"Something Small Enough to Ask For"
Hi y’all,
Happy August! I’m writing this from Barcelona, where it’s approximately 8,000 degrees (Celsius), but I don’t even care because there’s a beach. I love the beach. I turn into a different (better, happier, more relaxed) person on the beach. As a result, the beach shows up in a lot of my short stories.
…Including “Something Small Enough to Ask For,” which is available today on Uncanny’s website (for free)! This is a story about feeling like life is slipping away from you and deciding to hang on by your fingernails. It’s also about embroidery, memory, beloved grandparents, and, yes, the beach. I’m so delighted that it found a home in Uncanny, which is a magazine I’ve admired for years and years and which has published a few of my stories now. If you’re reading this newsletter at the time of sending, they should be just about to wrap up their Kickstarter fundraising drive—I really recommend you send a few dollars their way if you want to support excellent short fiction, poetry, and nonfiction for another year.
I also talk a little more about the inspiration behind “Something Small Enough to Ask For” in an interview on the Uncanny website.
As always, would love to hear thoughts on the story, the newsletter, or almost anything else!
Short Story Log
I read a lot of wonderful short stories this month! I like to share a few favorites here just as a way to keep track of what I’m reading and to encourage people to keep reading short fiction.
“Everything in the Garden is Lovely” by Hannah Yang in Apex. People have been praising this all over the internet for a reason – it is so, so good. It’s an absolute gut-punch in the best way. I believe Apex is also fundraising for their next year!
“Amma’s Kitchen” by Rati Mehrotra in Podcastle. I love stories about food, and sometimes stories about death, and this was just lovely.
“Direct Message” by Grace Banks in The Pig’s Back. I don’t usually read a lot of literary/non-genre fiction, but there was something about this story that really drew me in, possibly because I don’t have an Instagram and therefore don’t understand how internet stalking between exes works.
Relatedly, the upcoming issue of The Pig’s Back has a story by my extremely brilliant friend Alexandra Ye – I don’t think it’s online, but if you can, check it out!
Love,
AnaMaria
P.S. If you missed “The Happiness Institute” last month, you can still read that in Clarkesworld!