Hi. My name is Shannon Fay, I’m a writer, and this is my website. Through the ‘Works’ tab you can see a list of my published stories and articles. Click ‘Bio’ if you want to learn more (but not all) about me. Go to ‘Contact’ if you want to get in touch. As for ‘Blog,’ well, I’ll leave that one as a surprise.
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:
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.