2027 Best of the Net Nominations

The planet’s made another trip around the nearest star, and that means it’s time for the first round of anthology nominations again: The Best of the Net 2027. (It might seem like we’ve skipped a year, but the BOTN organization uses the year of the anthology’s publication, i.e., next year, so we’re adopting that convention.)

As always, my job (with Dottie’s help) was supremely difficult this year, especially in the fiction department. Only two nominations are allowed in that category. We publish up to thirty stories in a typical year, so winnowing them down to two means that I have to make choices on the thinnest of distinctions, and this year the two selections happen to come from our Faux Forms & Genres category (obviously still fiction). That doesn’t mean the other stories weren’t superb, but these two hit the target on quality but also represent The Disappointed Housewife to a tee.

We also have two excellent essays for the judges to consider, along with six exceptional poems.

Good luck to all the nominees, and thanks to all of our readers and contributors for supporting us these last nine years.

FICTION

Vanya, Vanity, and Betrayal on the Bay ~ Jeff Bond and S. M. Strand

Case Notes for Snow White Ref 01812 ~ Kathryn Adlridge-Morris

POETRY

The 101 Uses of a Cravat ~ E. R. Davis

There Are No Wild Dogs In Brooklyn Heights ~ Tessa McHattie

Lawn Fertilizer ~ P. H. Coleman

Haircuts ~ Robert Carr

Manon ~ Ellie Snyder

Whatever Happened to Baby J ~ Christina M. Rau