A Year on Saturn

...is approximately 29.7 Earth years.


"A Year on Saturn" is the website of Shannon Fay,
freelance and fiction writer.



2020 in Review

Posted on: January 3rd, 2021 by Shannon Fay No Comments

You don’t need to hear me recap what kind of year 2020 was for the world at large. I  was very fortunate in that my job wasn’t affected, my family is all safe and healthy, and that the part of the world I live in has managed to keep our covid numbers low to the point that it’s possible to meet up with a small number of friends and family. It’s still been a huge shake-up of a year, and it’s so disconcerting to think that it’s ‘over.’ I feel relieved even though I know changing the calendar year doesn’t really do anything besides create the illusion of a blank slate.

But as humans we need some way to measure time or we go crazy. So, even if it’s somewhat arbitrary, here’s a list of some of the books/movies I read/watched in 2020:

2020 Books and movies in review

Fiction

Witchmark – C.L. Polk

The Monster of Elendhaven – Jennifer Giesbrecht

Washington Black – Esi Edugyan

Supernova Era – Cixin Liu

The Dead Girls Club – Angelica Walters

The Mirror and the Light – Hilary Mantel

A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab

Big Girl – Meg Elison

Homesick – Nino Cipri

The Poppy War – R.F. Kuang

The Luminous Dead – Caitlin Starling

An Unkindness of Ghosts – Rivers Solomon

Afterland – Lauren Beukes

The Grip of It – Jac Jemac

Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Dragon Republic – R.F. Kuang

Catherine House – Elisabeth Thomas

Piranesi – Susanna Clarke

The Burning God – R.F. Kuang

Films directed by women:

Little Women – Greta Gerwig

Josie and the Pussycats – Deborah Kaplan (and Harry Elfont)

Birds of Prey – Cathy Yan

Emma – Autumn de Wilde

Portrait of a Lady on Fire – Céline Sciamma

The Farewell – Lulu Wang

The Spy Who Dumped Me – Susanna Fogel

Late Night – Nisha Ganatra

The Fits – Anna Rose Holmer

Booksmart – Olivia Wilde

Pitch Perfect 3 – Trish Sie

Satanic Panic – Chelsea Stardust

Saving Face – Alice Wu

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness – Mami Sunada

Deadcon – Caryn Waechter

Marie Antoinette – Sofia Coppola

The Old Guard – gina Price-Bythewood

The Lodge – Veronika Franz (with Severin Fiala)

The Turning – Floria Sigismond

Tigers Are Not Afraid – Issa López

 

I also had several short stories published this year:

Eyespots (Daily Science Fiction) – A 300-word or so story about two university girls figuring out their feelings for each other (oh, and one of them might be an alien)
https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/aliens/shannon-fay/eyespots

Familiar Ground (Daily Science Fiction) – A young woman visits her family home. Again, about 300 words.
https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/magic-realism/shannon-fay/familiar-ground?display=votingReturn

Just Another Day (Daily Science Fiction) – An immortal goes about her day.
https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/science-fiction/shannon-fay/just-another-day

As you can can see, all the stories of mine that were published this year were incredibly short. I’ve been working hard on editing my historical fantasy novel (and writing its sequel) so I really only have time to write short flash. If you want to learn more about writing microfiction, please check out the Clarion West class I am offering on the subject:

Keep It Short: Writing Microfiction with Shannon Fay

Oh, I’ve also started a patreon where I post about writing and solo table-top role-playing games! I do actually post there several times a month, unlike this blog.
https://www.patreon.com/shannonfay

Best wishes to you all in the new year.

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