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The folks at Every Day Fiction have collected 100 of their favorite stories for inclusion in a Year’s Best Anthology covering EDF’s first year of operation. There are a lot of great stories here I remember from when they first popped into my inbox, and I’m pleased to say two of my pieces, ‘Priority Won’ and ‘Junkyard Rats,’ made the cut for inclusion.
Here are the stories and their authors, presented in the order of original publication:
SCIENTISTS by Andrew LeBlanc
LOLITA’S LYNCH MOB by Sarah Hilary
ROOTLESS by Peter Tupper
THE MUD ROOM by K.A. Patterson
THE SURRENDER by Heidi Ruby Miller
THE LESSON by Avis Hickman-Gibb
BETWEEN THE ‘SHEETS’ by Christopher Kastensmidt
KITTY by Amy Silver
DIRTY LAUNDRY by Andrew LeBlanc
TAKE FIVE by Jeanne Holtzman
SECURITY QUESTION by Ramon Rozas III
CONSCIOUS DECISION by Oonah V Joslin
FILIAL TIES by Rumjhum Biswas
TELL’S CHOICE by Steve Goble
BRIMSTONE AND LIARS by Stephanie Scarborough
FOR CABBAGES AND ALE by Robert J Santa
XIIN by Mark Harding
BAD LUCK by K.C. Shaw
THE JOURNEY by Deven D Atkinson
STORM’S RISING by Suanne Warr
GO AWAY by Tania Hershman
SOCKS AND BANSHEES by Jens Rushing
I TAKE IT BACK by John Ritchie
RONNIE ANGEL by Jeanne Holtzman
CATHERINE by Joseph Riippi
GARDEN PESTS by Ellie Tupper
MONOCHROME by Steve Goble
HOW MY SISTER LOST THE GAME by K.C. Shaw
PETER AND SID by Rena Sherwood
THE FACTS AS I KNOW THEM by Sarah Hilary
ONE QUESTION by Gay Degani
IDENTITY THEFT by Andy Bolt
RESOLUTION by Oonah V Joslin
BARE by Lily Thomas
LONG AND SHORT by Jeff Alan
THE GORDIAN STONE by James Enge
TEARS IN A BOX by DJ Barber
SYNERGY by Oonah V Joslin
HAVEN by Kevin Shamel
SONG OF THE EXTRA-POINT KICKER by Patrick Parr
MRS. WILSON’S BREAK by Avis Hickman-Gibb
WE ARE LUXEMBOURG by Richard Rippon
EPIPHANY SALE by KJ Kabza
SILVER SHELLS by Michael D. Turner
A SHINY NEW ANDREW by P.A. Matthews
MARIE’S LAST GRASP by Ijasan Adelehin
INVINCIBLE by Steve Goble
REMEMBER? by Erin M. Kinch
LEVEL CAP by D.A. Heiserman
UNCLE LESTER HAD A HAMMER by Nicholas Ozment
OUTSIDE by Stephanie Clauson
THE WEALD MAIDEN’S WILL by Nicholas Ian Hawkins
THE BREACH by Gay Degani
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS by Patrick Parr
THE OBJECTIV-EYE by Matthew Strada
SOMEONE ELSE’S SLIP by Sarah Hilary
THE MILK MAN’S OFFER by Katie Rose
WING MENDING by Dave Macpherson
ONLY HIS NAME by Michael Ehart
THE APRIL FOOL by Matthew Strada
SHOW ME BRAVE by Kevin Shamel
WITHOUT NAPIER by Michael Ehart
LEONIDAS AND THE T-BIRD by Sarah Black
THE PHILOSOPHER IN THE DARK by Scott M. Sandridge
YARDIE GIRL by Celeste Goschen
A FUNGAL FRIEND by Lee Beavington
THE SNIPER’S SON by Jill Barth
THE HERON by Oonah V Joslin
THE HERO AND THE HORROR by Kevin Shamel
THE BEACH COTTAGE by Angela Carlton
THE BURNING BLACK by Greta Igl
PRIORITY WON by Bill Ward
AFTERSHOCKS by Alexander Burns
ONE BRIGHT MOMENT by Joel Willans
MUG’S GAME by Sarah Hilary
CAVEDWELLER 2.0 by Greg Likins
SPRING MELT by Gay Degani
THE HEIST by Ann Wilkes
DESERT ISLAND SOLITAIRE, OR, A GOOD CIGAR IS A SMOKE by Nick Logan
JUNKYARD RATS by Bill Ward
THE SALUTE OF THE OLD AND CROTCHETY by Madeline Mora-Summonte
LARRY LEGEND by Jason Stout
VIRTUOSO by Gustavo Bondoni
TO SAVE THE DISCO by Kevin Shamel
IF WE WERE BRIAR ROSES by Brian Dolton
THE CHUPACABRA IN LOVE by A.C. Wise
FORBIDDEN PLANET by Dave Macpherson
SPARKERS by Peter Tupper
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND BOYS… by Nicholas Ozment
HELLISH PARADISE by Frank Roger
THE SOUCOUYANT by Megan Arkenberg
AFTER, LIFE by Jeff Parish
BOX OF BALLOONS by Robin Vandenberg Herrnfeld
CROSSING BRIDGES by Sarah Black
EXODUS by Megan Arkenberg
WITH LOVE FOREVER YOURS by Alex Moisi
ODD PORK by Nick Logan
HAIR OF THE DOG by K.C. Ball
MY CORONA by Jason Stout
GREEN by Dave Macpherson
You can keep up-to-date with the project over on the EDF forums.
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Good stuff, Bill–way to get multiple stories in there. I really liked “Junkyard Rats,” and I would have liked to see “Cloudcutter” in there, as well.
Thanks Nik. Glad you liked ‘Cloudcutter’ enough to think it warranted inclusion as well, as it’s one of my favorites.
Congratulations, Bill! I too liked “Cloudcutter”, but am very happy that “Priority Won” made it; dystopian stories are had to do in flash because of the depth the world needs to be. You did it wonderfully.
It is great to share the TOC with you.
-Deven
Thanks Deven, I’m glad you liked Priority Won as it isn’t to everyone’s taste. I do think it’s my best flash story, though.
I’m really looking forward to reading these stories again in print (not that I’ve read all of them) to see how the experience is different, nice that we will be ‘preserved’ in such a way.
Bill,
How did you get this info? Have I deleted a missive thinking it was just the day’s story? I’m glad I had a google alert on my name. That’s how I found you and this great news.
Hi Ann, I don’t think the EDF crew has sent out the notification to their authors yet (I haven’t received it by email yet, but they plan to send final copies of our stories out this week for us to approve), so I just found out from their forum announcement (actually, from KC Ball’s reporting their forum announcement on her blog).
Let me be the first to congratulate you on inclusion
Thanks! You, too!