My third resolution was to read a short story every day, and I’ve managed to pretty much average that kind of run without too much difficulty. I’m going to run through my top five of the month here in a sec, but let me address what the astute of you might point out–that my list finished at February 21. This is true. This is also the point at which I had 26 stories dropped on me to read for the Anthology workshop that I left for that following Wednesday. I’m not going to list out the 26 stories here (or the 26 more I read over the following Saturday and Sunday)–but please rest assured that from the 22nd-28th, I managed considerably more than a story a day.
Anyway … without further discussion, here are my Top 5 Stories of the Month of February:
Breaking the Frame – Kat Howard, Lightspeed: I absolutely loved the conflict of artist and muse in this one, and the writing of course (being Kat Howard’s) is gorgeous.
Deep Blue Gloaming – Lisa Silverthorne, Shipwrecks in Sea Minor: Lisa Silverthorne is one of my favorite writers, and in this one she puts you into an intriguing mystery set around the city that launched Titanic. Great tale. And it’s even better because it comes packaged with a sister tale set on Lusitania.
The Finite Canvas – Brit Mandelo, Tor.com: Powerful story with two remarkable characters.
Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream – Maria Dahvana Headley, Lightspeed: Quite the beautiful love story. Worth reading for the language alone.
Killer Lasagna – Laura Anne Gilman, Laura Anne Gilman: Fun story on its own, but I will always love a tale that actually uses the lasagna, m’kay? That said, pretty much NSFW. Kudos to LAG, also, for the idea of requesting payment in donations to a food bank.
So, there you have my top five of the month. Once again, this isn’t to say I didn’t like the rest. If I picked a 6th, for example, I think it might be “Punk Voyager,” or maybe “Am I Free to Go?” I also liked the thought pattern of “The First Book of Flaccid Swords,” and several others. But those are my top five of the month, and I’m sticking to them.
Stories Read Prior to the Workshop
1/27/2013 A.C. Wise — With Tales in Their Teeth, From the Mountain They Come
1/28/2013 Kris Rusch — The Pruity Test
1/28/2013 Shane Halbach — My Heart is a Quadratic Equation
1/29/2013 Damien Walters Grintalis — Dysphonia in D Minor
1/29/2013 Lavie Tidar — Earthrise
2/1/2013 Lisa Silverthorne — Deep Blue Gloaming
2/2/2013 Kris Rusch — Improvements
2/3/2013 Laura Anne Gilman — Killer Lasagna
2/4/2014 Brit Mandelo — The Finite Canvas
2/5/2013 E Nesbit — Melisande
2/6/2013 Kris Rusch — Improvements
2/7/2013 Melissa Mead — White as Snow, Red as Blood
2/8/2013 Kathryn Cramer — Am I Free to go?
2/9/2013 Charlie Jane Anders — Intestate
2/11/2013 Charles Sheffield — Safari Deep
2/12/2013 Kat Howard — Breaking the Frame
2/12/2013 Kat Howard — Sweet Sixteen
2/12/2013 Robert J. Sawyer — The Abdication of Pope Mary III
2/13/2013 Peter M. Wood — Mirror Image
2/15/2013 Kris Rusch — The Flower Man
2/16/2013 David Barr Kirtley — They Go Bump
2/16/2013 Mark English — Elias, Smith, and Jones
2/16/2013 Edward Cowan — The First Book of Flaccid Swords
2/17/2013 Shaenon Garrity — Punk Voyager
2/18/2013 Erzebet YellowBoy — Gravity
2/20/2013 Maria Dahvana Headley — Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream
2/21/2013 Paolo Bacigalupi — Tamarisk Hunter