A short story is like a pie because, first, you can do one relatively quickly. Second, everyone likes pie.
Third, with both short stories and pie, you can use the finest ingredients in the world and still come up with an inedible mess.
Eight essential questions answered by the pros for beginning writers.
A millennium ago, Mikael tried to confess his love to Adecca and trapped them in eternal sleep instead. Now Adecca wakes in a steam-powered future bereft of magic and must discover why—and what Mikael’s feelings mean for their friendship.
Debbie Urbanski is the author of the story collection Portalmania (S&S, May 2025) and the climate AI novel After World (S&S, 2023), which was a Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Engadget, Strange Horizons, & Booklist Best Book of the Year.
