates) of 365 Infantry
Among the many things hinted in our March megaupdate was the return of popular flash series Red Light Bytes, a weekly anthology offering glimpses into the world of 365 Infantry in bite-sized chunks, coupled with a weekly newsletter telling all about the production of the series. I am pleased to announce that RLB will be returning on April 7th, but with some changes.
The Format
Red Light Bytes: The Newsletter - This will be a stripped back version of the original format. Updates will consist of bullet-point lists. These cover developments, ways to support us, and a streamlined collection of relevant recommendations for readers looking to expand their horizons. Fans interested in my more in-depth taste-making efforts may consider joining me on my video channel Quality Candor
Red Light Bytes: The Stories - The story of the week will be linked at the end of each update. However, there is a big changeup we need to address. As mentioned in the March update, a major section of RLB fiction will be made for paying subscribers only. Readers subbed for $5/Month, $50/Year, or our most generous Generals at $100/Year will all have access to these tales. However, the series isn’t totally behind the paywall…
The Schedule
Red Light Bytes is released every Friday, highlighting the updates of the week, the available avenues of support, relevant op-eds and taste-making as permitted, and a weekly story.
The stories themselves will be released on a special monthly schedule. The 1st story of each month is FREE FOR ALL READERS. This is signified by a RED banner image, keeping in theme with last year’s run of free stories.
After that, the rest of the month’s stories are for PAID SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
But with a twist.
Normal RLB stories (2-3 per month) will be released with a GREEN banner image, sporting the same twin white lines as the Free banner.
The last RLB installment of the month is part of a brand-new series we’re trying out called Solar Joint Stories and begins publication on April 28th.
This special series is set in Doc’s Oasis, the main bar and hub of activity for the drinkers, dancers, arcade junkies, and hard rockers of the Wasteland’s Central Region, as regularly seen in The Speedfreak Files and in Part II of The Hunt.
These are first-hand accounts of the hell-raising, hard-drinking, and off-the-wall escapades of the rowdiest and weirdest cats to grace the barstools of the dark gray’s humble establishment. They’re slightly longer than most flash fiction, but shorter than the longer tales in the main magazine. They are marked by a specially designed BLUE banner image.
The series is something of a creative gamble. I’ve been sitting on a lot of bizarre stories when developing 365. Not in the classic weird fiction sense (though there is plenty of room for that), but in a character-building sense. I have created a peculiar breed of hound whose wild adventures, vulgar humor, and, in many cases, unhinged psyches are on a totally different world compared to the rest of 365. No real villains, but a lot of off-their-face wolves who stumble into heroism or come out on top in unlikely ways. It plays a bit like Speedfreak on acid with a bottle of Jack. Like anyone with a few good drinks in them, the tales told will be tall as the sky, and the storytellers just as absurd.
Breaks
Red Light Bytes will take monthly hiatuses after the release of a new issue. For example, after the release of our Summer 2023 Issue, there will be no updates for the month of June.
Regular stories for paid members, such as the Roger Steele serial Steeled Spies, will be released as normal. This allows us all some much needed time to recoup, making sure that the updates never outpace the production of the series itself.
Conclusion
I want Red Light Bytes to be a key player in the series. A special, weekly work of fiction that keeps readers learning about the world and its inhabitants, and a steady stream of updates to keep you in the loop. If you love the series, love what we do, and want to enjoy every story for yourself, please consider subscribing as a paid member. All that said, with at least one free tale per month, I hope to have something for everyone as we roll on between each new issue of the magazine.
May God bless you and this Force. See you in April!