May Inspirations

This month, I thought it might be nice (for my own sake as much as for anything else!) to pull together a list of all the things–reading/viewing/experiencing–that have been inspiring me lately. This post in itself was inspired because lately I’ve been coming across some really wonderful short stories, and I wanted a place I could collect them all (and their links) so I and others could find them more easily.

Also, I like a LOT of different things. Sometimes, this space may be occupied by things I’m researching or looking at to inspire the current book or short story project. Like these images of old Glasgow or this rustic cabin, which I’m using to kickstart my imagination on several settings for the book-in-progress, a dark fantasy about a techno-magical vanished empire and a sinister conman’s plot to make his fortune running an exclusive (and haunted?) sanatorium for the wealthy.

Sometimes it’ll probably be about art. Like these lovely watercolor paintings of abandoned houses. Or I might ramble on and on about my obsession with Charles Dana Gibson’s line-work. Or miniatures.

I’ll probably highlight some fun watches/TV shows/movies I’ve been taking in, too, like this docu-series on Netflix about the Isabella Gardener Museum robbery, or The Barkley Marathons (a secret, ultra-difficult ultra-marathon), or The Social Dilemma about social media and how data is collected on us, or You’ve Got Mail because good grief, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are the best.

I’ll definitely be talking about books I’ve read recently, and articles I’ve come across that are interesting, and I will absolutely list any short stories that I think are well worth checking out. And that’s primarily what I’m obsessed about this month: fantastic short fiction. Specifically, new favorites like:

“Safe as Houses” by Avra Margariti

“Remote” by Kaoru Sakasaki

“Build-a-Grudge” by Joy Kennedy-O’Neill

But also old favorites I come across again, like:

“Mimic” by Donald A. Wollheim

“Only Partly Here” by Lucius Shepard

“The Summer People” by Shirley Jackson

“The Red Tower” by Thomas Ligotti

And that’s really just scratching the surface! Over the course of the next month, I’ll try to keep a little better track of what’s on my mind and what’s caught my attention. I’ll also list books that have blown my mind here, too (at least once I’ve finished them). Like the wonderful Breasts and Eggs, or Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver, or Saga: Book Three.

So we’ll see how it goes! I hope something here snags your interest the way it’s snagged mine.