Being a dedicated short fiction reviewer for a while is really awesome but also sometimes heartbreaking. It's such a brutal field.

And sometimes you get to see people move from short fiction to novels and that's awesome! And sometimes people fall off the face of the Earth and that's basically the worst. Attrition at the short level is real. The people doing it long term are my heroes, tho.

(imo short sff isn't something i feel you "graduate" from. i'm excited for ppl who came up in shorts who move to novels, but I don't think it's like inherently better to do novels)

(tbh i read less novels so it's almost sad personally bc I'm less likely to get to read the new stuff. but also really exciting and awesome. if it's what the writer wants, then fuck yeah!)

I have a sad very often, though, looking back at things I loved from years past and realizing that a lot of people just sort of disappear. it makes sense, bc ppl gotta care for themselves, but i'm greedy and personally i feel the loss.

short sff is just so *hard*. A constant grind that doesn't really end or get easier. A constant lesson in humility, but also sometimes gatekeeping and taste and bullshit. To everyone still here, to everyone no longer, a cheers to us all.