Short Stories 366:261 — “Waugh,” by Bryan Washington

Oof, this story. Okay, we meet Poke, a young sex-worker who is brought into a home by Rod (another sex-worker) where a group of men live and work together under Rod's rules as a kind of family/protective unit, and for a while, things are—if not good—stable, and much safer than they could have been otherwise. …

Short Stories 366:260 — “Birth,” by Gil Cuadros

When I was younger and first coming out, I remember finding Gil Cuadros' poetry somewhere and an interview where he said writing extended his life post-HIV/AIDS diagnosis. "Birth" feels like a short story drawn from the same vein, a kind of reversal, perhaps. Found in His 2, this is one of those times where I'm …

Short Stories 366:259 — “The Pick-Me-Up,” by Suleikha Snyder

I adore a good meet-cute, to the point where it's honestly my favourite part of most rom-coms, romances, and erotica pieces, and "The Pick-Me-Up" is a great example of just such a meet-cute. Found in Prem Numbers, Suleikha Snyder's wonderful collection, "The Pick-Me-Up" starts us off in a woman's local bar, where she often comes …

Short Stories 366:258 — “A Day at the Inn, a Night at the Palace,” by Catherine Lundoff

This is yet another case of Lundoff's writing where I would cheerfully read the novel series spun out from the characters, world-building, and events in the story. "A Day at the Inn, a Night at the Palace" is a sword-and-sorcery fantasy setting, with a man and woman, cousins, who are blades-for-hire. She has a reputation …

Short Stories 366:257 — “The Weight of a Feather,” by Greg Herren

Oh wow, I really liked this one. Found in Survivor's Guilt and Other Stories, Greg Herren's collection of short mysteries and thrillers, this one stands out by virtue of its setting: the Hoover-era, where the FBI are corrupt and everyone is looking for spies, and those of us of a queer nature are in serious …

Short Stories 366:256 — “The Restaurant Trade,” by Chris Butler

Okay, one of my favourite locations in Plexis, the interplanetary floating trading post of Julie Czerneda's The Clan Chronicles: Tales from Plexis, is definitely 'Claws & Jaws,' the interspecies restaurant. And one of my favourite characters in said restaurant is the owner, Huido, the giant, kind-of-crustacean-like alien who could smash anyone with a swipe, and …