Short Stories 366:148 — “Oliver Gutierrez and the Walking Stick of Destiny,” by Elliott Dunstan

There's this thing that happens way, way too often in fiction where marginalized characters get to have one crack at the list. There can be the white lesbian, and the black woman, and the Deaf kid, and so on, but a Deaf black lesbian? Suddenly reviews fill up with mentions of "too much" or "unbelievable" …

Short Stories 366:147 — “Lightning Bugs in a Jar,” by Greg Herren

I have to admit I love a good revenge story, and if there's a single sort of anti-hero motivation I can get behind, it's one of comeuppance or vengeance. That probably doesn't speak well of my character, but the real world isn't often fair or balanced, so I enjoy seeing such things righted in fictional …

Short Stories 366:146 — “The Star-Crossed Lovers,” by Jess Faraday

There is no one way to be a writer, and there is no one set of advice a writer should or could follow, and one aspect of this I always find amusing to share with other writers is just how often I have no title for a piece, even long after it hits a final …

Short Stories 366:145 — “The Sneeze,” by Anna Castle

The stories in Crime Travel (an anthology of crime stories centred around the theme of time travel) have thus far taken a "scientific" approach to time travel (in that machines are involved, usually). Then Anna Castle came along and decided 'Meh, what-evs, my character starts to time travel when she sneezes' and folks, I am …

Short Stories 366:144 — “An Elaborate Scheme,” by Marie Bilodeau

Anyone who has read any Marie Bilodeau might know to expect some punchy dialog and a generous slice of humour—and I do— "An Elaborate Scheme" had me snerking out loud multiple times despite being prepared. That she got to play with 'Whix and Terk makes it all the better, as those two are some of …

Short Stories 366:143 — “King Dragon,” by Michael Swanwick

Part of the reason I began this project to chat about a short story a day was to give myself a carrot to dangle over the piles of collections and anthologies I've bought over the years where I've read some or a few of the stories (often the tales by people I know or authors …