Johann Thorsson
You should have read one of Ken Liu's stories by now. You really should. Ken Liu is one of the brightest new stars of the science fiction and fantasy fields. He's won all the awards and had stories in all the main magazines, often reprinted in "Best of" anthologies. So yeah, you should really have… Continue reading The Paper Menagerie – Book review
Here's a short story I wrote in about 15 minutes at a drink-and-write event that Willona Sloan held at last year's Reykjavik Literature Festival. This is what 7 years of writing practice gets you. Enjoy. Windowsill Cowboy Thomas sat on his favorite windowsill in the living room and looked out at the sun set over the… Continue reading Windowsill Cowboy – Short Story
China Miéville is at the forefront of the "new weird", but This Census-Taker, while weird, seems like a departure from his other books. This Census-Taker is a book I liked but find hard to really recommend to others. The most interesting thing about it is the subtle hints to the larger world of his Bas-Lag… Continue reading Thoughts after reading Miéville’s This Census-Taker
"You've been writing a bit, haven't you?" This is a question I get more and more and my answer is always a shy and slightly embarrassed "Yeah, a bit," while thinking that it's a tiny amount that won't impress anyone. In answering the question I always worry the other person will listen and then say "What,… Continue reading A Story of Success and Failure
While I thought that widespread Kindle ownership would lead to more people reading short stories I'm not sure it has. Do you, for example, (if you own a Kindle that is) read more short stories? Whether you do or not, here are three recent short stories that are simple excellent and I highly recommend. (They… Continue reading 3 Awesome Recent Short Stories
When was the last time you read something truly disturbing? Well, I have a story in an anthology out in a few days from Bloodshot Books, Not Your Average Monster 2, that I think is the creepiest thing I've ever written. The anthology is a collection of monster short stories, but without vampires, werewolves and ghosts.… Continue reading Monsters, Monsters Everywhere.
Richard Thomas is starting a new magazine. It's ambitious. The current state of publishing, for those of you who may not be in the trenches daily, is that most magazines pay about 1 cent per word for short stories. The good ones pay 5 to 6. Gamut, the magazine Richard Thomas is kicking up funds… Continue reading 10 Stories Richard Thomas is Soooo Tired of Reading
I'm reading Undertow Publication's excellent anthology Year's Best Weird Fiction Volume Two. It was there I encountered the following sentence, the first in the story Loving Armageddon by Amanda C. Davis: She presses her cheek to the center of his chest, listening to the beat of his hand-grenade heart. Now. Here's why I think this is awesome. There's… Continue reading The Best First Sentence of the Year?
Here are 5 new publishers looking for your stories. They vary in the things they are looking for and how much they pay but they all look very interesting. 1.After the Happily Ever After (AHEA) Anthology Transmundane Press are looking for more stories for their After the Happily Ever After anthology. Do you think the… Continue reading 5 Interesting New Markets for Short Stories
I've reached a certain milestone in my writerly career; my writing has been misinterpreted.
