I am starting a new project with this blog, the details of which are now set out on the opening page. But, for those who skipped the ginormous block of text or were transferred directly to this entry, I am going to be using this space to review short stories in the fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres. With any luck I will get two to three of these reviews posted a month.

There are a lot of places to find book reviews, but not so may that cover short stories, so perhaps this will be a useful resource for people looking to expand what they read. That's certainly why I am doing it. I have found of late my focus in fiction has become narrower, and my writing has suffered for it. Plus, I tend to learn a lot by looking at other writers and seeing what they do well and what they don't.

However, to make this the most effective enterprise possible I need a little help. I want to review the stories I respond to most strongly, but I do not want to bias my reading pool unfairly by only exploring markets I already know do stuff I like. Then the whole thing becomes a self-selecting set.

So, I'm looking for recommendations. What's out there that people like? What markets are doing good stuff, and what authors are really pushing boundaries? Tell me where to look and I'll try to cover as broad a range of stories as possible.

This does mean I may end up looking at stuff that is not my particular preference. If so I promise to acknowledge that and take it into account for any review done. I intend to look at the stories and explore what made it successful or what made it fall flat for me. I will try to explain these responses, but I do not promise to always be right. Feel free to read and disagree or put your own spin on things.

However, even if I ultimately decide something did not work, I will never attack the author personally and I would ask that anyone drawn to comment will refrain from doing so as well. This is meant to open discussion on stories and the craft of writing, not to tear people down or to get into political invective.

That said, feel free to tell me if you think I get something wrong. It will no doubt happen. Just do it respectfully and I will respond the same way.

Because there is a glut of stuff out there I'm going to limit this to the professional and semi-professional realms. There may be some brilliant fanfic out there or completely earth-shattering stories on personal webpages, but I want to do this as much to learn what works for where I want to publish as for all the other stated reasons. And being my blog I get to set the rules.

So, guidelines established, what should I be reading?