Recent Short Stories by DWJ

I recently picked up Stories: All-New Tales, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, which includes a short story by DWJ called 'Samantha's Diary'. The collection came out in 2010 in hardback, in paperback last year, so this must have been one of her last published stories.

It's very slight, a futuristic take on The Twelve Days of Christmas and not one of her best, but in many ways typical of her short stories. She must have written it in response to Neil Gaiman's personal request. I've yet to get properly stuck into the other stories, but many of them (including some by very big names) look promising.

Myself, I find short story collections generally unsatisfying, despite the fact that they promise so much, but despite that I've also picked up another short story collection, The Dragon Book: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy, which includes a tale by DWJ I'd not come across before. Hope these two collections confound my prejudices!

In the vague hopes that this group hasn't gone completely dormant, I'd like to mention another DWJ short story I've recently enjoyed, though it's in a collection she edited way back in 1990. Hidden Turnings has a fair number of slightly troubling tales, and Diana's 'The Master' is certainly not in a style I'd have associated with her. Worth searching out, in my view, and hopefully one which will be re-published in a collection of all DWJ stories at some point in the future.

I haven't read that one, but I too hope the group stays active. I love DWJ.