It’s that time of year again, the time when awards nominations are made, and every speculative fiction author posts their publications in the past year. I have no illusions about getting nominated for anything, even if only because most of what’s appeared in 2020 was flash.

Nevertheless, here’s my 2020 lineup. Most of these stories are available free to read from their own pages (linked) or from the Free Stories page. My personal favorites from this list are Summit Attempt, After We Buried The Hatchet, and Fragments of a Falling-Out. (If I was forced to choose one, I’d say Fragments. Or Summit. Or Hatchet.)

• Pain Tolerance and Resistance to Corrosive Substances in Four Specimens of Exomalaclemys Oharensis (flash, Daily Science Fiction, January 17th) – Two scientist struggle with their conscience as the military forces them to torture an enemy alien.
• Summit Attempt (short story, Dreamforge Magazine, March 12th) – Seeker Josec attempts to scale the miles-high, vertical Spire for the greater glory of the High God. But what if she fails? More importantly: what if she succeeds?
• Encroachment (flash, Little Blue Marble, May 4th) – Two scientists, their doomed seed colony on a remote planet, and their struggle to figure out whether their marital strife preceded or followed the troube with their crops.
• After We Buried the Hatchet (flash, Daily Science Fiction, May 8th) – After the family buries the family’s heirloom hatchet, their incessant quarreling and fighting finally ends. But is the resulting Stepford peace any better?
• A Memory of the Future (flash, Reckoning, May 18th) – Commuting after corona.
• Bringing Down the Mast (short story, StarShipSofa, June 3rd) – In the post-apocalyptic Netherlands, to resolve the strife over remaining resources, the Grand Allocator first needs to die. (Technically a reprint, but its original appearance was hardly noted.)
• Fragments of a Falling-Out (flash, Daily Science Fiction, November 27th) – A married couple’s endlessly repeated fights are aggravated by his involuntary jumps through their shared timeline.

And the bonus story (ineligible for not being in English):

• Wiegelied (short story, Veronica Magazine The Guide, 25 August) – A young couple is haunted by their dead child, and by the lullaby that was playing when the baby died.