The Year of the Short Story
I have a long history of writing short fiction when it concerned fandom (AKA fanfiction drabbles, oneshots, etc.), but I never felt much pull to writing original short fiction until more recently. This year I made it a goal to get better, to learn from the talented work of others, and ultimately earn a pro sale.
And I did!
“Caesura” was my first pro sale, and I couldn’t be happier about the story finding a home and an audience. More importantly, through this process, I uncovered a deep and abiding love for the medium of short story writing itself, and hope to write even more pieces in 2018!
My Eligible Work
The following are all short stories eligible for the “Best Short Story” category of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Due to my previous novel publications not qualifying, I am also in my first year of being eligible for the John C. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Caesura (Fireside Magazine)
“Caesura” is a sci-fi story about a young woman who begins teaching an A.I. poetry to cope with her brother’s death, unaware that she is giving the A.I. more of herself than she realizes.
What People Have Said:
“Stone explores grief, healing, self-awareness and where the seat of creativity lies. [. . .] Ultimately, it’s a lovely story about healing and moving on, with many fascinating questions about the nature of consciousness and humanity to consider along the way.”
“This is a stunning story of loss and grief and poetry and intelligence all wrapped around the relationship between a woman, Priya, and her AI, Demi. [. . . ] very much worth checking out and spending some time with.”
– Charles Payseur, Quick Sip Reviews
“Grieving her brother’s murder, a girl develops a neural network AI that becomes self-aware—but it’s how she learns to reconnect to the world and her family, and her AI, is what gives this such heart. Language is used with incredible precision and perfection.”
– A. Merc Rustad, Robots with Keyboards
<<Read for FREE here>>
Red to Hide the Blood (World Weaver Press)
“Red to Hide the Blood” is a historical fantasy story. When Santa’s lead reindeer are carried off and slain by a powerful beast he calls the best hunter in the North, Myra, to uncover the culprit and ensure it never happens again. After tracking the predator to its lair Myra uncovers a situation a whole lot more complicated than predator killing prey — magic abounds and nothing is as it seems.
This story is a Pushcart Prize nominee, while Publisher’s Weekly called it “wry.”
<<Find it in Mrs. Claus: Not the Fairy Tale They Say>>
Troubleshooting (World Domination: A Supervillain Anthology)
“Troubleshooting” is a sci-fi story about a supervillain who locks herself in a “Groundhog Day” scenario with her nemesis to discover a surefire way to beat him; after the plan backfires and she can’t leave the experiment, she will do whatever it takes to get free—including working with the hero she despises.”
<<Find it in World Domination: A Supervillain Anthology>>
Favorite Short Fiction
- “Claire Weinraub’s Top Five Sea Monster Stories (For Allie)” by Evan Berkow (Flash Fiction Online)
- “Wendy, Darling” by A.C. Wise (Daily Science Fiction)
- The Fisher of Bones by Sarah Gailey (novelette, originally published as a serial through Fireside Magazine)
- Her Body & Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (technically a short story collection, but whatever, it’s amazing)
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells (novella)
- Passing Strange by Ellen Klages (novella)
