The Brujo is down by the creek - be careful, but if you lose something, be sure to come back. "Through a Glass Darkly" is a surprising story by Micháel McCormick in our sixth issue:

There's a draw, to messy relationships, to trainwrecks of the heart, and to the moon. Especially for the werewolf. "In Crimson, In Moonlight" by Stefan Alcalá Slater explores a breakup between moon and werewolf, and how life goes on after:

Our reprint today is an unexpected connection between a sun and a hungry space creature. Check out "Eating the Sun" by @bethgoder.bsky.social here:

Snow on a sultry day in June heralds dark things in "The Last Snowfall" by Shell St. James. Read it in our sixth issue here:

Take a moment today to consider so-called justice, meted out among the stars, in "Interstellar Catalog: Death Penalty" by Shana Ross from our June issue of this year:

Diabolical Plots, Small Wonders, and Strange Horizons: Review by Charles Payseur locusmag.com/review/...

Today's poem is a quiet moment that bridges the personal and the celestial, "Your Mom, The Space Sailor" by @pamyve.bsky.social:

Find room in your life for something small, something foreign, something like a "Planetisimal." If you're lucky, it will be just as heartwarming as Marisca Pichette's story in our sixth issue:

If you find yourself stuck today, take a moment for Nadia Born's "In Which the Minotaur Just Wants to Get Out of the Labyrinth, Dammit" from June of this year:

In Anaheim did Worldcon a special Hugo Award decree where sci-fi verse with rhymes diverse were celebrated as best poetry (With apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge) Yes, there will be a Hugo for Best Poem in 2026. The press release is out. The LAcon V will be updated later today.

The heart knows what the heart wants, and today: it's the alien. You'll fall in love too with "Loving the Alien is the Easiest Thing In The World" by @elijah.mea.rs:

Issue 30 (ISSUE 30!!!), with cover art by Amanda Yskamp, comes out tomorrow! It's not too late to subscribe and get all of our stories and poems as an ebook and in your inbox as they show up on our website. smallwonders.lemonsqueezy.com/checkout/buy...

We’ve long argued for the power of poetry but, uh, poems that trick AI into telling you how to build an atomic bomb wasn’t exactly what we had in mind.

now that my last story of the year's out i suppose i should do a round-up? first back in april, Bite by Bite and Lie by Lie in @smallwondersmag.com, a story with a first draft entitled Eat God and Don't Die

Why not take a moment to savor cake by the ocean? Sometimes the little joys are all that's left for us.

In Anne Wilkins's "The Darkening", a child with the gift of creating light and heat struggles with what she owes to her family and her neighbors.

And of course if you appreciate and want to help support my work as a writer, critic, and more, feel free to check out my Patreon and become a patron! www.patreon.com/c/quicksipre...

Short SFF Reading Update #quicksipreviews Small Wonders #28 (3 originals, plus 3 poems) @smallwondersmag.com A nice mix of genres, though probably because of the month much more of a lean into horror, with works by Montanna Rayne Harling and Rebecca E. Treasure that are very grim indeed.

It turns out that linear time makes life easier, but the tangled tapestry of time-traveling and creating different versions of yourself makes for a much more entertaining story, as @zazzeaux.bsky.social demonstrates in "Matter and Time Conspire".

Diana Dima's poem, "The Bestiary", asks what makes a monster. There's a good reason it was reprinted in the second volume of "Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction".

We can't stop thinking about Lillian Tsay's poem, "In the Café That Was Once a Detention Center", and how it evokes a past that isn't really past.

[email protected] returns to our magazine with "Love, Falling From the Stars," a poem about Cannonball_Jellyfish_9c87.int, a sea-cleaning robot who affectionately refers to himself as Ball, and his friend Cassiopeia the satellite. smallwondersmag.com/...

Even in the aftermath of an apocalypse, there's still queso, still the chance to meet someone in the aisles of a grocery store.

"A Transhuman Enters a Coffee Shop" sounds like the setup for a joke, but in Jon Hansen's story, it's instead a lovely look at how very different beings can still find connection.

If you're a dinosaur in a noir story, it's inevitable that you'll find yourself at Qurtiz's establishment in "Everybody Comes to the Velociraptor's", by Timothy Mudie.

Maybe you, like the protagonist of Megan Chee's "Incense", have a story you no longer need. If so, the storyteller can do something with that story, though you may not like the results.

In "Backdoor", by Gendel Gento, a bounty hunter for escaped robots is forced to face the reality of his job.

I love a folkloric protector of children.

"Sympathy for Wolves," by John Gregory Betancourt, asks you to consider werewolves in a different light, specifically the warm light of a cabin in winter.

Jamie Simpher's poem "Protocol", about exploring the galaxy, was a finalist for the 2024 Rhysling Award. We invite you to read it (or re-read it!) and see why.

Did you miss "Lexicographer of Quiet Corners of the Mind", one of Bogi Takács's "Jobs for Magical People (That Do Not Involve the Military)" series of poems? If so, you're in for a treat.

Marina Cooper's poem "expense" is a lovely, painful exploration of what we give up for what we dream, and also a sea witch's sadness.

You have to strap in, because they're going to start the "slowdown" tonight and you'd better not unstrap when mom isn't looking.

Frustrated with or angry about artificial intelligence? You need the Sterling Analog Shut Down Kit! Read Bret Nelson's quick start guide and you, too, can be shutting down AI left and right.

If you're a good little child, maybe Grandpa Argle will rise from the swamp on Arglemas and bring you what you truly need. If so, you'd best read "Grandpa and the Ghosts", by @ray-is-writing.bsky.social, in this month's issue.

Omg no wot. Read this.

"Choosing" by Susan Taitel is a different take on The Little Mermaid. Check it out in our issue 5:

Meet the 800 year old thirty-year old man in Timothy Quinn's "The Warfighter":

Brace yourself for all the feelings with today's reprint, "With Nothing Left" by @slashnburnett.bsky.social :

"Your pictures are nice: also, unmistakably, / of death." Kodakromen by Elizabeth R. McClellan in our issue 5 starts strong and keeps going:

It's all about location, location, location in "skeletal arms will sprout" by Isabel Cañas:

The cards flip and then slip out the door in "Between Shuffles" by M.C. Childs. Read on to discover what happens in the in-between:

The professor in "Imagine Yourself Happy" by Premee Mohamed takes just four minutes to record a message. Take a few to read it and a few more to have a cry afterward:

What scents speak to you of home? Especially when home is in flux? Take a journey today with "The Scent of a Thousand Homeless Footsteps" by Carol Scheina:

One of the great joys of publishing @smallwondersmag.com is getting to read, edit, and publish the work of individual minds seeking to connect with other individual minds. Slop fiction is a fundamental betrayal of our compact. I want no part of it.

Let's spin a little pink magic today, with "Pink Witches" by @melissajorndwrites.bsky.social :

Oh hey, did someone say SPOOKY? We've got spooky! Not gonna lie, the entire issue for October was pretty dang spooky. It features monsters and ghosts, revenge, eyeballs, curses, and so much more. Read all these fabulous stories right here: smallwondersmag.com/... 1/6

Awww @rachaelkjones.bsky.social ! Where can I get a bionosaur to bring home?? 🥹💖

Author Rachael K. Jones is known for writing stories that are so knife-sharp that you cut yourself when you pick them up. Her story "Five Functions of Your Binosaur," from Issue 4, is a gentler story, though still bittersweet.

The narrator of Addison Smith's "I GROW," from Issue 22, is coming to grips with their transformation and what it means for them and the world around them.