A hard deal--that's what it was, trying to select the top ten online stories for the 2009 Million Writers Award. I guess we've reached the point where so many great stories are being published online each year that it's difficult to select only ten great stories.
As always, my choices were limited to the 2009 Million Writers Award notable stories, selected by our preliminary judges. So if a story wasn't on that list, I didn't consider it.
Without further delay, my selections for the top ten online stories are:
- "The Whale Hunter" by Steinur Bell (Agni)
- "Intertropical Convergence Zone" by Nadia Bulkin (ChiZine)
- "No Bullets in the House" by Geronimo Madrid (Drunken Boat)
- "Fuckbuddy" by Roderic Crooks (Eyeshot)
- "The Fisherman's Wife" by Jenny Williams (LitNImage)
- "Every Earth is Fit for Burial" by Cyn Kitchen (Menda City Review)
- "Interview With A Moron" by Elizabeth Stuckey-French (Narrative Magazine)
- "The Tale of Junko and Sayuri" by Peter S. Beagle (OSC's Intergalactic Medicine Show)
- "Grief Mongers" by Sefi Atta (Per Contra Fiction)
- "Nine Sundays in a Row" by Kris Dikeman (Strange Horizons)
Please go over to the storySouth Million Writers Award page to vote for your favorite story. Thanks to the support of our donors, the top three winners of the public vote will receive, respectively, $500, $200, and $100. The public vote will run from today through June 17, 2009.
I'd also like to single the following stories out for praise. They all made my short list for the top ten:
3AM Magazine
http://www.3ammagazine.com
- "Senseless Nights in Williamsburg" by Michael DeCapite
http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/senseless-nights-in-williamsburg/
Abyss & Apex
http://www.abyssandapex.com
- "Snatch Me Another" by Mercurio D. Rivera
http://www.abyssandapex.com/200801-snatch.html
Anderbo
http://www.anderbo.com/
- "Chasing Adonis" by Adam Gallari
http://www.anderbo.com/anderbo1/afiction-031.html
Arch Literary Journal
http://archjournal.wustl.edu/
- "A Sensitive Soul" by Andrew Coburn
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~archword/fiction/coburn/sensitive.soul.htm
Baen's Universe
http://www.baens-universe.com/
- "A Thread of Silk" by Eugie Foster
http://www.baens-universe.com/articles/A_Thread_of_Silk
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
http://beneath-ceaseless-skies.com
- "Architectural Constants" by Yoon Ha Lee
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/story.php?s=3
Carve Magazine
http://www.carvezine.com
- "The Last Hours of Pompeii" by Marc Nieson
http://www.carvezine.com/issue/2008/fall/nieson.htm
Cha: An Asian Literary Journal
http://www.asiancha.com/
- "Life is Awesome" by Thaila Ramanujam
http://www.asiancha.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=227&Itemid=112
Clarkesword Magazine
http://www.clarkesworldmagazine.com/
- “Blue Ink” by Yoon Ha Lee
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lee_08_08/
Eclectica Magazine
http://www.eclectica.org
- "Retardo" by Rachel Maizes
http://www.eclectica.org/v12n1/maizes.html - "Bones Do All the Hard Work of the Body with Very Little Thanks" by G.K. Wuori
http://www.eclectica.org/v12n1/wuori.html
Elimae
http://www.elimae.com/
- "Christmas in Burma" by Christopher Luppi
http://www.elimae.com/2008/January/Burma.html
Farrago's Wainscot
http://www.farragoswainscot.com
- "Flowertongue" by Jessica Reisman
http://www.farragoswainscot.com/2008/6/flowertongue.html
JMWW
http://jmww.150m.com
- "Flyaway Dreams" by Bryan S. Wang
http://jmww.150m.com/Wang.html
The King's English
http://www.thekingsenglish.org
- "Statement and Game" by Sheila McKown
http://home.comcast.net/~wapshot1/fall08/Fiction.McKown.html
Our Stories
http://www.ourstories.us
- "The Old Challah Radio" by Adam Shechter
http://www.ourstories.us/Fall2008_Issue/Shechter_OurStories.html
Pindeldyboz
http://www.pindeldyboz.com
- "Mice" by Tai Dong Huai
http://www.pindeldyboz.com/tdhmice.htm - "Two Rubber Bands" by Kyle Minor
http://www.pindeldyboz.com/kmbands.htm
Plots with Guns
http://www.plotswithguns.com
- "They Take You" by Kyle Minor
http://plotswithguns.com/3Minor.htm
Serendipity Magazine
http://www.magicalrealism.co.uk
- "Smoking Bamboo" by Molara Wood
http://www.magicalrealism.co.uk/view.php?story=87&issue=11
Smokelong Quarterly
http://www.smokelong.com
- "Lobster Girl" by Alicia Gifford
http://www.smokelong.com/flash/8050.asp
Storyglossia
http://www.storyglossia.com
- "To the Bone" by T. J. Forrester
http://www.storyglossia.com/29/tf_bone.html
Strange Horizons
http://www.strangehorizons.com
- "Until Forgiveness Comes" by K. Tempest Bradford
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20081117/forgiveness-f.shtml - "The Magician's House" by Meghan McCarron
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20080714/magician-f.shtml
Tor.com
http://www.tor.com
- "The Things That Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away" by Cory Doctorow
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=story&id=2993
Word Riot
http://wordriot.org
- "You Are One Click Away From Pictures of Nude Girls" by Heather Fowler
http://www.wordriot.org/template_2.php?ID=1501