short fiction

  • Keep It Short

    How are our attention spans these days? I had a project to keep me reading last year, but in 2021 I have lost my reading focus. To try to get back in the groove I’ve been turning to novellas, short works that tell a complete story in less than 200 pages. I’m hoping the momentum… Continue reading

  • More Short Stories Online

    Short stories are the form in which many writers hone their craft. And while each year’s Best American Short Stories and Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy anthologies compile some of the best of that year, they don’t highlight all of what gets published and is worthy of note. So much depends on who edits… Continue reading

  • Book Bingo: Books You Can Finish Reading in a Day!

     – Posted by Eric G. This summer The Seattle Public Library, in partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures, is excited to offer a summer reading program for adults called Summer Book Bingo! In order to help you along on your quest to complete your bingo sheet, we have pulled together some book suggestions based on… Continue reading

  • So many books, so little time! 

    By Diane At times, relief is looking at my bedside table and finding a nice thin book on the stack. And so much the better when it turns out to be an exceptional read! One such a rare find was This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash. In a little over 200 pages, Cash makes… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday: Little grenades of ideas

    I’ve read a number of articles, essays and blogs over the past six months describing the apparent slow death of short fiction. Once the cornerstone of science fiction, and a major component of modern literature in general, it does seem like fewer people are reading short stories these days. Whenever I give reading suggestions to patrons, it’s only one… Continue reading

  • Less Is More

    Who likes short shorts?  How short can a story be and still be a story?  The term flash fiction (aka microfiction, sudden fiction, postcard fiction, prosetry, short short story) originated in the early 1990s, but has roots going back as far as Aesop and his fables.  Some flash fiction has an exact word count –… Continue reading

  • Horror Stories

    This is a great time of year to sit around and share ghost stories, as featured in this post from last week, but some readers prefer something a little stronger to properly curdle their blood. The distinction between ghost stories and other horror is nicely drawn in the Modern Library anthology Great Tales of Terror and… Continue reading

  • Ghost Stories

    October is prime time for sharing scary stories, and people who might never think of checking out a horror novel stop by the library to find something to send a chill down their spine. I love chilling and thrilling tales, and read a lot of them as I select stories for the Thrilling Tales Adult Storytime,… Continue reading