I have two books I read in February. I'll admit that I am struggling to read at all and am not making my reading goals. 

My writerly read this month was Business Essentials for Writers by Jim Nettles. This book will be helpful for anybody who plans to make a living writing stories and books. It tells you where traditional publishing falls short and where you will need to pick up the slack. It tells you what you need to invest in as a self-published author. It isn't a read-straight-through book, other than to glean what information it has. It is a reference book.

My fun-read this month was The Unbroken by C.L. Clark. I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader e-copy. I haven't quite finished it yet as my fun-reading is slow lately. 
I have been reading unpublished work by several writers, and I can't wait until I can put them on my "what I read" posts for you to also enjoy.

I discovered at the writing of this blog that some of the stories I've been promoting have broken links due to one publisher moving to a new hosting platform and improper address forwarding. I have been able to find all the stories simply by web searching the publisher and the story title. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep up with my weekly posts and am unable to go back and correct the broken links at this time. If I get some time to clean things up, I will fix this.
Additionally, it appears stories that were not behind a paywall now reside on a paid-hosting. I apologize for this. I'm trying to send people to read stories that are available and don't requiring paying subscription fees to hosting sites. I don't mind sending people to author Patreon's or Publishers since money flows to the author that way. 
I hope you are able to access and enjoy this week's selection of stories.

Lunch Ticket published Practical Knowledge by Bill Gaythwaite.

Restless Dreams of Silence by Wendra Chambers at Lunch Ticket.

Notes from My Hong Kong Travel Journal: Sightseeing with a Silver Comb by Priyanka Sacheti is one of Lunch Ticket's shorter reads.

The final story this week is a five-minute read at The Arcanist, Cold Cuts by Rob Francis.

I have six stories and a webcomic in this week's round-up.

Tonya Liburd's 10 Steps to a Whole New You published at Fantasy Magazine is 2400 words.

Every Day Fiction published Hope is a Highway by Sarah Rachel Egelman. 

If you enjoy comics, especially online comics, especially animated online comics, then I highly recommend Nwain: The Knight Who Wandered Dream. This is one of my favorite web comics that I've been reading for about five years.

This week has only four stories to share. I read a few blog posts about books and reading. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook to see other topics.

A 20 minute read at 4063 words, Fireside published Mouth & Marsh, Silver & Song by Sloane Leong.

Weekly round-ups will post on Mondays until I decide to change them. This week's was delayed due to the catch-up round-up posts. From the first week of February, here are seven stories I read.

Daily Science Fiction published Three Things Cameron Couldn't Tell You by Michael Haynes.

The Girl Without a Spacesuit by Evergreen Lee is published at Daily Science Fiction. Full disclosure: I know the author through a writer's group.

This last catch-up post on short fiction is eleven stories long. Tomorrow will be the delayed post for this week. Future posts will appear every Monday.

Today we start with The Goodwill Ghost by Sophia Sanchez published at Every Day Fiction.

Every Day Fiction published Mispronounced Girl by Madari Pendàs.

Moonpark Review published Craig by Joy Martin.
Art by Lesley C. Weston (Pastel)

As a mountainbiker in the PNW, this story has some in-lines that may not work for a larger audience. But I appreciated it. Cascadia Fault Line by Shanna Yetman published at Moonpark Review.
Art by Lesley C. Weston (Digital drawing)

Every Day Fiction published Three Wishes by Cat Rambo. Full disclosure: I often take writing classes from Cat, and join in her writing prompts sessions.

Nature published The Tentacle and You by John Wiswell.

The bonus eleventh story in this post collection is also by Cat Rambo, Aardvark Says Moo.

Ten more short fiction stories that I've read over the past few months and enjoyed. 

Why We Make Monsters by Rem Wigmore is published by Baffling Magazine.

Diabolical Plots published DP FICTION #62A: “A Promise of Dying Embers” by Jordan Kurella.

Atomic Bonding by Izzy Steel is published at Every Day Fiction.

Constelación Magazine published I, Crocodile by Jacinta Escudos and translated from Spanish by Eliana González Ugarte.

Deadbeat by Jacob Budenz at Baffling Magazine is a cute love story between a demon and a warlock.

Every Day Fiction published The Night Crew by Carl Robinette.

Pseudopod published Morag-of-the-Cave by Margery Lawrence, which was originally published in 1925. This also has an audio version.

Rhonda by Alexander Evans published by Flash Fiction Magazine.

Moonpark Review published Erratic by Anna O'Brien. 

The final story in today's post is Wolf Whistle by Cheryl Sonnier at Wyldblood. 

I hope you enjoy the stories I am aggregating here as much as I have. Here are ten more.

Today we start with From the Deep, the Music Rises by Izzy Wasserstein published by Baffling Magazine.

Every Day Fiction published Flowers for Clockwork Street by Jennifer R Fierro.

Uncanny published A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard. This story gives the reader a lot to think about. Full disclosure: I know this author through a writing group.

I garden and keep houseplants. Invasives by Moriah Geer-Hardwick published at Every Day Fiction will appeal to your green thumb.

Makeisha in Time by Rachael K. Jones published by Constelación Magazine was one of my favorite reads this fall. 

Moonpark Review published Eternal by Tara Isabel Zambrano, a story in a single paragraph.

A previous post highlighted a story by Carmen Maria Machado. Here's another. PodCastle 660: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — The Husband Stitch Podcastle has both the story available to read and listen.

Eye Candy by N.E. Rule published by Wyldblood.

With my goal to catch you up to the short fiction I've been reading, here's the second round-up with ten stories for your reading enjoyment. Fewer of these stories had associated artwork than yesterday's post. Most of these stories are under 1000 words.

Apex Magazine published Super Duper Fly by Maurice Broaddus. This is a 16 minute read with 4297 words.

This is a creepy story, but a good read over at Every Day Fiction, Darren is Updating His Facebook Status by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley.

Fantasy Magazine published If These Walls Whispered What Would We Hear? by Aynjel Kaye, a 735 word read. This very short read is absolutely amazing. 

Smitten by Nicholas Lee Huff published by Every Day Fiction.

Diabolical Plots published DP FICTION #68A: “A Complete Transcript of [REDACTED]’s Video Channel, In Order of Upload” by Rhiannon Rasmussen, an absolutely chilling, non-traditional style story.

Wigleaf published Parallels by Ellen Rhudy.

My Uncle's Legacy by Krishan Coupland at Daily Science Fiction is a short, three-paragraph story.

My final entry for this post is from Flash Fiction Magazine. Faded by Lindsay Bamfield

Until I have published stories, I'm staying on theme of blogging about other published books and stories. I get to read unpublished stories and I can't wait until those are out in the wild so I can share them with you, too!
I began writing short fiction again recently, so I've reading short fiction. I read a lot of short fiction in a week. I've been sharing over on Twitter and Facebook the stories I like best from a selection of publishers. Instead of making you catch the random morning post of a story I've read and enjoyed, I will post a weekly round-up of stories I've enjoyed and think you might too. (And follow me at either/both places for fun discussions and engagement!)
The bonus is, when you see what I read and enjoy, you'll get an idea of the things I write or aspire to write. Though some are also posted in the vein of, "This is a good discussion story in a Literature class." 
For the next five days, these posts will have about ten stories each and catch you up to January 31, 2021. Future posts will occur every Monday, and typically have between five and ten stories. Enjoy!

The first story I posted about back in October was Murder or a Duck by Beth Goder at Cossmass Infinities. The website says it is a 19 minute read at 4038 words and was originally published in 2016 at Escape Pod.

Tor.com published Juice Like Wounds by Seanan McGuire is a short story taking place after the fourth book in her Wayward Children series. I recommend reading the series before reading this story, but be sure to add this one in.
Art copyright © by Rovina Cai

Mechanical Connection by Frances Rowat published at Cossmass Infinities is a 21 minute read at 4342 words. Full disclosure: I happen to be in a writers group with Frances and think the world of her. I stumbled upon this story all on my own since it was published half a year before I met her.

Waiting on a Bright Moon by Neon Yang at Tor.com.​
Art copyright © 2017 by Victo Ngai

Nightmare published Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen, which I was directed to read via a writing class I took. It's a quick read at 1421 words. 

Moments by Brandon Crilly at Daily Science Fiction is like a poem. This is a story I read for a writing class about using non-traditional forms.

Curious published  The Thing about Heisenball by Stewart C Baker, a 4 minute read at 983 words.

Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead by Carmen Maria Machado published at Lightspeed Magazine is 3079 words and plays with form as well. This story appeared in other locations, including the 2015 Anthology The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. Machado has many accolades. 

Fireside published STET by Sarah Gailey. This is a non-traditional form and also requires a content warning. 

The final story I'm suggesting in this post is a choose-your-own adventure published by Lightspeed Magazine. Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station | Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0 by Caroline M. Yoachim is a short adventure at 2100 words.
​Art Copyright 2016 by Reiko Murakami.