Posted in Writing, Funny, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, data centers, free fiction, humor, short stories, Writers, writing on July 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Sure, this short story from Ellie Race-Moore at McSweeney’s may be a little too on the news nose, but it is funny!
A Case for the Giant Toxic Goo Pit I Want to Build in the Center of Town
I am a humble man. I made my fortune the old-fashioned way, through grit, determination, and a small multi-million-dollar loan from my father. And now I’m trying to achieve something beyond what humans have ever imagined: a giant toxic goo pit.
Because Mondays are better with a bit of humor!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, classics, free fiction, inspiration, library, nature, short stories, Thoughts, weather, Writers, writing on July 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »
/where once fell soft rain
This phrase popped into my mind after a cloudburst rolled through overhead. We’ve been having more of those in the past few of years, intense concentrations of Nature’s power blasting through an otherwise clear weather map. It makes me miss the grey skies of summer rain, and the gentle drops that encouraged growth rather than washing it away.
The phrase also sounded very familiar, and a quick check assured me that yes, it was a variant on the title of a Ray Bradbury short story. It’s not a cheerful story by any means, but it is classic Bradbury.
There Will Come Soft Rains (short story) – Wikipedia
I found the story available here, along with a lot of other classics from the likes of HG Wells to George MacDonald to Bradbury, Christie, Chesterton, Gilman, and many more.
Library of Short Stories | Authors
Here’s hoping you find stories that encourage your growth as a writer.
Enjoy!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #wotf39, audio fiction, free fiction, sff, short stories, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on June 27, 2026| 2 Comments »
I started two posts for today but neither have come together (yet!), so let me share a story from David Hankins (a fabulous and funny author from my Writers of the Future cohort!), with a bonus short from Lisa Para.
Quest Tropes | Cast of Wonders: The audio for David’s story begins at 10m20s. Read the transcript or listen to the audio version, your choice!
The Last Quest of Corbin the Coward, by David Hankins
Corbin collapsed outside the dragon’s lair, acrid smoke wafting from his armor. He was getting too old for this. He’d never asked to be the gods’ favored champion.
Sunlit forests spread out below him, a peaceful world unaware and unconcerned that he’d almost been eaten. Twice.
Corbin drew a shuddering breath and wrenched a dragon tooth from his armor. Yet another pointless quest completed. What the hell did the gods want with a dragon tooth anyway?
No more. Corbin was done.
Enjoy!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, free fiction, Hugos, short stories, Thoughts, to be read, Uncanny Magazine, Writers on April 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Fair warning, I’m about to recommend a story I have not yet read. Why? Because it’s a finalist for the Hugo Awards. Because it’s by Scott Lynch, author of The Lies of Locke Lamora and many more excellent works. And because it has a great title.
[Time Reference Unavailable]—August, 1946
The watchseed is planted in a watery hemisphere of a watery world. The place spins around a yellow star, wearing its magnetic field like a proud little hat. It’s ridiculous with life.
Hence, a watchseed, with the best of intentions. Let’s give the seed-planters that much. They mean well. Crawling from star to star at not-quite-c, they make their surveys, consult their charts, launch a seed now and then. Old thinkers, they make an endless circuit of the galaxy on behalf of young thinkers. Young thinkers are rare and precious and must be protected, particularly from themselves, because young thinkers are stupid as hell and prone to misadventures with anything they can dig out of their planetary crusts. Hydrocarbons, radioactives, anything.
This planet is rich in ingredients for misadventure.
A terrific opener. Also, it’s free at Uncanny Magazine, one of the best venues for short fiction out there today.
So yes, I expect this story to be a fun read. Perhaps you’d like it too?
Note from the future: I was right, the story was a great read!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, free fiction, short stories, Writers, writing on November 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Today, a story by the excellent Arthur H. Manners. Dark, yes, but with a beautiful thread of hope.
Woodsong – Flash Fiction Online
It hit me last night, as a chorus of woodsong filled our hiding spot: we’re never getting out of here.
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Posted in Funny, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, food, free reads, short stories, Thoughts on January 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I’ll be working on a cake recipe this weekend, and I’m thinking about it now. As I mentally work my way through possible iterations and prepare to release this recipe into the world (or at least the personal archive that is this blog), I’m thinking of this funny piece:
Look, I get it. You thought what you posted was innocuous. Still, did you stop to think about everyone who has ever lived and how it could make them feel?
I mean, it’s cake and not chili, but no, no I did not.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, alice-munro, Fiction, goals, inspiration, short stories, the greats, Writers, writing on May 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
You may have seen that Canadian author and Nobel laureate Alice Munro passed away this week. A prolific titan of the short story genre, she published her first story in 1950 and continued to produce award-winning work in the many decades since. When asked how she got started in short stories, she said it was because that’s all she had time for.
She certainly made it work.
Here, award-winning Canadian author Margaret Atwood reads Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro.
In this exclusive recording, The Handmaid’s Tale author reads the eponymous short story from the late Munro’s first collection in 1968.
If you’d like to read more of Munro’s work, here are 25 Alice Munro Stories You Can Read Online Right Now.
Enjoy!
“A story is not like a road to follow … it’s more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the room and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered by being viewed from these windows. And you, the visitor, the reader, are altered as well by being in this enclosed space, whether it is ample and easy or full of crooked turns, or sparsely or opulently furnished. You can go back again and again, and the house, the story, always contains more than you saw the last time. It also has a sturdy sense of itself of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you.”
― Alice Munro, Selected Stories
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, awards, books, Clarkesworld, genre fiction, inspiration, Nebula Awards, short stories, Uncanny, Writers, writing on March 22, 2024| 1 Comment »
Fun, new reading recommendations! SFWA Announces the Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards – SFWA
Here are links to the short story and novelette finalists. Most are free to read. For the full list with info links (including those below), see Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards | MetaFilter.
Nebula Award for Novelette
Nebula Award for Short Story
I read this delightful short by R.S.A. Garcia with lunch: Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200 – Uncanny Magazine
You could meet him if you want but take off the recorder first. I tell you my story, but you have to ask him if you want to hear his.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Escape Pod, evil ice cream carts, free fiction, genre fiction, more weaponized food, scifi, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Writers, writing on February 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I have mentioned a story called “The T-4200” on this site in posts before. Originally published at Andromeda Spaceways Magazine in 2017 (yay), it was not available online (so sad!).
Until now.
That’s right, the good folks at Escape Pod looked at this goofy sci-fi adventure featuring a beleaguered civil servant just trying to do the right thing, dimension-hopping animals, and murderous ice cream carts and said, “Yes, please.”
(Fine, I may have added the “please.”)
The thing about Escape Pod is that they are an audio magazine. Because they also publish the transcript, this story (all 9,000 or so words of it), is now available in both audio and text formats.
Which means that you, fair reader (or listener!) are now able to sample the delights of this story for yourself.
Enjoy the audio performance or read the transcript at Escape Pod.
Escape Pod 923: The T-4200 (Part 1 of 2)
Escape Pod 924: The T-4200 (Part 2 of 2)
I had a great time with this story. Hope you do too!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf39, free fiction, genre fiction, short stories, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on January 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Today, I’m happy to share a lovely short story from friend and fellow Writers of the Future alum Elaine Midcoh.
Papa’s (Not) Gone – MetaStellar
Later, people wondered why I didn’t cry.
It cheered me up. I hope it does you, too.
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