In which I indulge in an extended metaphor

This comment from last week has me thinking: Yes, est. writers get a lot of slack to do what they want, but then how are new writers supposed to know what’s acceptable?

Re: Throwing Stones

Set in a Chinese-influenced fantasy world, “Throwing Stones,” by Mishell Baker is a slippery story about people with slippery shapes. An unnamed narrator is a man living as a woman in a “teahouse” in the city of Jiun-shi. He/she meets a Tuo, a “goblin” posing as a human being, making a living as a poet. […]

Actually, I do have something to say

Despite my completely irrational fear that somehow I will jinx things if I tell you, I’m expecting my little evolutionary Just-So story, “The Tale of Titanosaur’s Tail”, to appear in the fall issue of Spaceports & Spidersilk.

Re: Pelos

We just can’t resist bringing the gods down to earth this days. For example, in “Pelos” by Aaron Bilodeau, a goofy young god comes on a little strong to a savvy modern girl. That shower of gold thing just doesn’t work anymore, you know? Times have changed.

Re: Apologies All Around

I’ve discovered another podcast I like, the Drabblecast. It’s a mix of 100 word drabbles and flash fiction. While I work my way through the archives, my first favorite episode is the outstanding “Apologies All Around” by Jeff Soesbe. Winston Sinclair receives an apology from a man who crossed him many years ago–delivered by a […]

Re: The Grand Cheat

“The Grand Cheat,” by Hilary Moon Murphy is a charming deal with the deva story, where not only do we find a loophole, the god is forced to enforce it. If there’s a contract, that’s even better. As the narrator observes in the first line: A contract is only two people, each doing his damnedest […]

Re: Craphound

“I, Row-Boat” was so enjoyable, it reminded me to look for more from Cory Doctorow, and I went all the way back to his first professional sale, “Craphound.” This story is available in a variety of formats, from hard-copy to podcast, and they all start the same: Craphound had wicked yard-sale karma, for a rotten, […]

Re: The Ant King

I seem to be a Benjamin Rosenbaum fan. I enjoyed listening to the silly, dotcom picaresque of “The Ant King: A California Fairy Tale” from the absurd beginning. Sheila split open and the air was filled with gumballs. Yellow gumballs. This was awful for Stan, just awful. He had loved Sheila for a long time, […]

Re: Conversations With and About My Electric Toothbrush

The weirdest thing about going to the dentist and getting my teeth cleaned is, well, my teeth are clean afterward. For the next few weeks, every time I brush, I’m going to stare at my teeth and think, Where are the coffee stains? What is this alien whiteness? What I really need to keep that […]

Re: Wikihistory

After struggling to like some of these Nebula-worthy stories, it came as a relief to stumble on a story that just plain made laugh. “Wikihistory” by Desmond Warzel is an amusing short about time travelers maintaining the wiki of the world’s timeline.Part of its charm comes from the way it turns Godwin’s Law on its […]