The Best of Drabblecast 2016-2019

written by David Steffen

The Drabblecast is a weekly (theoretically) podcast of strange stories for strange listeners (such as yourself). It is edited, published, and hosted by Norm Sherman. In 2016-2017 it gradually fell into hiatus for a couple years until a big relaunch plan with a Kickstarter to help keep it going. It’s very exciting that the podcast is going again and I hope it goes well. This list covers the years of 2016-2019, which includes stories both before and after the hiatus.

I don’t consider my own stories for these lists, but I did want to mention that two of my own stories have been published in Drabblecast in that time: “I Will Remain” (narrated by Nick Camm) and “We Do Not Speak of the Not Speaking” (narrated by Norm Sherman).

I do consider stories that I previously published on Diabolical Plots, but add an extra story to the list so that it doesn’t bump one off the list.

Stories eligible for Hugo and Nebula awards for this year are marked with an asterisk (*).

The List

1. “The Best Scarlet Ceremony Ever!” by Shaenon K. Garrity*
An original story commissioned for Lovecraft month, advertised as Sweet Valley High meets Lovecraft.

2. “Giraffe Cyborg Cleans House!” by Matthew Sanborn Smithread
One of the most ungainly household cyborgs really just wants to help however it can, but life isn’t easy for a household giraffe cyborg.

3. “Necessary Cuts” by Bryan Miller*
Another original story for Lovecraft Month, this one about copyediting a Lovecraft style book of madness.

4. “Beauty Tips for the Apocalypse” by Karen Heuler*
An original story for Women and Aliens Month, which is exactly what it sounds like.

5. “Night of the Living POTUS” by Adam-Troy Castro
Whenever a new President is sworn in, on the first night of his Presidency he has to face off against the resurrected vicious versions of every POTUS that preceded them.

6. “The Translator” by Eboni J. Dunbar*
Being a translator for aliens is much more than simply learning a language.

Honorable Mentions

“1977” by Carrie Vaughn

“Loving Armageddon” by Amanda C. Davis

The Best of Escape Pod 2017

written by David Steffen

Escape Pod is the weekly science fiction podcast. At the beginning of 2017 it was edited by Norm Sherman, but when he stepped down from the role two co-editors have filled the positions: S.B. Divya and Mur Lafferty.

Escape Pod was already a qualifying market for writers to become members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, but in 2017, its three sister podcasts joined the list as well, making all of Escape Artists’ ongoing publications qualifying markets!

In February Escape Pod once again participated in the Artemis Rising event across the Escape Artists podcasts, publishing fantasy stories written by women and nonbinary authors.

Escape Pod published a total of 52 stories in 2017.

Every short story that is eligible for Hugo nominations this year which were first published by Escape Pod are marked with an asterisk (*). If the original publisher was someone besides Escape Pod, the original publisher is noted in parentheses for award-eligible fiction.

The List

1. “Unit Two Does Her Makeup” by Laura Duerr*
I love a well-thought-out AI story, and this one is great, exploring the interaction between two AIs who have different roles in a company and how that affects nuances of their behavior and many minor choices affected by these values.

2. “Planetbound” by Nancy Fulda* (from the anthology Chasing Shadows)
Those living off-Earth have joined into a state of ongoing connectedness with their fellow human beings, and have become largely separate from those on the planet. One of those people come back to Earth so that everyone off-Earth can experience what it’s like.

3. “Red in Tooth and Cog” by Cat Rambo
A woman discovers an ecology of feral smart devices in the city park.

4. “Texts From the Ghost War” by Alex Yuschik*
Story told as wartime text messages with a mechwarrior.

5. “Trash Talk” by Holly Schofield
A story exploring how the economic disparity of the uses of advanced technology.

Honorable Mentions

“That Game We Played During the War” by Carrie Vaughn

“Vegetablemen in Peanut Town” by August Marion*

“A House of Her Own” by Bo Balder

The Best of Drabblecast 2015

written by David Steffen

Drabblecast is a podcast of the weird and speculative. It is the closest publication to consistently hitting my own personal tastes, with a tendency towards especially strange and often funny ideas. Since its beginning it has been edited and hosted by Norm Sherman. This year marked a big change with Nathaniel Lee taking over as editor in chief, though Norm is still the host (Norm is also the editor and sometimes-host of Escape Pod, so he certainly has enough stuff to do). Drabblecast has continued their yearly tradition of Lovecraft Month in August, with one story by H.P. Lovecraft and three original stories inspired by Lovecraft written by contemporary authors.

Drabblecast published 39 stories in 2015.

The List

1. “Old Dead Futures” by Tina Connolly
A young man has been taught to see the possible threads of the future and choose the one that will happen. He is exploited for this ability by an older man who can do the same thing.

2. “Restless in R’lyeh” by Oliver Buckram
One of the original stories for Lovecraft month. I love to read Buckram’s stories, fun and funny and thoughtful in turns. This one is a full cast recording, taking the format of a radio psychologist’s talk show during the time when Cthulhu arises from the depths.

3. “Metal and Flesh” by Steven R. Stewart
Very short story, but I found it very touching that begins with a badly injured man and a badly damaged robot trying to repair each other before their own bodies fail. I found it very touching.

4. “Why I Hate Zombie Unicorns” by Laura Pearlman
Love the title, and it fits the story well. Fun, dark, and funny all at once.

5. “The Liver” by Andrew Kozma
The Greek myth of Prometheus ends with him being cursed to immortality with his liver eaten by an eagle every day. This story casts a different light on the myth–what if the eagle is trying to help, rather than being there to punish him? I thought it was interesting how it could cast a new light on a very old myth.

Honorable Mention

“Ten Wretched Things About Influenza Siderius” by Rachael K. Jones

The Best of Escape Pod 2015

written by David Steffen

Escape Pod, the original science fiction podcast, is still running more than ten years later. It continues to be edited by Norm Sherman. Mur Lafferty began the year as editor-at-large (whatever that means) but moved on to the sister publication Mothership Zeta.

Escape Pod published 41 stories in 2015.

The List

1. “Beyond the Trenches We Lie” by A.T. Greenblatt
Fighting a war against blobs whose only vulnerability is lying, the more novel the more effective. The story is told in the space between the lies.

2. “Everyone Will Want One” by Kelly Sandoval
What would it be like if you had a bot to aid you in your social situations to help you get through high school?

3. “Flowers For Algernon” by Daniel Keyes
Classic science fiction, you may have read it in school, a journal story written by a mentally handicapped man who undergoes a procedure to enhance his intelligence.

4. “The Semaphore Society” by Kate Heartfield
Future user interface technology allows the paralyzed to begin a new online group, inventing a new language as they go.

5. “Adaptation and Predation” by Auston Habershaw
A shapeshifting scavenger as assassin, taking on a member of a dangerous predator species. Really fun, interesting, action packed story.

Honorable Mention

“The Lone and Level Sands” by Marco Panessa

The Best of Drabblecast 2014

The Drabblecast! Still my favorite publication, hitting just the right level of weirdness. Big editorial change recently at Drabblecast with Norm Sherman handing over the Editor-In-Chief position to longstanding head slushwrangler Nathaniel Lee–sounds like it might get episodes out with greater regularity which would be a great thing. Norm will still be host and main producer, so his talent will still make the show what it is.

The List

1. “The Carnival was Eaten, All Except the Clown” by Caroline M. Yoachim
Starring a confectionary clown who acts as the seed for a magician to make carnivals. The epitome of a Drabblecast episode–weird, fun, strong emotional story.

2. “To Whatever” by Shaenon Garrity
Written as a series of notes from an apartment dweller to lurking horror that always stays just out of sight and also drinks the last of the milk from the fridge.

3. “Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon
A kind of a selkie love story, but with jackalopes.

4. “Half a Conversation, Overheard While Inside an Enormous Sentient Slug” by Oliver Buckram
Happily, this story is exactly what it says on the tin.

5. “My Hero: The Fisherman” by Jack Handey
Yes, this is the Jack Handey you may recognize from SNL’s Deep Thoughts and Fuzzy Memories segments. Hilarious story.

Honorable Mentions

“On a Clear Day You Can See All the Way to Conspiracy” by Desmond Warzel
This is one of those that was definitely elevated by the production–amazing narration by Dave Robison as the radio DJ and others playing callers.

“Seven Things that are Better in Blue” by Jason K. Jones

The Best of Drabblecast 2013

written by David Steffen

Drabblecast is as good as ever, still one of my favorite fiction sources. Still edited by Norm Sherman. Still has a stellar Lovecraft month in August when they publish one Lovecraft stories and three unpublished stories by contemporary authors in the cosmic horror subgenre. They published 48 stories in 2013.

The List

1. The Electric Ant by Phillip K. Dick
Of course the classic tales by big authors whose stories last the ages have an advantage on such a list. I love PKD, and I’d never come across this story about an android whose entire experience is dictated by the data stored on the paper tape fed into his system and what happens when he starts messing with the data. As with much of PKD, it is more than just straight up SF, it blurs the boundaries between genres and makes for a very surreal experience. This might be my favorite of PKD’s work, and his work is so often stellar.

2. Bloodchild by Octavia Butler
Another big story by big name. In this world, humans are not the dominant species and are mostly kept around as birthing vessels for an alien race who have babies like maggots that need to live in flesh to incubate. This story is about a boy raised to be such a birthing vessel, and his relationship with his owner.

3. Hollow as the World by Ferrett Steinmetz
One of the stories in the Lovecraft month, all based around a cosmic horror version of Lovecraft, questioning the very nature of reality.

4. Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain by Cat Rambo
This was one of my Hugo nominations for last year, out of Cat’s Near+Far short story collection. It takes place on a planet where the inhabitants are all made of sentient clay and is told from the POV of one of the cruder class clays who has taken a rare class-skipping occupation as a tourism writer. The story is written from her POV in a tourism-style writing of making lists of five.

5. The Revelation of Morgan Stern by Christie Yant
A post-end-of-the-world romance story as two lovers try to reunite after the collapse of civilization based on their pre-collapse plan for such a circumstance. If you like the story, be sure you listen to the comments afterward to hear about the origin–it casts everything in a whole new (and totally awesome) light.

Honorable Mentions

Flying on My Hatred of My Neighbor’s Dog by Shaenon Garrity

The Breadcrumbs Man by Frank Key

The Best of Escape Pod 2013

written by David Steffen

Escape Pod, and the other Escape Artists casts had a bit of a crisis to overcome this year–they realized that although they had a great listenership, only 1% of the listeners donated, and it wasn’t enough to keep the publications afloat. The good news is that when they revealed this there was a strong reaction to add subscriptions–if you read this and you like the cast, consider adding a subscription.

They published 54 stories in 2013, and they are better than ever. Norm Sherman’s still in the editor’s chair.

Let me tell you, trying to decide which of the top two should be #1 was grueling.

The List

1. Dead Merchandise by Ferrett Steinmetz
In a future where advertising has gone feral, driving people to suicide or ruinous self-neglect, and civilization has fallen apart, one woman tries to get to their broadcast dome and take it down for the good of the world. This story is scary as hell in its plausibility. The only thing missing is some mind-reading technology. I don’t know how Ferrett did it, but he’s done it again, so often writing just amazingly emotional stories with original neat ideas at their core. I won’t post anything spoilery in this article, but I did go on at length about why I loved the story in spoilery fashion on their forum.

2. They Go Bump by David Barr Kirtley
I could easily call this a tie for #1. We are fighting a war against aliens who can make themselves invisible. We have just developed the technology to cloak our own soldiers, and are sending a squad of cloaked soldiers across a wasteland from base to base where invisible aliens are believed to reside, to test out the tech. What I really love about this story is how many different interpretations can be taken from it, because the lack of visual confirmation of anything throws so many things into doubt. Again I went on at length in spoilery fashion on their forum.

3. The Shunned Trailer by Esther Freisner
Fair warning, I don’t think there’s a speck of science fiction in this story. It would’ve been a perfect fit for Drabblecast, a quite fun parody of Lovecraft that never takes itself seriously. It operates by the tried and true Lovecraft plot of a man being stranded and coming across a cult of Cthulhu. But it’s just over the top weird and fun, and read perfectly by Norm Sherman.

4. Nutshell by Jeffrey Wikstrom
A ship is traveling through the space between stars controlled by an AI and filled with cryogenically frozen passengers who weren’t supposed to remember anything. They do, however, and they have control over their environment. The AI comes to visit them from time to time to try to work on details of the trip and colonization planning. Up to now this all sounds like a familiar SF story, but this story took a slant on it I hadn’t seen and added some great humor and events. Great stuff.

5. The Future is Set by C.L. Perria
Why would a supervillain who can see the future try to take over the world in a way that is doomed to fail? Read and find out.

Honorable Mentions

The Very Pulse of the Machine by Michael Swanwick

Freia in the Sunlight by Gregory Norman Bossert

Arena by Fredric Brown

2014 Hugo Noms!

written by David Steffen

It’s award season again! If you’re eligible to vote for the Hugos, you have until the end of March to decide on your picks. I wanted to share my picks, as I always do, in plenty of time so that if anyone wants to investigate my choices to see for themselves they’ll have plenty of time.

Quite a few of the categories I don’t have anything to nominate because I don’t seek out entries in them, so I left those out. And for any category that I have eligible work I mentioned them alongside my own picks.

The entries in each category are listed in no particular order.

Best Novel

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Premier novel by Leckie. Great premise, difficult point of view, great space opera. I reviewed it here.

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The 14th and final book of Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time series.

Best Novelette

Monday’s Monk by Jason Sanford (Asimov’s)

Best Short Story

The Promise of Space by James Patrick Kelly (Clarkesworld)

The Murmurous Paleoscope by Dixon Chance (Three-Lobed Burning Eye)

HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! by Keffy R.M. Kehrli (Lightspeed)

Hollow as the World by Ferrett Steinmetz (Drabblecast)

The Boy and the Box by Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed)

For Your Consideration:
I Will Remain in After Death Anthology
Could They But Speak at Perihelion
Reckoning at Stupefying Stories
Meat at Pseudopod
Coin Op at Daily Science Fiction
Escalation at Imaginaire

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)

Ender’s Game

Warm Bodies

Game of Thrones Season 3

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

The Rains of Castamere (Game of Thrones)

And Now His Watch Has Ended (Game of Thrones)

Walk of Punishment (Game of Thrones)

Second Sons (Game of Thrones)

Valar Doheris (Game of Thrones)

Best Editor (Short Form)

Neil Clarke (of Clarkesworld)

John Joseph Adams (of Lightspeed, Nightmare, and anthologies)

Tina Connolly (of Toasted Cake)

Norm Sherman (of Drabblecast and Escape Pod)

Shawn Garrett (of Pseudopod)

Best Semiprozine

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Daily Science Fiction

Lightspeed

Escape Pod

Drabblecast

Best Fanzine

SF Signal

My work for you to consider:
Diabolical PlotsI do consider Diabolical Plots a zine. Consider, too, that this was the first year Diabolical Plots also provide the Submission Grinder. The Submission Grinder itself doesn’t fit any of the categories, I think, but Diabolical Plots does.

Best Fancast

Best Fan Writer

Ken Liu

Ferrett Steinmetz

Juliette Wade

Cat Rambo

Anne Ivy

For your consideration:

David Steffen
Frank Dutkiewicz
Carl Slaughter

The Best of The Drabblecast 2012

written by David Steffen

The Drabblecast is still as awesome as ever, and continues to be my favorite source of short fiction, bar none. I particularly look forward to Lovecraft month every August when they solicit brand new Lovecraft-style stories from established authors.

This year marked a milestone for me, the first time I’ve sold a story to the Drabblecast. You can read “Constant Companion” here as part of one of their trifecta specials.

On to the list!

1. Betty Flesh and the Meat Man by Damon Shaw
This story is super weird in the best of ways. It throws you for a few loops, and my favorite thing about it is that it never goes where I expect it to. A story about a butcher’s daughter meeting the last available suitor, but you have to read it to really get a sense of it. This is one of my Hugo nominations this year.

2. Jagannath by Karen Tidbeck
People act as the internal components of some bizarre hybrid creature.

3. The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi
A future where the earth can support very little normal life, and the people who’ve been modified to live there who almost don’t seem like people at all.

4. The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward Part 1 and Part 2 by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette
The third installment of the same world that Mongoose and Boojum were set in, both great stories. This one is a Drabblecast original, as part of their Lovecraft month. Another story set in this Lovecraftian-esque space opera universe.

5. How I Crippled a World for Just 0.01 Cents by Michael W. Lucht
A scientist manages to travel into a parallel universe where scientific principles are covered by patent law, and the consequences of that law, he is put on trial for violating these laws when trying to create a device to send him home.

Honorable Mentions

My True Lovecraft Gave to Me by Eric Lis
Apparently I am not the only one who thinks the song “A Partridge in a Pair Tree” must be the product of a fevered mind.

The Elder Thing and the Puddle People by S. Boyd Taylor
One of the Lovecraft month stories, about a little girl who seems like an elder god to little creatures living in the pond.

Transfer of Ownership by Christie Yant

The Best of Escape Pod 2012

written by David Steffen

Some big changes at Escape Pod in 2012:
–They were officially added to the SFWA list of professional markets, the first audio market to do so.
–Mur Lafferty announced her resignation of the editor position, official at the end of the year, citing too many projects that she’s signed on for.

Some momentous moments for me personally with Escape Pod in 2012:
–I sold them a story for the first time, “Marley and Cratchit”, which was published in December as their Christmas episode. It’s the secret history of A Christmas Carol, with alchemy. I, of course, did not consider my story for my list.
–That sale was my third and final sale needed to qualify for SFWA.

After the new year, Alasdair Stuart took over as interim editor until Norm Sherman (of The Drabblecast) could take on the role long-term.

Escape Pod, the original speculative fiction podcast, continues on, stronger than ever! Long live Escape Pod! On to the list.

Doing these lists is always interesting to me, because I often never realize how much I like a particular author until I see him/her twice on one of these lists.

1. The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
This story won the Hugo for Best Short Story in 2012, and the award was well deserved–I voted for it to win myself. It’s the story of the American son of a mail-order bride and his relationship with his mother.

2. Devour by Ferrett Steinmetz
This is one of my Hugo nominations for Best Short Story in 2013, the story of a man whose lover has been taken over by a biological weapon, a contagious personality seeded in times of war to take us over.

3. The Ghost of a Girl Who Never Lived by Keffy R.M. Kehrli :
In the future, technology for cloning and memory transfer is commercially available, and is often used to replace lost loved ones who’ve died suddenly, giving them a new body with their old memories. But when the memory transfer process terminates prematurely, is the person who wakes up a faulty version of the old person or are they a new person entirely?

4. “Run,” Bakri Says by Ferrett Steinmetz
A terrorist organization creates a technology that allows a single person to repeatedly start their lives from a certain point in space and time, much like a video game save point. This technology is used in this story for a woman to try to rescue her brother from a heavily armed military compound. She can repeat the attempt as many times as it takes. I’m sure this story appeals to me in large part because it’s like a real-life version of a video game.

5. Contamination by Jay Werkheiser
The story of a multi-generation expedition to study life on a planet without touching it for fear of contaminating the results, and a second expedition that arrives, in conflict with this one. I first read this in Analog, and I’d thought it a little dry at the time which is fairly often my response to Analog stories. But as time went on my mind kept wandering back to it again and again. I really like the characters in it, trying to find ways to live with themselves while operating within the limits of their societies. I listened to it again here after I’d been contemplating it off and on for months, and I like it more and more.

6. Like a Hawk in Its Gyre by Phillip Brewer
An ex government researcher with heavy mind modifications is just trying to live a normal life after he’s done serving his time, but he still has to live with the modifications they’ve made to him to ensure secrecy. Somebody is after his secrets.

Oubliette by J Kelley Anderson

Talking to the Enemy by Don Webb

Springtime for Deathtraps by Marjorie James
The third in a series of stories about an ancient trap engineer building ancient temples.