The year is starting off well, and I am happy to introduce a newly published story. My first published story of the new year, My first written story of the new year, my 16th story published on the Short Humour Site, and my 66th Story published Overall.

For some background, I overheard a joke a few months ago about a restaurant that would give you a million dollars if you ordered something and they didn’t have it.

For a few weeks, I was obsessed with this joke and how I might use that premise for a story. Thinking about the joke and the potential story brought me back to N. K. Jemisin’s story “Cuisine des Mémoires” (I should do a post on Jemisin’s Collection). I knew I needed a new punchline, and I thought I would figure one out after I started writing the story… and sure enough, that’s what happened.

I think my variation of this joke and the punchline is better than the standard variation. And if you want to read it, here’s a link. But I would recommend reading my story first. And as far as Jemisin’s story is concerned, here’s a link to that (and no, I don’t think my story is better than hers)

I hope you enjoy this bowl of white Rhino Stew.

White Rhino Stew | The Short Humour Site | January 11, 2024

But wait, there’s more. I was so busy and then so sick at the end of the year that I had two other things published and didn’t post a notice.

First, another story called “An Afternoon at the Voodoo Range,” which I had submitted 11 times before it was finally published on Barbar. I’m not going to say much about this story, but you can get the idea of what it’s really about pretty quickly while reading it, perhaps just from the title.

An Afternoon at the Voodoo Range | Barbar Magazine | November 2023

And for the first time in ten years, I got a chess problem published. There will be a later blog post, plus a new page on the blog about chess problems. But in the meantime, you can give it a shot for yourself at the link below. It’s a fairy problem, so it will look a little weird from the get-go. Be sure to read the definitions before attempting.

No 1793 “Children of Lesser Pawns” | Julia’s Fairies | December 30, 2023