Well, I didn't think they were that different in popularity, but maybe I was wrong, because the Stevermer series is older and the Melusine series is quite new. But I also often disagree with the general fannish reading community about the relative merits of long vs. short stories, so I suspect that may be part of it, too.

I love plot, and I frequently miss the subtle and elegant, so naturally I go for long stories. And I see glowing comments for shorter stories and think maybe I should develop my appreciation for subtle and elegant, yeah, I really should. But then I write a short story which I'm quite sure is not at all subtle or elegant, and it gets as many comments as the long one! So I become doubtful about the collective wisdom of commenters.

But really, I have no basis for complaint; both stories got very nice comments, and I'm glad the short one drew nice words since I was so worried about it. And after I wrote this post, the longer story did garner one rec, so all is fair and I'm no longer disgruntled. But perhaps still a bit puzzled.

Anyway, I hope when you do have the time, you enjoy the stories!