I finished the first draft of the story in progress (either the most boring thing ever, or kind of neat – I can’t tell), so I took a spin through the short stories I have started but not finished yet, trying to decide what to work on next.
I’m full of ideas, but short on follow-through, and I keep being interrupted by things with deadlines.
All of them look like fun, really. Maybe I can finish them all before I start any more, and submit them too. (Seems unlikely, doesn’t it?)
Anyway, here they are:
Whisper-thin sheets of stainless steel piled to the ceiling, compulsively stacked, impeccably organized. (All the Leaves on Mars)
Misha laid her hand over Tom’s, formed a smile so practiced it appeared spontaneous. (Alpha Says Omega)
The knock echoed through the office. Jim startled, long and painful experience drawing his hand away from the paper taped to the drafting board. (The Future Is Drawn in Maps of the Past)
“I don’t think you quite understand how this works,” I said slowly, my mouth working on autopilot while my brain ran gibbering in circles. (Dancer of the Universe)
“I’m going to find a blue one!” (Oyster)
The sky was gray, as smooth as if it had been airbrushed, the same shade as the dishes she slid into the matching cupboard. (Gray)
I spring up, spinning to orient myself. (Stars Move Like Clockwork Across the Sky)
Snow swirled glittering in the streetlights, stinging my cheeks. (Christmas Cookies)
I should have figured it out way back in May, when I saw the tidy little pile of pink plastic pellets under the tulips. (Bugs [working title])
On the dais in front of me, the elder statesman of the Krinth, or what passed for such a being in a race that was all but exterminated less than a generation ago, draped a glittering stole around the shoulders of my pilot. (Triad)
A can-can line of blue elephants gyrated through the wormhole void. (untitled; working title cannot be shared)
