Mr. Burke's Reading List

The usual dislainer: Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page. The Arcanist is a magazine that prints flash-fiction (roughly 1,000 words, I believe). They publish one story a week, so you can imagine the competition for that one slot. The magazine also runs flash fiction contests, which the winner gets paid and gets published, along with the runners-up. Disclosure: I have submitted a few times, but I have not been published by them. My rejections have been generic and usually happen with 1-2 months. I have not submitted to any of their contests because they have an entry fee, a small one, but a fee nonetheless. I'd rather take my chances on the slush pile. Recently, the magazine sent an email about the latest collection of stories it had for sale. It also had stories from previous years available for free. Another disclosure: probably 5-10 o...

Miracle of Deck 34 and Other Yuletide Tales by Kaki Olsen and Scott Ashby (2021) (Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.) Last year and this year, I participated in a Santa Book Exchange, where someone buys a copy of my book, and I buy a copy of someone else's book. It's all done mostly randomly. Last year, I included my "In A Flash 2020" in the fantasy category, so this year, I picked science fiction, since the book is roughly half of each. The book I had to buy was Miracle of Deck 34 and Other Yuletide Tales , which worked out well for my December Christmas reading. It doesn't appear to be on Good Reads, so I may have to add it. However, I don't want to be the first one to rate it. There are 24 stories (which, I admit, I didn't notice at first because I didn't read the blurb). This means that I cou...

The Witch of the North Pole by Eden Snow (2017) (Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.) Looking for books to get me into a Christmas mood, I went looking for free Christmas-themed ebooks (that weren't "bodice-rippers"). There seem to be plenty of "cozy" mysteries with witches, elves or whichever. The funny thing is from the thumbnail, I thought she was sitting on a chimney, not a bag of toys. Also, I didn't realize right away that the author's name was "Eden Snow" -- I thought it was a subtitle for the book! The book is also listed as Cinnamon Mercy Claus 1 . The main character doesn't like to be called Cinnamon, because she used to be teased that it was a spice name. Mercy was somehow better. Mercy, a strong, indepedent woman, who works in an office with lots of spreadsheets but little ...

Beyond the Waterfall Door: Stories from the High Hills by Brenda Cooper (2015) (Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.) I got this one in an eSpec Books Kickstarter campaign. It's been in the electronic TBR pile for a while. Previously, according to a quick blog search, I've read Brenda Cooper's novel Post and two short stories, "The Street of All Designs" and "Trainer of Whales". (Both short stories were bonus stories from other kickstarters.) This book is a collection of six short stories, most of which were previously published. There were (according to the intro) some modifications for the sake of the narrative. It still felt a little disjointed. The first story opens with a boy named Jack who lives in the High Hills, which is a world similar to ours, but it has magic and is less advanced techno...