It came from Jennifer Shelby

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Jennifer Shelby’s story “Free Hugs” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 16 July 2021. I caught the first threads of “Free Hugs” after seeing a heartbreaking status update from an older relative who didn’t know how she was going to make it through the first pandemic lockdown in Atlantic Canada without hugging her grandchildren. I immediately picked up my notebook and wrote a story about an engineer creating a robot people could send to hug …

Another question for Jennifer Shelby

Q: What’s your favorite story?

A: My current favorite story has to be the “overcoming the monster” story. I’m writing this a few days after my first shot of the coronavirus vaccine and it feels very much like the first step to overcoming the pandemic monster. This isn’t humanity’s—or my—first monster, and as much as I’d like it to be, it won’t be the last. Having a supply of these stories in my memory and on my bookshelf keeps me inspired, grounded, and hopeful.

Jennifer Shelby’s story “Free Hugs”
in Metaphorosis Friday, 16 July 2021.
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More about Jennifer Shelby

Jennifer Shelby hunts for stories in the beetled undergrowth of fairy-infested forests. She fishes for them in the dark space between the stars. As part of her ongoing catch-and-release program, this is Jennifer’s second story in Metaphorosis. You can also find her stories in Cricket, Kaleidotrope, and many fine anthologies. Her first novella, Slipstreamers: Plague of the Dreamless is now available from Engen Books.

jennifershelby.blog, @jenniferdshelby

Jennifer Shelby’s story “Free Hugs”
in Metaphorosis Friday, 16 July 2021.
Subscribe now for e-mail updates!

It came from Jennifer Shelby

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Jennifer Shelby’s story “Zsezzyn, Who Is Not a God” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 12 June 2020. My toddler has a toy turtle which lights up and projects stars onto the ceiling. Like most kids her age, she’s nervous of the dark and often turns it on when I’m putting her to bed. One night I blocked out several of the stars with my hand and she started to cry. As I tried to …