this is an awards eligibility post
plus lots of reading recs
2024 has been a wild year for me. Among other things, I have written zero short fiction this year but had several stories published. This is pretty normal in the way of such things, but it’s a first for me, and utterly bizarre. Anyway, without further ado!
(okay, one tiny ado: if you need a copy of any of these in another format, just hit reply to this email, or, if you are reading it in the archive, send me a note at annikaobscura@gmail.com.)
Limb From Limb is a 5,000 word story published in Trollbreath Magazine. If you consider one story of mine, I hope it will be this one. Please do not ask me what genre it is. Fantasy-adjacent is the best I can do.
Transmissions From a Dying Whale is a 725 word story published in Archive of the Odd. It is sort of sci-fi, sort of cli-fi (but doesn’t really engage with climate stuff).
Say a Prayer to the New God is a 1,000 word story published in Bullet Points. It is second world military fantasy, I guess?
When the Tide Comes In is a 900 word story published in Small Wonders. I am pretty sure fabulist is the best genre description for this one, but I am not at all sure that I know what fabulist means.
That’s it for my work! But wait, there’s more!
Twelve brilliant flash stories that I selected and edited were published in Interstellar Flight Magazine. Please consider these as well!
Honey in Her Hands by Devan Barlow (fabulism, 800 words)
Wolves by Lisa Short (weird western, 1000 words)
Lilt and Luster Spring Newsletter by Susan Taitel (fantasy, 1200 words)
You Can Leave Your Helmet On by Tehnuka (cozy cosmic horror, 326 words)
To Kiss the Chrysanthemum Moon by Wen Wen Yang (historical fantasy, 1000 words)
I Am Fire by Y.M. Resnik (fabulism, 1000 words)
Chief Scavenger’s Log in the Climate Apocalypse by P.A. Cornell (cozy post-apocalyptic, 800 words)
Sorry Not Sorry by Vivian Chou (sci-fi, 1100 words)
What the Tiles Know by Carol Scheina (fabulism, 900 words)
I Demand Knives by Sasha Brown (slasher horror pastiche, 650 words)
Tongue of the Necrophage by Cyrus Fisher (dark fantasy, 1300 words)
To the Resident of Temporal Pocket X0001-A by E.S. Hovgaard (sci-fi, 1000 words)
And, because this is my newsletter and I can do what I like, here are some other favorite reads from 2024. (Full disclosure, I beta read a few of these!)
From These Dark Abodes by Lyndsie Manusos from Psychopomp (novella)
This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer from Quirk (novel) (affiliate link)
Claim the Dead by Avi Burton in Kaleidotrope (short story)
Also, the Cat by Rachel Swirsky in Reactor (novelette)
Market Price by Miel MacRae in Unstamatic (flash)
Five Views of the Planet Tartarus by Rachael K. Jones in Lightspeed (flash)
Pig House by Kay Vaindal in Seize the Press (short story)
Jinx by Carlie St. George in Pseudopod (short story)
Poor Unfortunate Souls by R. Thursday in The Sprawl (CNF)
The Wrong Time Travel Story by Marissa Lingen in Uncanny (flash)
Oak for Her Bones, Alder for Her Limbs by Anne Leonard in Orion’s Belt (flash)
The Wilding Year by Jamie M. Boyd in Strange Horizons (short story)
A Slightly Different Sunrise from Mercury, Nevada by Íde Hennessy in Strange Horizons (short story)
Any Good Sacrifice by C.J. Subko in Small Wonders(flash)
doorbell dot mov by Jennifer R. Donohue in The Deadlands (short story)
Joanna’s Bodies by Eugenia Triantafyllou from Psychopomp (novelette)
There are so many more great stories out there! I hope you enjoy these and seek out many more!