#shortstories — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #shortstories, aggregated by home.social.
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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One Hundred Yards of Chert and Peat
This one is for those of you who are feeling nostalgic for the look of Geranium Lake Properties when it was printed in newspapers. I hope you will enjoy the grayscale and muted color palette (the third and fifth panels are examples of the usual color brightness found here in Vraicking). Interspersed between the panels are quotes said by the Wostim Gheyt Illuworna in conversation with Jack Loki, from the short story "One Hundred Yards of Chert and Peat". Which I am pretty sure was published1 in Swine and Swineherds, a single issue zine printed in 1996 by Jeff Braidwood. […]https://vraic.wordpress.com/2026/07/03/one-hundred-yards-of-chert-and-peat/
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ICYMI: T.K. Rex joins Paul Semel to discuss building the interconnected world of THE WILDCRAFT DRONES, assembling a first collection, and the ideas behind its solarpunk cli-fi futures.
https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-the-wildcraft-drones-author-t-k-rex/
#TheWildcraftDrones #TKRex #SpeculativeFiction #ClimateFiction #Solarpunk #EcoFiction #ScienceFiction #SFF #IndiePress #ClimateStories #FutureFiction #BookToot #Bookstodon #SmallPress #StelliformPress #ShortStories #ReadingCommunity #SFFCommunity
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I'm reminded, by way of a post from my friend Mark Valentine (https://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-centenary-of-connoisseur-and-other.html), that Walter de la Mare's collection of stories, The Connoisseur and Other Stories, was published a century ago this year. It contains some truly singular ghost stories that are masterpieces of the form: the title story, Mr. Kempe and All Hallows to name but three of them.
I'm also reminded when getting it from the shelf that my copy contains on its front pastedown a lovely bookplate of one Dorothy Nash, about whom I've not been able to find out very much. The age of the plate would seem to be contemporaneous with this 1926 volume. Its motto - “adscriptus glæbe” - means something like tied, or attached, to the soil or the earth. The depiction of an oak sapling sprouting from the acorn might even be a playful nod to the æ ligature also known as an “ash”.
One other book listing online has the same plate which it describes as “Interesting Bookplate of Dorothy Nash (actress.)” IMDB tells me that Ms. Nash is “known for Johnny Ring and the Captain's Sword (1921) and The Stain in the Blood (1916)” but since both of these appear to be US-made films, I think it's unlikely to be our Dorothy…
And finally, right at the bottom of that front pastedown is also a tiny bookseller's label, with gold type on a black background, which reads:
S.W. SIMMS & CO., Booksellers
12 George Street & 8 Bridge Street
BATH.I love that books contains these secrets and avenues for investigation, even before you get to the "true" contents.
#WalterDeLaMare #TheConnoisseurAndOtherStories #ShortStories #GhostStories #StrangeStories #Bookstodon #Bookplates #ExLibris #DorothyNash @bookstodon
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I've just finished reading Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life" (the short story the movie "Arrival" was based on), and it was great. It is part of a compilation of stories by the author titled "Stories of Your Life and Others."
Its explanation of the heptapods' language is more detailed than is the movie's, and more central to the plot. It's a great piece of science fiction you can finish in a few reads (it's only 120 pages long.)
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I've begun reading a compilation of short stories by Ted Chiang, including "Story of Your Life", on which the film "Arrival" was based on. I hope they're at least as good as the movie was for me.
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If you're a Netgalley user looking for your next favorite read, T. K. Rex's THE WILDCRAFT DRONES is available now to download. Filled with humor and heart, Rex's debut is 14 linked stories exploring the evolution of sentient drones and a rewilded world.
Download here: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/792496
#netgalley #netgalleydownload #freedownload #freebook #bookdownload #shortstories #shortstorycollection #debutcollection #sciencefiction #smallpress #tkrex #thewildcraftdrones#sciencefiction #smallpress
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From shocking short stories to a talking foetus: Ian McEwan’s 10 best books – ranked! https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/sep/15/from-shocking-short-stories-to-a-talking-foetus-ian-mcewans-10-best-books-ranked #Shortstories #IanMcEwan #Culture #Fiction #Books
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Growing Older, A Short Story in X Paragraphs
Back when we studied poetry in school, I remember reading a poem that had a great impact on me. I now can't remember the author's name, or the poem's title, or any of the lines from the poem. But I do remember that it was about a Shropshire lad.
(You're such a lovely audience here on the Fediverse. Is there anyone here from Shropshire tonight?)
Many years later, I encountered a very amusing cartoon by an artist whose name I can no longer remember. Its caption was, "That OTHER Shropshire lad." I can't remember what happened in the cartoon, but it was not one of those laught-out-loud cartoons. It was one of those sideward wink cartoons that implied, "We're all sophisticates here who appreciate an ironic cartoon, and we're all in on this joke about multiple Shropshire lads -- or at least more than one Shropshire lad."Quite a few years later, in one of the last jobs for which I was getting paid, I worked with a very nice co-worker whose family name was actually Shropshire.
He was an extremely friendly, interesting, talented, and pleasant chap with an offbeat sense of humor.
(He was the first and last person I'd ever met named Shropshire. Quite literally a Shropshire lad. In fact it suddenly occurs to me -- as I'm telling you this -- that he was ANOTHER other Shropshire lad.)
He was very tall, as I remember, and could dominate the conversation in any group by dint of his size.
I guess this just goes to show that life can be very strange. You read a poem about a Shropshire lad, later you see a cartoon about another Shropshire lad, and even later than that you become acquainted with a real-life Shropshire lad. (Even though he wasn't from Shropshire.)
I suppose that those of you who are from Shropshire won't find this chain of events about lads from Shropshire so strange -- there always being multiple lads who are from there at any given time. Yet here we are now on the Fediverse, and I think it would be cheating to look up the original poem to give you the author's name and cite some lines, and unfair to research the cartoon and attach it here for you.
It felt truer to me to just to tell you the story as it came to me. And that's what I did.
#Poetry #Cartoons #Aging #Shropshire #AEHousman #Literature #Comedy #ShortStories #Revery #StreamOfConsciousness #MicroFiction -
Very Odd Short Stories will be available soon ....
#ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #OddStories #AlanCrawford -
Here's your weekly reminder. The collection is yours to buy now. "A Story or Two to Tell" books2read.com/u/4APpek "More Stories to Tell" books2read.com/u/4A0jyp #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense
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I feel a need to spread the word.
"A Story or Two to Tell" https://books2read.com/u/4APpek
"More Stories to Tell" https://books2read.com/u/4A0jyp
#ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense https://youtu.be/4KUpgi7V07c -
I feel a need to spread the word. "A Story or Two to Tell" books2read.com/u/4APpek "More Stories to Tell" books2read.com/u/4A0jyp #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsensehttps://youtu.be/4KUpgi7V07c
Alan Crawford - Stories to Tel... -
I am sitting here wondering about my wandering about the internet and if my pursuit of international fame is reasonable. May I ask that you buy the two eBooks in The Story or Two to Tell Collection and let me know? (a third is in the pipeline)
"A Story or Two to Tell" https://books2read.com/u/4APpek
"More Stories to Tell" https://books2read.com/u/4A0jyp
#ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense -
I am sitting here wondering about my wandering about the internet and if my pursuit of international fame is reasonable. "A Story or Two to Tell" books2read.com/u/4APpek "More Stories to Tell" books2read.com/u/4A0jyp #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion
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The Literomancer by Ken Liu is a short story about how little girls are mean and middle aged men are even meaner.
Okay, no it's not, that's a terrible summary. But it is a captivating, emotionally-charged story from The Paper Menagerie, which I have just added to my list of favorites.
#shortfiction #shortstories #literature #kenliu #thepapermenagerie
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Stories to Tell Collection, $1.99 US each. Grab your copy now!
"A Story or Two to Tell" https://www.books2read.com/u/4APpek
"More Stories to Tell" https://www.books2read.com/u/4A0jyp
#ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense -
Stories to Tell Collection, $1.99 US each. Grab your copy now! "A Story or Two to Tell" books2read.com/u/4APpek "More Stories to Tell" books2read.com/u/4A0jyp #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense
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The Stories to Tell Collection $1.99 US each. Grab your copy now! "A Story or Two to Tell" books2read.com/u/4APpek "More Stories to Tell" books2read.com/u/4A0jyp #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense youtu.be/4KUpgi7V07c
Alan Crawford - Stories to Tel... -
Yes indeed - you can get your copy from the platform of your choice. books2read.com/u/4APpek #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense
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Self-promotion has no boundary #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KUp...
Alan Crawford - Stories to Tel... -
My Stories to Tell collection is growing. My new eBook "More Stories to Tell" is now available at https://books2read.com/u/4A0jyp with "A Story or Two to Tell" here, https://books2read.com/u/4APpek #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense
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My Stories to Tell collection is growing. My new eBook "More Stories to Tell" is now available, books2read.com/u/4A0jyp with "A Story or Two to Tell" here, books2read.com/u/4APpek
#ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense -
My Stories to Tell collection is growing. My new eBook "More Stories to Tell" is now available, books2read.com/u/4A0jyp with "A Story or Two to Tell" here, books2read.com/u/4APpek #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories #eBook #Promotion #Fiction #Nonsense
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My Stories to Tell collection is growing. The new eBook More Stories to Tell will be available very soon. #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories
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My Stories to Tell collection is growing. The new eBook More Stories to Tell will be available very soon. #ShortStories #WritingCommunity #Authors #DarkTales #StrangeStories
