2024, whew. It’s been a bruiser of a year, hasn’t it? My updates here have been scant, but I’m still living and working, and I hope you’ve found lots of good fiction out there to ease the turning of the world.
If you’re looking for more stories, check out my 2024 publications! I hope they give you something to think about, or escape with, or simply enjoy.
Original Stories
1. “For Every Bee, a Hive” (print, audio, online text) – science fiction, 5200 words; in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Jan/Feb 2024.1 Found families, AI swarms, cyborg futures, human-centered neurotechnology.
“Didn’t matter why the AI wanted to connect. Didn’t matter whether the AI wanted at all. Only mattered what she wanted.”
2. “The Empty Throne” (online text) – historical fantasy, 3500 words; in Sunday Morning Transport, Jan 2024. Jewish sorcery and mythology, 1848 Hungarian revolution, faith in the absence of God.
“Lea scoffed. Celestial princes didn’t lie, but couldn’t he at least put some effort into dodging her question?”
Reprints
1. “Elegy of Carbon” (online text & audio) – science fiction, 4500 words; in Escape Pod, Nov 2024 (originally published in 2018 anthology, never before free online). Self-awakening AI, service to/freedom from humankind.
“The miner birthed itself among rubble and vacuum, as it sang the last threadbare diamonds out of their stones.”
2. “Eight Reasons You are Alone” (online text) – science fiction, 1000 words; in Small Wonders, Dec 2024 (originally published in Nature Futures 2021) anthology, never before free online). Conscience, self-definition, CW for suicidal ideation.
“If I asked you what kind of person you are, you wouldn’t know the answer.”