I decided to skip posting this on the scheduled first day of the year. In December, I suggested twenty-one (21) stories on social media. Here they are all in one post!
Hank in the South Dakota Sun by Stephanie Kraner was published in Apex in 2021.
A story about a conductor and a train and how best friends feel
Diabolical Plots published:
In the Shelter of Ghosts by Risa Wolf in 2023.
This incredibly unique premise about housing after a plague that eats wood is an amazing story – and that’s before we get to the ghosts.
Like Ladybugs, Bright Spots In Your Mailbox by Marie Croke in 2023.
A story of a a witch looking for a witch breaking the witch code
The Deadlands published:
Remember This When They Find You by Margaret Dunlap in 2023.
A beautifully rendered poem in prose.
Time Skip, by Alyza Taguilaso in 2022.
A poem of creation.
Older, by Octavia Cade in 2022.
I love this version of a haunted house.
I’m Gonna be a Country Girl Again, by Kelly Rose Pflug-Back in 2022.
A poem of animals and murder.
Clarkesworld published Morag’s Boy by Fiona Moore in 2023.
A story that continues the characters and world of Morag and Seamus from The Spoil Heap by Fiona Moore at Clarkesworld. Read The Spoil Heap first if you haven’t read it yet.
Small Wonders published:
What Trolls Read by Mary Soon Lee in 2023.
A fun and touching poem about what else? what trolls read.
Guttation, Transformation by Devin Miller in 2023.
I love this story about plants (It’s not really about plants)
Bashert by Y.M. Resnik in 2023.
As someone with life-threatening food allergies, I love this little meet-cute story around a food allergy.
All the Times I’m Ten by Ephiny Gale in 2023.
I love this story of a life re-lived, of fantasty tropes we all know and love, of seeking the one you love and who loves you across all of them.
Inner Worlds published:
Bedtime Routine by Camden Rose in 2023.
Inner Worlds is a new flash fiction zine and I’m already hooked! This story is a fantastic story relating compulsion & anxiety in a horror flash. So well done.
Falsifiable, by Beatrice Morgan in 2023.
A story about when a brain doesn’t work quite like it used to.
Undertow by Risa Wolf was published at kaleidotrope in 2023.
A poem of protecting the young.
ZNB Presents published Phantom Sanction by Caias Ward in 2023.
This is a cool story about a ghost trying to keep the ghost world full of ghosts in a noir-type setting. There may be a paywall, but ZNB Presents is also pretty cool and worth the subscription.
Pulmonary by Avra Margariti was published at The Rumpus in 2023.
The rule is, if a story makes me cry I have to post it. That’s the rule, I don’t make the rules.
Wyldblood Press published:
Barry by Maura Yzmore in 2022.
A very short twist on what a parasite can do to your life, and how insidious it is.
Patience by Dawn Vogel in 2022.
What do you need to get into the dragon cavalry?
A Refugee from Fairyland by Keyan Bowes was published at Worlds of Possibility in 2023.
A story of a boy who returns from fairyland and finding him a home.
Baffling Magazine published Illusions Of Freedom by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe in 2021.
The consequences for who you are is death, so what do you do? A story of shapeshifting.
I’ve spent some recent time getting caught up on magazines I have subscriptions to; hence the large amount of Diabolical Plots in last months and The Deadlands and Small Wonders this month. It’s how things tend to go. Please enjoy!