I just realised that I never wrote a post about what the idea behind the 100 short stories challenge was. Please note that this post has been back-dated to show up a logical place in the stream. It was written on May 20 2014.
Here is what I wrote in my New Year’s resolutions 2014
“I I have already decided that I want to join the #100ShortStoriesin2014 reading challenge next year, that is two short stories a week, that should be very doable. I will of course blog about that here. I had a lot of fun reading for my 25 short stories in 25 days challenge, so think I will have fun with this. Goal 2: Read 100 short stories in 2014.”
The challenge was suggested by Eric Christensen on twitter as a challenge to himself. I jumped on.
What have I read?
I will link to the reviews in the list but you can see all the reviews here. The stories in Chicks in Chainmail are in all reviewed in the same post.
- “A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones” by Genevieve Valentine – My review
- “What You’ve Been Missing” by Maria Dahvana Headley – My review
- “Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon – My review
- “A Choice of Endings” by Tanya Huff – My review
- “The Too-Clever Fox” by Leigh Bardugo – My review
- “The Elephant in the Room” by Paul Cornell – My review
- “The Traditional” by Maria Davana Headley
- “Selkie Stories Are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar – My review
- “Master Conjurer” by Charlie Jane Anders – My review
- “In The Marrow” by Malon Edwards
- “Lady in steel” by Roger Zelazny in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Bra melting” by Jannie Lee Simmer in Chicks in Chainmail
- “And ladies of the club” by Elisabeth Moon in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Exchange Program” by Susan Shwartz in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Armor-Ella” by Holly Lisle in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Career Day” by Margaret Ball in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Armor/Amore” by David Vierling in Chicks in Chainmail
- “The Stone of War and the Nightingale’s Egg” by Elizabeth Ann Scarboroughin in Chicks in Chainmail
- “The Growling” by Jody Lynn Nye in Chicks in Chainmail
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- “On the Road of Silver” by Mark Bourne in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Human Strandings and the Role of the Xenobiologist” by Thoraiya Dyer – My review
- “The Old Grind” by Laura Frankos in Chicks in Chainmail
- “The Way to a Man’s Heart” by Elizabeth Waters in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Whoops!” by Nancy Springer in Chicks in Chainmail
- “The Guardwoman” by Lawrence Watt-Evans in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Teacher’s Pet” by Josepha Sherman in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Wer-Wench” by Jan Stirling in Chicks in Chainmail
- “Blood Calls to Blood” by Elizabeth Waters in Chicks in Chainmail
- “No Pain, No Gain” by Elizabeth Moon in Did you say Chicks
- “Slue-Foot Sue an the Witch in the Woods” by Laura Frankos in Did you say Chicks
- “Water in Springtime” by Kali Wallace – My review
- “Made Light“by Melissa Moorer. – My review
- “Shutdown” by Laurell K. Hamilton – My review
- “Beauty” by Laurell K. Hamilton
- “Dancing” by Laurell K. Hamilton – My ultra short review
- “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere” by John Chu – My review
- “Jammed “by Seanan McGuire in Games Creatures Play – My review
- “Salvage” by Carrie Vaughn in Lightspeed Magazine: Women Destroy Science Fiction – My review
- “A Guide to Grief” by Emily Fox in Lightspeed Magazine: Women Destroy Science Fiction
- “Each to Each” by Seanan McGuire in Lightspeed Magazine: Women Destroy Science – My review
- “A Word Shaped Like Bones” by Kris Millering in Lightspeed Magazine: Women Destroy Science
- “Cuts Both Ways” by Heather Clitheroe in Lightspeed Magazine: Women Destroy Science
- “The Ink Readers of Doi Saket” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt – My review
- “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” by Rachel Swirsky – My review
- “Walking Awake” by N.K. Jemisin in Lightspeed Magazine: Women Destroy Science Fiction – My review
- “WeSa and the Lumber King” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “The Early Years” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “Haints” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “Kits” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “First Sight” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “Cat Tats” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “Signatures of the Dead” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “Dance Master” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “Cajun With Fangs” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “Beneath a Bloody Moon” by Faith Hunter – My review
- “Opera Vita Aeterna” by Vox Day – My review
- “The Exchange Officers” by Brad Torgersen – My review
- “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” by Mary Robinette Kowal
- “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” by Ted Chiang
- “The Last flight of Doctor Ain” by James Tiptree, Jr.
- “The Woman Men Don’t See” by James Tiptree, Jr.
- “The Case of the Passionless Bees” by Rhonda Eikamp
- “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” by James Tiptree, Jr.
- “The Waiting Stars” by Aliette de Bodard
- “Cookie Cutter Superhero” by Tansy Rayner Roberts in Kaleidoscope – My Review
- “Seventh Day of the Seventh Moon” by Ken Liu in Kaleidoscope
- “For Entertainment Purposes Only” by Jeremiah Tolbert in Help Fund my Robot Army
- “Zero G R& J” by Mary Robinette Kowal in Help Fund my Robot Army
- “The Legend Trap” by Sean Williams in Kaleidoscope – My Review
- “A Memorial to the Patriots” by Jake Kerr in Help Fund my Robot Army
- “Shedding Skin Or How the World Came to Be” by Jay Lake in Steampunk World
- “End of Service” by Gabriela Lee in Kaleidoscope – My review
- “Chupacabra’s Song” by Jim C. Hines in Kaleidoscope
- “The Day the God Died” by Alena McNamara in Kaleidoscope
- “Signature” by Faith Mudge in Kaleidoscope
- “The Lovely Duckling” by Tim Susman in Kaleidoscope
- “Kiss and Kiss and Kiss and Tell” by E.C. Myers in Kaleidoscope
- “Vanilla” by Dirk Flinthart in Kaleidoscope – My Review
- “Careful Magic” by Karen Healey in Kaleidoscope – My Review
- “Walkdog” by Sofia Samatar in Kaleidoscope
- “Celebration” by Sean Eads in Kaleidoscope
- “The Truth About Owls” by Amal El-Mohtar in Kaleidoscope
- “Krishna Blue” by Shveta Thakrar in Kaleidoscope
- “Every Little Thing” by Holly Kench in Kaleidoscope
- “Happy Go Lucky” by Garth Nix in Kaleidoscope
- “Ordinary Things” by Vylar Kaftan in Kaleidoscope
- “Double Time” by John Chu in Kaleidoscope
- “Welcome” by William Alexander in Kaleidoscope
- “I want to be a Lioness” by Chuck Wendig in Help Fund my Robot Army
- “Liberty: Seeking Support For Writ of Habeas Corpus For a Non-human Being” by Samuel Peralta in Help Fund my Robot Army
- “Help Summon the Most Holy Folded One!” by Harry Connolly in Help Fund my Robot Army
- “Ponies” by Kij Johnson – My review
- “Julia Agrippina’s Secret Family Bestiary” by Tansy Roberts in Love and Roman Punk – My review
- “Lamia Victoriana” by Tansy Roberts in Love and Roman Punk – My review
- “The Patrician” by Tansy Roberts in Love and Roman Punk – My review
- “Last of the Romanpunks” by Tansy Roberts in Love and Roman Punk – My review
- “The Spirit of Mars: Fund a Secret Journey to the Red Plantet” by Andrew Penn Romine in Help Fund my Robot Army
- “Flash Forward” by Bradley Beaulieu in Help Fund My Robot Army
- “Hidden Strength” by Jaymee Goh in Steampunk World
- “West to East” by Jay Lake
- “Help me Follow my Sister Into The Land of the Dead” by Carmen Maria Machado in Help Fund My Robot Army
- “Be Careful What You Wish for” by Michael J. Sullivan in Help Fund My Robot Army
- “A Practical Mechanism for Overcoming the Directionality of Temporal Flow” by David D. Lavine in Help Fund My Robot Army
- “Graves” by Joe Haldeman in War Stories – I know it is non-fiction, but I am counting it anyway because ha!
- “If You Were a Tiger, I’d Have to Wear White” by Maria Dahvana Headley in Uncanny – my review
- “Her Fingers Like Whips, Her Eyes Like Razors” by Jay Lake in Uncanny – my review
- “Presence” by Ken Liu in Uncanny – my review
- “Late Nights at the Cape and Cane” by Max Gladstone in Uncanny – my review
- “Overtime” by Charles Stross
- “Celia and the Conservation of Entropy” by Amelia Beamer in Uncanny – my review
Stats
Because I like to track things I decided to keep track of some stats about my short story reading.
Length
Note: I use the Hugo Award category lengths as my guideline when categorizing the short fiction I read.
Flash fiction: 1-1000 words. Short story: 1000-7,500 words (5-20 pages). Novelette: 7,500-17,500 words (20-50 pages). Novella: 17,500-40,000 (50-145 pages). 1 page ca. 350 words
Publishing year
Who have I been reading
New faces: Genevieve Valentine, Maria Dahvana Headley, Ursula Vernon, Paul Cornell, Sofia Samatar, Malon Edwards, Roger Zelazny, Jannie Lee Simmer, Susan Shwartz , Holly Lisle, Margaret Ball, David Vierling, Elizabeth Ann Scarboroughin, Jody Lynn Nye, Mark Bourne, Laura Frankos, Elizabeth Waters, Nancy Springer, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Josepha Sherman, Jan Stirling , Melissa Moorer, Kali Wallace, John Chu, Emily Fox, Kris Millering, Heather Clitheroe, Vox Day, Brad Torgersen, James Tiptree, Jr. , Rhonda Eikamp, Aliette de Bodard, Sean Williams, Jeremiah Tolbert, Gabriela Lee, Alena McNamara, Faith Mudge, Tim Susman, E.C. Myers, Dirk Flinthart, Karen Healey, Sean Eads, Shveta Thakrar, Holly Kench, Garth Nix, William Alexander, Samuel Peralta, Harry Connolly, Kij Johnson, Andrew Penn Romine, Jaymee Goh, Carmen Maria Machado, Michael J. Sullivan, David D. Lavine, Joe Haldeman, Max Gladstone, Amelia Beamer
People I read before: Tanya Huff, Charlie Jane Anders, Elisabeth Moon, Thoraiya Dyer, Laurell K. Hamilton, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, Rachel Swirsky, N.K. Jemisin, Faith Hunter, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ted Chiang, Ken Liu, Jay Lake, Jim C. Hines, Amal El-Mohtar, Charles Stross
That means that I have read 57 new authors and 17 authors I have read before. That means that I have taken a risk on 77% of the short stories I read this year. Some authors has penned more than one story of course but they are only counted once.
Author gender
Author residence
Protagonist gender
If you look over my math you can see that I am not all that good at counting so the gender statistic and the number of authors read do not quite line up. Better luck with that next year. I am not checking again!
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