Year in Review: Favorites of What I Wrote, Read, Cooked, and Learned
I only had one short story published this year, “Fear of a Stuntwoman” (Fireside Magazine, September 2021, 2,953 words). I am very proud of it! A divorced stuntwoman does what she has to in order to provide for her child. Warning: here there be unsexy, horrifying vampires. Free to read here: https://firesidefiction.com/fear-of-a-stuntwoman
Yes, “Fear of a Stuntwoman” is eligible for fantasy/horror short story awards for 2021. If you nominate or vote in such things, please consider it!
Why only one short story? Well, first ... pandemic. Once the kids were back in school, though, I put all my work time into revising and polishing Scorpion Dance, my lush, escapist contemporary fantasy thriller set on a luxury tour in Belize. It’s now sitting on agents’ metaphorical desks, so I’m getting back to working on more new projects of varying lengths. Yay!
Looking back over what I read that was published this year, I’m reminded of how many great books came out this year that I haven’t read yet. So that’s something to look forward to. Both standout books I read are part of a larger series.
First, Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries series, but it stands alone) by Martha Wells. So much fun! Such a poor, put-upon cyborg who has to keep solving the situations these humans get themselves into.
Second, The Last Graduate (The Scholomance #2) by Naomi Novak. The sentient(ish) magic school wants her to be an evil sorceress, but she just wants to graduate without dying or disappointing her saintly mom. Oh, and also she refuses to be evil because screw other people’s expectations. I love this so much, can’t wait for the next in the series. Best read after reading the first in series.
Short story favorites! John Wiswell’s “We Are Not Phoenixes” (Fireside Fiction, March 2021, 817 words) for its magic & mortality & the aching bittersweetness of life. And very recently, Marissa Lingen’s “Star Corps Crew Manual Section 15-A37: On Mental Dislocation” (Nature, Nov 2021, 847 words) for its hilarious tongue-in-cheek commentary on various dimension-shifting SF tropes and its earnest solutions.
Edited to add a late-breaking short story favorite! The Cold Calculations" by Aimee Ogden (Clarkesworld, 2021, 5540 words). Best story of the year because of all the feels, a course correction long overdue, and a rousing call to action. Highly recommended, hankie required.
Favorite new recipe that I cooked? The garlic aioli from Simply Ming’s steak frites recipe: https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/steak-frites/ . Of course, making it properly does require cooking a steak. Oh noes. Whatever will I do.
Favorite new skill I learned? Driving! It’s true, I haven’t had a driver’s license since I was a teenager (and then moved to the mountains of India, where only professionals should drive). The pandemic provided the shove I needed to actually re-learn how to drive, and I took the road test early this year so I'm counting it. Although our family still only has one car, being able to drive it myself has given me a lot more freedom of movement.
What are your favorites from this year?
Originally posted at https://cloudscudding.dreamwidth.org/1139555.html on Dreamwidth.org.