Category: Meta

That was 2022

Published by O. Westin on 2023-03-05

2022 started with me still being in a creative burnout, which hit me in December 2021 after a very stressful year. I wasn’t able to start writing again until February, and I struggled to find inspiration the rest of the year. Catching Covid in late summer didn’t help, as my recovery was slow.

My final tally for the year is three poems, one short story (Broken), and 176 microstories posted to my social media accounts, free for all to read. I would like to have done more, but I am glad I managed to do that much.

As usual, I am elegible in the “Best Fan Writer” category of the Hugo Awards. I would be immensely honoured if you nominated me. Below are the most popular (on Twitter, other social media sites may have different tastes) posts for each month, with commentary, to give a flavour of my work.

February

"Excuse me, someone said you are the swordmaster?"
The gardener looked up from the carrots. "I was."
"Oh."
The gardener resumed weeding.
"But… you can't just stop being someone."
"I'm still someone, just not that one. Nobody is only one someone. Which ones you are can change."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) February 22, 2022

I have a fair few someones I am not, anymore. Some I had for years, some, like stunt fight extra, only for a day and a very long, wet, and cold night. And some I might pick up again.

March

"So," the medium said, "you think this place is haunted."
"Oh, we know it's haunted," the librarian said. "Every library is. So many readers with unfinished businesses."
"Er… I can't do exorcisms."
"No! They're also patrons. We want you to ask them how we can help them better."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) March 7, 2022

I can’t think of many better places to haunt than a library.

April

The awful truth is this:
Magic exists
And
You will be disappointed

Magic can heal and hurt
Crush and comfort
Change the world
Touch without touching

Words

That's all that magic is
And words, some words
Not all, not every time
Are magic

I'm sorry#Poem
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) April 19, 2022

I don’t really have anything to add to this, except some surprise that a poem was the “best of the month”.

May

"You shall have the promised reward," the king said. "My daughter's hand in marriage."
"Ah," the hero said, "may I have a private word?"
The king gestured for them to approach, and listened.
"Hm. I see. I'll have to ask."
"Of course."
The king motioned for a page.
"Fetch my son."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) May 19, 2022

Just to clarify, the twist here isn’t that the hero prefers the king’s son over his daughter. The twist is that the hero’s gender is not mentioned. But I expect you had already noticed that.

June

I was out walking, lost in thought, and paid little attention to where I was going. Imagine my surprise when I found myself in the Library of Unwritten Books.
I wasn't allowed to read any of my own unwritten books, but I read one of yours.
It was really good. You should write it.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) June 8, 2022

Yes, I know, it’s easier said than done. But if a book is too daunting, you can try to write something shorter. Trust me, it’s a viable alternative.

July

Death looked at the chess board, and his fallen king.
"Ah. I should have guarded that better."
The cat shifted its paw slightly, and slowly, without breaking eye contact, pushed the piece over the edge.
"I will see you another time."
The cat yawned, flicked its tail, and left.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) July 2, 2022

The ‘Cat’s gambit’ is curious in that nobody has ever won more than eight games when using it.

August

"We have decoded the latest missive from the Humans," Scrp'x said. "It appears to be a diplomatic commitment of loyalty."
Behind them, the gold plaque found on the Humans' first probe was shown.
"They undertake to never: give us up, let us down, or run around and desert us."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) August 12, 2022

What if we are the aliens sending cryptic messages from the stars to other worlds? That’s the anti-SETI-thesis, which is also a tongue twister.

September

"Oh dear, you have a lot of… things."
The cyborg looked up. "The word is prosthetics."
"So much machinery. Don't you worry you will stop being human?"
"Oh, there is a line I will not cross."
"What line is that?"
"I will not question another person's humanity."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) September 26, 2022

I only use one prosthetic, personally, and it is so common that people generally don’t consider it to be one.

October

Once I was dead, it was curiously easy to accept it.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked.
Death extended a bony finger, pointing at a tall tower in the distance.
"What is that?"
"Your unread books. Unwatched films. Unplayed games. Etcetera."
"Oh. How much time do I have?"
"All."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) October 15, 2022

I wonder how far up the tower I would get before missing the friends I would want to discuss those books, show those films, share those games, and etcetera with.

November

"Please," said the man, "can you do magic to make me be kind?"
"No," said the witch. "Magic cannot change anyone's nature."
"So there is no hope for me?"
"You ask the wrong question. Kind is not something you are. It is what you do."
"Is it that simple?"
"It is that hard."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) November 22, 2022

Sometimes it’s simple, sometimes it’s hard, and sometimes it’s too hard. But I tell myself it gets easier the more you practice. Most things do, after all.

December

"The Human's world ends soon," said the cat.
"Again?" said the dog.
"They are fond of endings and beginnings. Even if nothing changes."
The dog whined.
"Same procedure as last year?" said the cat.
"Please."
The cat lay on the dog's head and purred, muffling the fireworks.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) December 31, 2022

Written around lunchtime on New Year’s Eve. I enjoy firework displays, but not fireworks randomly set off without warning, around the clock, for days around the big firework holidays. I know too many ex-soldiers, and too many terrified pets.

Bonus

A few extra personal favourites.

She peeked over the edge of the bed.
"Are you still there?" she whispered.
The monsters under the bed did not reply.
"There is an elf on my shelf."
Silence.
"It watches me, and reports to Santa."
A hoarse growl came under the bed:
"Turn the light off."
She smiled.
"Thank you."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) December 17, 2022

The “Elf on the Shelf” is an American doll that is put on a shelf in children’s rooms, and is said to report everything naughty the children do to Santa Claus.

The last few days before the asteroid crashed into Earth were filled with resignation, reminiscence, and confessions. All over social media:
"I have a crush on you."
"I actually like banana on pizza."
"I didn't lose the ring, I sold it."
"I faked the asteroid."
"I kiss… What?"
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) November 18, 2022

Perhaps the true apocalypse was the truths we revealed along the way.

The sigil was drawn, the summoning incanted. An incubus appeared, his perfect, naked form golden in the candlelight.
"How can I please you?" he asked.
"Stand like this."
He looked at the sketch.
"Looks weird."
"I know," said the artist. "Try to do it, so I can draw it right."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) October 26, 2022

I live with an artist, and have done so for a long time. I have often been summoned for this exact purpose.

Numbers can go down as well as up

Published by O. Westin on 2022-11-26

In the middle of October, after nine and a half years and thousands of posted stories, my follower count on Twitter reached six figures. I didn’t catch a screenshot of 100 000 as it was going up, but I held off celebrating until I had some margin – the follower count is always in flux so there was no point celebrating if it was going to dip down again.

After a week, I checked again, and it stood at 100 589. This, I felt, was sufficient margin to be safe from the normal ebb and flow – I had reached 100k! I don’t usually pay much attention to numbers, but this felt like a milestone. I was proud of that.

Then, Elon Musk bought Twitter. Lol, as the kids say, and lmao. I did get a screenshot of when my follower count had gone down to 100 000. And then to 99 999. It’s currently 99 028, and I don’t expect it to ever reach six figures again.

Ah, well. Sic transit gloria mundi, and all that. I sincerely hope Twitter survives in a usable and non-fascist fashion – it would be nice to be able to celebrate ten years there in April next year – but we shall see how it goes.

On the other hand, my follower count on Mastodon has more than doubled, so there is that. It seems almost everybody fleeing Twitter has headed for the instance I was on – mastodon.social – and it has struggled to keep up with moderation. So I have decided to move to @MicroSFF@mastodon.art instead. All my followers should be transferred over (I have done such a move with a personal account, and that worked flawlessly). I will link to this post from my profile there as proof of authenticity.

Of course, I am still on Tumblr and Facebook, and I have also started to use my Instagram.

Regardless of platform, I will continue to tell my little stories until I run out of them.

2021 Hindsight

Published by O. Westin on 2022-03-09

In hindsight, arranging an international move with family and a cat during a pandemic, across a border that went from EU-internal to third country during the move, might not have been the wisest thing to do. But we did, and we are now settled in Sweden, with our old home in the UK sold, and most of the bureaucracy of it all now sorted.

Unfortunately, the stress of it almost broke me, and in the middle of December, when the sale of our UK home was finalised, all the pent-up stress hit me with a complete writer’s block. I had to abandon my traditional Advent tale, and wasn’t able to write anything again until late January this year.

But I am recovering, and I have started writing again.

Anyway, in 2021 I wrote just under 300 microstories which I posted on Twitter, Facebook, Mastodon and Tumblr.

As usual I am eligible for the “Fan Writer” category in the Hugo awards.

As a sample of my work, I’ll include the most popular (by Twitter interactions) story for each month below, with some brief commentary.

January

The thread was at its end when Theseus found the centre of the labyrinth.
"Hello," he called into the darkness.
"Mother?" a small voice sobbed.
Theseus knelt. "I'll take you to her."
The minotaur threw themself into his arms, and he carried the lost child out into the light.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) January 9, 2021

I don’t really have anything to add to this.

February

"You are the chosen one."
"Me?"
"You. The evil god wakes. Without you, he cannot be defeated."
"What must I do?"
"Ask your grandmother to come out of retirement."
"What?"
"She's the ultimate warrior."
"But… Why don't you ask her?"
"She is scary!"
"She's not!"
"We chose wisely."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) February 26, 2021

I imagine that the second time you have to go out and save the world is the worst. The first time is probably bad, but then it’s over, and it’s done. Having to do it again must be worse.

But once you’ve had to do it again, doing it again again must be easier.

March

A spaceship landed, and an alien emerged.
"Greetings, Earthlings, we come in peace. Take us to-"
"Do you have a tractor beam?"
"-your… Pardon?"
"A tractor beam. Or some other way of lifting something huge and heavy?"
"Of course, but-"
"Do you know where the Suez channel is?"
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) March 28, 2021

Referencing the ship Ever Given, which was stuck in the Suez Canal, and blocked an inordinate amount of international shipping for a few days. Less than four hours after posting this story, the ship was partially freed, and after another ten hours it was underway, so I squeezed this one in just in time.

Also, note the brain fart where I wrote Suez Channel instead of Suez Canal. I beg your forgiveness – it was late, and I was likely floating between languages.

April

"But how?" the evil overlord said. "Neither man nor woman can slay me."
"Dude," the hero said, wiping the blood off their sword, "that's your problem right there. Oversimplifying everything."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) March 31, 2021

Things are rarely as simple as this or that, the one or the other. It is easy to forget that.

May

"So you want to be an assassin? Do you have sharp weapons?"
"Oh yes"
"Can you move about undetected?"
"Oh yes."
"Can you get into places you are not meant to be?"
"Oh yes."
"Can you kill without remorse?"
"Oh yes."
"Without toying with your victim?"
"Um," said the cat.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) May 25, 2021

It is really unprofessional to toy with your victims.

June

It was her first dog, so she was a bit hazy on commands.
"Fetch," she would say, and her dog would wag its tail and vanish, then return with what she needed. Not always the thing she expected, but what she needed.
One day, she said "Fetch", and the dog returned with a sword.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) June 23, 2021

I have never had a dog myself, but I have witnessed friends’ dogs fetch all kinds of interesting things. Not a sword though.

Yet.

July

I felt the pull of a summoning, and was dragged to the depths of Hell again.
"What now?" I say as I appear in the mystic sigil.
"Hi, Bob," the demon says. "Our printer has stopped working."
"Release a soul."
"But-"
"You want my I.T support? You summon me from my sofa? You pay."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) July 4, 2021

There once was, in the UK, a dial-up internet provider called Demon, where all support engineers were rumoured to be called Bob. This was written for them.

August

"These copper ingots," the devil said, "are of sub-par quality."
"You accepted them as payment," the merchant said, "the deal is done."
"Very well. I will uphold my end of the bargain," the devil said. "Your name will live forever."
"That is all I ask," said Ea-nasir.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) August 30, 2021

This story was most well received on Tumblr, which is the social media platform that holds on to its memes most dearly, cherishing and nurturing them for years.

Ea-nasir, a seller of sub-par quality copper ingots and the subject the world’s oldest customer complaint letter, is a firm favourite there.

September

A dragon landed in the town square.
"I wish to speak to the reeve."
The reeve hesitantly entered the square.
"I hear there is now a tax to pay on wealth?" the dragon said.
"Er… yes?"
"Then I need help calculating my share."
"Why? We can't make you pay."
"What monster wouldn't?"
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) September 29, 2021

Was there something in the news around then about billionaires not paying much in tax? Probably. There usually is.

October

"You have won the release of her soul," the God of Death said. "I will give her a hale body, clothes and provisions. Where should I say she can find you, should she wish to?"
"What? She must come with me."
"Why?"
"I did this for her!"
"That was your choice. Her choices are hers."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) October 13, 2021

I think this was inspired by some fic or story riffing off myths of ancient Greece.

You haven’t freed someone if you take custody of them yourself.

November

"Sanctuary," the child cried, running into the library.
"Nice try," the guard following after sneered, "but only holy places can grant sanctuary."
The librarians glanced at each other. A small nod.
The head librarian gave the guard a stern look.
"Sanctuary granted."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) November 8, 2021

Libraries always offered me sanctuary.

December

"How did you find us? Radio?"
"Radio dissipates," the alien ambassador said, "telepathy doesn't."
"You heard our thoughts?"
"When enough of you focus on the same words, with passion, we sense it."
"So a prayer or anthem?"
"We don't know. It begins with: 'Is this the real life?'."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) December 3, 2021

It is a bit magical, that song.

This story was inspired by watching that video of the Green Day concert in Hyde Park in London, where the 65000 people in the crowd sang the whole song (including guitar solo). It’s amazing.

Bonus

A story which I am very proud of since half the comments on it were “Ooof!” and half were “I don’t get it”:

"As a reward for freeing me," the genie said, "I will grant you one wish."
"I want to be allowed to be angry."
"You don't need my permission to be angry."
"It's not your permission I need."
"Oh? Oh! Oh, that is a very large wish."
"Will you grant it?"
"I will do my best."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) January 31, 2021

2020 Showcase

Published by O. Westin on 2021-02-01

I have no idea why I haven’t thought of this before. Since it is award nomination season, I can do a showcase post!

As usual, the Hugo category that is most pertinent to me is the “Best Fan Writer”, which in my case would be in recognition of writing 250+ pieces of microfiction over the year and regularly bringing my readers (I hope) joy, food for thought, or a dose of silliness. If you like that sort of thing, and are qualified to nominate, please consider me for this category.

Unusually, I did not write any short stories that are publically available (there are a couple which I wrote as a little bonus for my patrons on Patreon and Ko-Fi), and no new Advent tale. 2020 was hard for productivity.

Here is a Twitter search for my stories over the year, though it only seems to bring back 60 or so – there is probably a cap on how many tweets they want to return. You can play with dates and number of faves to see what it yields.

And as a quick showcase, the most engaged-with tweet for every month, with some commentary:

January

"I wish to return this time machine."
"Why?"
"It is not accurate!"
"The circuits are calibrated to-"
"I mean what it shows is not accurate!"
"How?"
"Women warriors wielding swords!"
"Yes? Documented in-"
"Black people in Europe!"
"Yes, there has always-"
"Not accurate!"
"It is."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) January 5, 2020

This one came about after seeing yet another whine about it being “historically incorrect” to have black people or women warriors in period dramas or games. Given that there have been documented examples of both in at least Western and Central Europe for the last couple of millennia, it is just tiresome to see.

This story caused a lot of debate, which is always a bit scary to see. I am grateful that my readers tend to be reasonably polite and respectful to others.

February

"The pen is mightier than the sword."
"I am not saying you are wrong," the sword master said, "but what is your reasoning?"
"You can't write a love poem with a sword."
"This is true," the sword master conceded. "You need two swords for that, so you meet as equals."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) February 27, 2020

I miss sword fighting practice. Not for flirting reasons, but simply because it’s a lot of fun. And I miss seeing my fighting friends.

March

"Okay, here's the scenario. You are a crew member on a starship."
"Cool."
"Space travel is slow, you'll be stuck with your crewmates a long time."
"So we must get along."
"Yes. Communicate, listen, share limited resources."
"I can do that. What's the starship called?"
"Earth."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) March 21, 2020

All fiction, but especially genre fiction, builds on and plays with ideas and concepts conceived by earlier writers, used and told in new ways. “Spaceship Earth” was a concept first (I think) invented by Buckminster Fuller in the 1960s, and is by now a quite well-known trope, often used in pop-science TV programs.

A lot of my stories use genre tropes, because that saves space. So if you think you recognise an idea in a story from somewhere else, you’re probably right (or both riff off an older story).

Having said that, it is important to recognise that an idea does not make a story, and that how a story is told is generally more important than the idea(s) expressed by it, in terms of the impact the story has on the reader/listener.

April

"To pass," the Sphinx said, "you must answer my question."
"I understand. Please ask."
"How are you?"
"Pardon?"
"How are you doing?"
"Is that the riddle?"
"No. I care. What with… You can have a riddle if you prefer?"
"No, I'm… I'm okay. Thanks."
"Good to hear. You may pass."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) April 6, 2020

Written after two weeks of the first UK Covid-19 lockdown.

May

The student bowed.
"Master, I am sorry."
"Why were you absent yesterday?" the sword master asked.
"I don't know. I… simply could not get out of bed."
"If this happens again…"
"Yes?"
"Allow yourself to stay in bed."
"Master?"
"A blunt sword can be honed. A broken one can not."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) May 4, 2020

Yeah. Some days it’s harder than others to get up and get going. Try to be kind to yourself.

June

"So, do you think one day robots will have human rights?"
"Perhaps," the robot said, "but first I want to see all humans have human rights."
"What do you mean? All humans do have human rights. It's in the name."
"Then I first want to see all humans considered human."
"Oh. Yeah."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) June 1, 2020

Black Lives Matter.

July

"Excuse me, I am a time traveler but my machine malfunctioned, so I'm not sure when I am."
"It's 2020."
"Which year of 2020?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ah, so this must be the first year of 2020."
"Oh. Damn."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) July 18, 2020

By this time it felt like 2020 had been going for a couple of years. Now that it’s over, I haven’t changed my mind.

August

People, young and old, came to the witch for directions.
"I seek adventure."
"I seek wisdom."
"I need a place to feel at home."
"I feel like I need to cry, but I can't."
The witch listened, and told all where to find what they sought.
And the local library thrived.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) August 21, 2020

Don’t really have much to add to this one. I like public libraries. I think they’re one of humanity’s greatest inventions.

September

"As a knight," the king said, "it is your duty to kill dragons."
"Very well, my liege," the knight said. "Um. May I ask why?"
"Because they hoard wealth without sharing, and people live in fear of their capricious moods."
"Very well, my liege," the knight said and drew his sword.
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) September 3, 2020

Hmm, yes.

October

"Why isn't there more footage of monsters?"
"What do you mean?"
"People always talked about seeing monsters, but couldn't prove it. Now that everyone carries a camera, we should see lots of films of them."
"We do."
"We do?"
"It's just not the monsters some of us were expecting."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) October 16, 2020

Black Lives still Matter.

November

"Wait, wait," the knight said.
He studied the maiden in front of him. "You're a dragon?"
"I'm a shapeshifter." They shrugged, and took the shape of a dragon.
"But, what were you born to be?"
"What a strange question. I was born to be me. No more, no less."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) November 2, 2020

Everyone doesn’t always fit into neat little well-defined boxes. I made a comment about a story I wrote for Bi Visibility Day in September which also applies here:

Reading all the comments on this I can only conclude that “genre” is fluid, and a social construct.

December

"Put it on my account."
"We don't-" the junior bookseller said.
"We do," the senior cut in. "Of course."
The customer took the books – SF and vampire novels – and left.
"We stopped creating new accounts 1879," the senior said, "but we only close old ones at the customer's death."
— Micro SF/F stories (@MicroSFF) December 20, 2020

Partially inspired by the Sotherans rare book shop, partially by Aziraphale’s shop in Good Omens, partially by some favourite book shops I haven’t been able to visit for far too long.

2019 and all that

Published by O. Westin on 2020-01-09

This was… not a productive writing year for me. My day job was very demanding from January to July, and then again from September to December. Add to that family stress – the first half of the year saw one long-term relationship break up (not mine, but one involving a close relative), and three trips abroad I could have done without, for one deathbed visit and two funerals. Plus, you know, Trump, Brexit – which will directly impact me and my family – and general world blah. So I had limited energy for writing or projects related to my stories.

On the other hand – I had a book published! In June, my collection of 365 science fiction stories was published by the German publisher Mikrotext, in both English and German. It was well received by reviewers too. I am incredibly grateful for the work done by Nikola Richter at Mikrotext, and Birthe Mühlhoff who translated my little stories. And of course, I’m grateful to everyone who bought a copy. Thank you!

I also visited Dublin again, and attended WorldCon where I met a lot of friends I haven’t seen in ages, and went to a lot of really good panels. While I had volunteered to do panels (with the caveat that there are plenty more interesting voices than mine), I was very glad I was not asked to do any, and could treat it as a holiday.

But what have I written? Looking at the archive at microsff.tumblr.com I see 30 pages, with 15 posts each, from 2019. Discount individual tweets from longer stories, plugs for the book, or my Patreon and Ko-Fi, and other announcements, and I probably ended up at around 300 micro stories written and posted during the year.I also wrote two serial tweet stories:

The Princess’ Dragon – a fairy tale about a princess who does what she wants, and her dragon friend.
Nani and the shadow – the 2019 AdvenTale story

Hugo Award eligibility

Hugo nominations have opened, so should you deem my work worthy, the two stories linked above are eligible for Best Short Story, and as usual I am eligible for Best Fan Writer for, well, everything I write.

Review roundup

Published by O. Westin on 2019-11-01

This summer, the German publisher mikrotext has released a collection of 365 of my science fiction stories. Called “Micro Science Fiction”, it is available in English and German, as ebook or paperback, from all major ebook stores and some realbook stores (lists of shops here and here).

I realised that while I did post about it, I haven’t done a roundup of reviews, which I ought to, since it has received very positive reviews in German media:

Exberliner
“With razor-sharp wit, riddle-like playfulness and moments of poignancy, Westin tackles the big issues facing the future of civilisation […] Each microstory is Tardis-like in its depth and philosophical scope”

Sueddeutsche Zeitung
“[…] in the brevity of a tweet, compress ideas that could carry a whole novel […] in the best of his ultra-short works, Westin succeeds in allowing the reader to unfold a whole small cosmos out of two or three sentences.”
[Google Translated]

Book Gazette
“Westin’s stories are remarkable and can serve as a prime example of storytelling and building worlds with as few words as possible. […] For the sake of form alone, [they] seem even more enchanting and brilliant. ”
[Google Translated]

Deutschlandfunk
“Westin grabs current debates [or] sci-fi scenes [and] compact the material until the beginning, middle, and end merge. Until only a tiny, polished diamond is left.”
[Google Translated]

Camestros Felapton
[…] the shift in perspective provides emotional insight into a character or social commentary or a disturbing reveal (or all of those).
The brevity invites readers to imagine the world and setting around the story.”

2018 summary

Published by O. Westin on 2019-01-02

I have not counted every story/poem I have written this year, but the final tally seems to be around 300 tweet-size pieces of microfiction or poetry. This is way below my usual tally of 500+ pieces, which I mostly attribute to the world being too distracting/distressing, and to the fact that from June onwards, a change in my role in my day job meant it became a lot more stressful and exhausting, but also very rewarding.

I also wrote some longer pieces:

Story: Teddy Dear – a silly little story about a teddy bear.
Poem: The magic beings three – enumerating the three kinds of magic beings.
Story: The woman, and the god who loved her – a 42-part serial tweetstory, written live during an evening.
Poem: I lik the form – a sonnet, and a bredlik pome. Became somewhat viral on Tumblr.
Poem: The widow and the Sea – written in the classic ballad form.
Story: Orum and the dragon – the 2018 AdvenTale story.

The stories above are all eligible for the Short Story Hugo award. If you would like to nominate my whole body of work – the microstories, the short stories, the poems, and the AdvenTale – for a Hugo award, you can nominate me (e.g. O. Westin, writing at twitter.com/microsff) in the Fan Writer category.

2017 Awards Eligibility Post

Published by O. Westin on 2018-01-14

As award season is coming, I thought I’d do an Awards Eligibility Post™.

As usual, I have not counted how many microstories I wrote during the year, but there are 45 pages of 15 posts each on my Tumblr, which makes 675 posts. Discount serial tweetstories, posts about translations, Patreon, WorldCon, and stuff like that, and I think the final tally is around 520 tweetstories and tweetpoems.

In addition, I have written nine serial tweetstories, one regular short story, a play, and a collaborative choose-your-own-adventure story.

Regarding Patreon fee changes

Published by O. Westin on 2017-12-10

Update: Patreon have backed down, and will not implement the controversial changes I talk about below.