Ancient Logic

November was a great month fiction and miserable month for just about everything else. First off, I'll mention I'm in process of getting together a "Best of 2016" list together in preparation for the "Short Sharp Shocks," panel I'll be on for next year's Arisia. I'm on the panel with some incredible writers and reviewers of short fiction but one awesome thing is that one of the panelists shares an appreciation for one of my current favorite short fiction writers, Gwendolyn Kiste (highlighted below). This promises to be a great conversation. I'm also going to make a shameless plug because: why not? "Gazer," by Karen Osborne appears in the same "Electric Spec Magazine," issue as my story " The Yuru-chara of Hector, NY ." Read her excellent story first and then give my a try in if you're in the mood for a coming-of-age story set in a world beset by virtual creatures come to life. Although not described her...

I fell a little behind in my reading this month. Mostly this was for good reasons as I hope to reveal either next month or January. Even so, there were a few stories that caught my eye that I’ll talk up below.  For Salvation by Michael B Tager. (Gamine Fiction volume 1) This was my favorite story from the Gold Shader “Game Fiction Volume 1” anthology my story “Distractions appeared in last month. This is a bit of a slow burn but the story gives clear sense of dread and purpose. Ice by Rich Larson (Clarkesworld) This slice of life story set on a frozen world called New Greenland revolves around the efforts to human civilization to adapt to environments clearly not meant for human civilization. Curious story in that it's about the tension between all sorts of post-human elaboration and the always  perilous crust of brother relations. As someone with a brother, this story really registered. Cats’ Game by Michelle Muenzler. (DSF) A little bit of the Lottery mixed with a charac...

One of the more pleasant consequences of being on the Speculative Fiction: Year in Review panel at Arisia (aside from a great conversation) was being motivated to read as many short fiction pieces as possible before the panel. That turned out to be so much fun (who would have thunk it) that I’ve tried to keep up with it. Part of this is self-serving. I’m going to try out for the panel again next year and I’d like to have notes ahead of time instead of scrambling two months in advance. But part of it stems merely from my desire to be entertained by the great speculative fiction out there right now. So to that end I thought I’d keep a running public journal of what’s caught my eye on a month-to-month basis. For January I’ve got four stories I’d like to talk up. Compound Sketch by Morgan Crooks (2015) The Sound of Useless wings by Cecil Castellucci appeared in Tor.com last month and man, I do enjoy a writer able to bring a completely alien perspective into fictio...