May is Short Story Month, and I set myself a goal (as I’ve done in some years past) of reading one short story a day this month—making short posts about each of them on my Facebook author page here.
Nearly a quarter of the way through the month, and so far I’m on track. Here’s what’s made the list so far:
- Three of the five stories nominated for this year’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story—with plans to read all five, of course. The first three so far have all been from the same anthology, The Whole She-Bang 3, edited by Janet Costello and published by the Toronto Chapter of Sisters in Crime: “Steve’s Story” by Cathy Ace, “A Death at the Parsonage” by Susan Daly, and “Where There’s a Will” by Elizabeth Hosang.
- “Whose Wine Is It Anyway?” by Barb Goffman from the new anthology 50 Shades of Cabernet. Many friends and fellow Virginia writers contributed to this book, so more to read ahead.
- “Williamsburg Bridge” by John Edgar Wideman from Harper’s, republished in last year’s Best American Short Stories. This was the final text on the syllabus for the “Recent American Fiction” course I taught—and gave us plenty to talk about.
- “Obsession” by Clarice Lispector from the massive collection Complete Stories. This book kept popping up in several places so often that I began to believe it was calling to me; I answered that call and have finally begun digging into these stories—simply fascinating.
- “The Jar” by my wife, Tara Laskowski, from JMWW and recently selected for the Wigleaf Top 50, honoring the best flash fiction stories of the previous year. When she told me it had earned a spot on that list, I told her I didn’t remember having read the story at all! Glad to have remedied that oversight now.
- “Vanity Case” by John Floyd from the just-released Spring issue of Mysterical-E. John is a fine puzzle master and one of the most prolific short story writers I know.
Follow along at my author page for more updates ahead, and for even more stories, check out the Short Mystery Fiction Society blog, which is offering free stories by SMFS members each day, and follow @ShortStoryMonth on Twitter, posting links and more.