Short Fiction Monday

As I mentioned last week, Abyss & Apex's latest issue converted perfectly to work on my Nook.

First thing worth pointing out is that my friend Lindsey Duncan has a story in there, "Twice Given." It's a story of a priestess's sister and the deep bond they share. (She also has a poem out this week in Strong Verse: "A Thousand Strips of Parchment.")

I haven't read the entire issue yet, but another story from Abyss & Apex that I really enjoyed was J. Kathleen Cheney's "Of Ambergris, Blood, and Brandy." It's the story of a mermaid who disguises herself as human, and about seal-people/selkies, about an industrializing city spreading out into the water, and about the intrigue of mysterious, sinister forces. I have to admit that if someone had said it was a story of mermaids and selkies, I would have been hesitant about it--fascinating as the folk tales of selkies may be, I've seen a lot of stories based on those tales, and they often seem to follow very closely to the same pattern. This one does not, and the story as a whole feels very fresh and alive.

Darby Harn's "News Right Fresh From Heaven" in Fantasy last week also stood out for me, a story about poetry and apple children.