Lois Tilton over at Locus has reviewed Crowded Magazine issue 1. Here’s what she has to say about my story:
“House Hunting” by Shannon Fay
The birdhouse that isn’t a birdhouse appears in the neighborhood and bites off Mr Easton’s finger. Of course he shouldn’t have tried to fill a birdhouse with birdseed. The homeless guy tells them it isn’t a birdhouse but “an ancient and primordial evil” that now has the taste for human flesh. Of course the residents don’t believe a homeless guy, except for five year old Mindy.
Also not original, but there are clever bits.
I’m still green enough that seeing a review of my work, any review, good or bad, is enough to make me grin. Plus, she said there were ‘clever bits.’ Awesome! Maybe I’ll see if I can make ‘Clever Bits’ my new nickname.
I also get an indirect shout-out in her introductory paragraph:
The zine at least has one story by a female author, which is probably not enough to spare it from the critics who count such things.
That one female author? Oh yeah, that’s me. What’s funny is that I would consider myself one of those ‘critics who count such things.’ I’m really pleased to be in Crowded Magazine, but I really hope that there’s more ladies in the table of contents next issue (I’d especially like it if one of those ladies were me, but I’d be happy just to see more women in general).
If you haven’t already, you can buy Crowded Magazine issue 1 right here in a variety of different formats.