Before we get to the actually fantastic stories, I just want to shamelessly plug my own barely-mediocre writing. The editors over at Daily Science Fiction took pitty on me once again and published The Monsters Which Must Be Slain To Save The Kingdom And Set Things Right earlier this month. Right. Moving on. The first … Continue reading Story Recommendations – January 2021
New Publication… Finally
After a bit of a dry spell, I finally have another publication to boast of. The Monsters Which Must Be Slain To Save The Kingdom And Set Things Right was published in one of my favourite magazines, Daily Science Fiction, 2019.01.19.
Story Recommendations – December 2020
Minority Report by Philip K. Dick (Minority Report and other stories): This is an older piece, and it does show in the writing. However, the premise and the plot was interesting enough that it was worth recommending regardless. Like all of the best Philip K. Dick stories, the premise isn't just original but also strongly … Continue reading Story Recommendations – December 2020
Story Recommendations – November 2020
Some of you might've noticed that my short story recommendations for October never went up, and for that I'm sorry. The good news are that I missed putting up the recommendations because my wife gave birth to our daughter. So, yeah, I've been more than busy trying to keep the little devil alive and happy, … Continue reading Story Recommendations – November 2020
Story Recommendations – September 2020
I'll start off this month's recommendations with an anthology series. The Long List anthology series is put together by editor, writer, and co-creator of the Submission Grinder (a great search engine for writers looking for places to submit short stories), David Steffen. In this series, Steffen has collected several short stories and novelettes that made … Continue reading Story Recommendations – September 2020
Story Recommendations – August 2020
Better late than never. Sorry for not delivering the monthly story recommendations in July. I'll spare you the bad excuses about being busy and summer vacation and all that and just admit that I was lazy and needed a break. Hopefully, the stories I've gathered for you this month will be worth the long wait. … Continue reading Story Recommendations – August 2020
2020 Hugo Awards
More brief news from the world of fantasy and science fiction literature: The Hugo Awards, the oldest and most prestigious literary award within the genres, have been announced. You can see the results here. This year I'd actually read enough of the nominees to have a few favorites to root for including one of the … Continue reading 2020 Hugo Awards
2020 World Fantasy Awards Nominees
Brief news from the world of science fiction and fantasy literature: The nominees for the 2020 World Fantasy Awards have been revealed (click here for the full list). The winners will be announced at this years World Fantasy Convention, which, due to Covid-19, will be virtual. I don't think I've read any of this years … Continue reading 2020 World Fantasy Awards Nominees
Story Recommendations June 2020
It's that time of the month again (which has apparently become a more or less arbitrary point around the midpoint). It's time for the monthly short story recommendations. I returned to doing a bit of flash fiction reading this month (aside from reading slush at Flash Fiction Online), and it more than paid off, with … Continue reading Story Recommendations June 2020
Story Recommendations May 2020
May marks another month where I've strayed away from my go-to sources for fiction. So there won't be any Flash Fiction Online or Daily Science Fiction in the recommendations this month, though they're always worth a read. In fact, there won't be any flash fiction at all. Instead, we're starting off far away from the … Continue reading Story Recommendations May 2020
Toby Backman 