The london eye

Gay Degani’s flash, The London Eye, is the featured story today at Every Day Fiction and it is a perfect example of flash fiction.

It is a horror story of the best type; no unkillable murderers, no boogeymen, no zombies or vampires. Just a man being driven insane by the monstrous guilt he carries within his mind.

Check it out here. It’s special.

Playing the waiting game

The established authors that I talk to and read about all say that getting published is a combination of talent, luck and persistence, with the latter being perhaps the most important.

You've got to keep writing and you must keep submitting; like falling off a bicycle or being thrown from a horse, you have to get back up and back on. Got to send rejected stories right back out to other markets.

Dreaming about writing as a profession, that was always the part I worried over; I have never been very good at rejection. But now that I am persisting, now that I am working hard to accept rejection as a necessary thing, it appears that I am faced with another stumbling block and it begins with the letter P, as well.

Patience.

Like rejection, being patient is something for which I have never had much, well, patience. I have always favored that old cartoon of the two vultures, in which one says to the other, "I'm tired of waiting; I'd rather just go kill something."

Case in point. At the moment, I have five stories that have been accepted at four publications (one is an e-zine, and three are print publications) and all five are setting, twiddling figurative thumbs, waiting for spots in future issues that range from January to September 2009.

I am grateful to Jordan and Camille at Every Day Fiction, who were the first to accept my stories, but perhaps my success there (a story each month from July through November) has spoiled me.

It has come to me that a publication that presents a story every day consumes submitted fiction at a ferocious rate, resulting in a much shorter interval between submission and appearance. That realization gives me an ever greater respect for what the folks at EDF have accomplished (and continue to accomplish) and an admiration of their persistence.

So now I have to work on patience. Perhaps I will adopt the famous little prayer from Alcoholics Anonymous. You know the one.

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

But I'd rather just go -- well, you know what I mean.

Keeping my pencil sharp

I spent this week rewriting four stories that have been setting in the drawer for awhile; whittled them down from almost twenty thousand words, total, to just under sixteen thousand.

Writing flash fiction has done wonders for my understanding of what needs to be in a story and what is just my loose tongue and fingers. Four thousand words, and not a single one of the stories suffered. They are still the same tales; just tighter and better told.

I submitted all four; Toward Heaven Still, the longest at almost ten thousand words, went to Abyss & Apex. Its post-apocalyptic, set in what was the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and is the tale of Apple Jack, an old man with a big green thumb and a small magic that shows him how all things fit together.

I've got acceptances back on two of them. Lyn Perry at Resident Aliens, took Anastasia, a two-hundred word piece of flash about a family reunion of sorts; Rick DeCost at The Absent Willow Review, a new venue, accepted And Bay the Moon, which suggests that jogging can be hazardous to your health.

I also got the nod from Jordan and Camille, who were so kind as to say yes to Upon the Doorsteps, my sixth acceptance at Every Day Fiction.

On the flip side, Abyss & Apex rejected Bringing in the Dead. They had nice things to say about it, but suggested that it "wanted to be a longer piece".

So, maybe not everything should be whittled down, hmm?

On the way to submissions

It was an eventful week; writing.

I sent off six stories; one of them is an ultra-short, just one hundred and twenty-eight words, but the rest are longer pieces than I have been attempting.

The longest, Coward's Steel, is almost five-thousand words. It's post-holocaust fantasy that went to Beneath Ceaseless Skies, a market I would love to crack.

Getting them ready for submission, I was reminded of inspecting my children, before sending them off to school.

I had such high hopes, when the kids marched out the door, and I feel the same way about my fiction. You pray that their faces stay clean and nothing is misspelled; that their shirt-tails are tucked in and word choices are perfect.

And no matter how old they become, or how elusive success may be for them, you always believe that with just a bit more work, they can make the grade. My son and daughter are both bestsellers, so I expect my fiction will find its way into print, one way or another.

Anyway, I got e-mail back, almost right away, on two of those six stories.

Chris Bartholomew accepted A Bannockburn Night for the December issue of Static Movement; it is two-thousand words. And Frank Byrns, at A Thousand Faces, said yes to A Son of the Night; it weighs in at just under three-thousand words.

The first is a ghost story of sorts that takes place in 1948, upon the chill waters of Lake Superior; the second introduces Rory Mathersby and his alter ego, Gargoyle, Seattle's Gray Guardian. A Thousand Faces specializes in super hero fiction. It's a quarterly print publication, so Rory's story won't be available to read until sometime next year.

I also got a rejection notice this week that made me laugh.

The folks at Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, an Australian pulp for speculative fiction, said no to This Little Piggie.

They said it was "a deliciously dark revisiting of a much loved tale". But they also said they "liked this joke the first time. And the second time too. And even the third. But ..."

They were right, of course; it is a retelling of the classic Pig Joke. You know the punchline; "A special pig like this one, you don't eat him all at once."

I am intrigued by the way jokes travel about, and so I was delighted to learn that one of my favorites had made the rounds down under.

Hope does jump back up, though. I'll find an editor somewhere who hasn't heard that punchline.

At Every Day Fiction

My flash fiction, Oh, Woman of Easy Virtue, is the featured story today at Every Day Fiction. If you can, click on the link and check it out. I hope you like it; I had fun writing it.

The Best of Every Day Fiction - Year One

I just got the news that Hair of the Dog was selected as one of the top one hundred stories to appear in Every Day Fiction during its first year of operation.

The anniversary was September first. A print anthology of the stories is in the works and should be available by Christmas.

Some of my favorite EDF authors have stories in the collection, too.

There's Remember from Erin M. Kinch and Aftershocks from Alex Burns. Bill Ward has two stories included; Junkyard Rats in my favorite.

And then we get to the heavy hitters.

There are three tales from Dave MacPherson, a member of the Every Day Fiction Writers' Group; my favorite is Forbidden Planet. Gay Degani also has three stories and hand's down my favorite is Spring Melt.

Kevin Shamel, Sarah Hilary and Oonah V. Joslin (who is so prolific she makes Issac Asimov look a slacker) each are represented in the collection by four stories. And they are all so good, it's impossible to pick just one as favorite.

I don't know how Jordan and Camille did it. Kevin had eight stories appear over the twelve months; if I had been selecting stories for the collection, I would have included all eight.

Anyway, I'll post when the book is available. Watch for it, buy it, enjoy it!

November at Every Day Fiction

Lots more good stuff coming in November at Every Day Fiction.

I am looking forward to reading stories from some of my favorite authors. We will be introduced to Krupper and Jons by Kevin Shamel on November 11; Oonah V. Joslin will work her magic November 14 with a Sleight of Hand; Sarah Hillary presents Me and the Mouser on November 17; Jens Rushing's Ars Draconia will launch on November 20; November 25, Sylvia Spuck Wrigley offers Coffee or Tea and Jason Stout's And the Well Runs Deep will round it out on November 27.

I've got one in there, too. I consider Oh, Woman of Easy Virtue a performance piece; you'll see why when you read it on November 21.

You can check out the entire month's lineup at the Every Day Fiction November Table of Contents.

Number ten

Adam Bradley, editor of Morpheus Tales, a British print publication that features all sorts of speculation fiction and poetry, has accepted my flash fiction, To Each His Niche and Task, for publication in the magazine's July 2009 issue.

It's my tenth fiction acceptance since June 2008; my second in a print publication.

As my friend Sarah would say, I am fairly chuffed about this one. Ten acceptances by the end of the year was the goal I set for myself last January; the story is also one of my favorites. It is the tale of an old man, who may or may not be a super hero, and it explores the narrow line between reality and dangerous fantasy.

Copies of the magazine can be purchased at Morpheus Tales I'll put out a reminder when July arrives.

Vroom, vroom

Got an e-mail this morning from Terry Martin, Managing Editor at Murky Depths, the British quarterly print anthology. He said I hit his "weak spot" with Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid, and he offered me a contract for publication.

The story is scifi/horror flash that involves dirt bikes and weird pickup lines; I wrote it and it creeps me out. It's my tenth sale since June (nine pieces of fiction and a poem); not a lot compared to other writers I know, but still a big deal for me.

If it makes it into the first-quarter 2009 issue, it would be a great birthday present.

Copies of the magazine can be purchased at Murky Depths I'll put out a reminder when the issue is out.

Today at Every Day Fiction

Another piece of my short fiction, In His Prime, was published today at Everyday Fiction. It is the fourth in as many months.

It's a story that involves time travel, but that's not what it's really about. The idea came to me a couple of months ago, during a series of posts at one of the EDF forums. Someone wondered if there were any new takes on time travel, and I was goofing, jotting down silly ideas, when one of them grabbed me and whispered, "Look at me!" The result was In His Prime.

I'd loved to know what you think of it; leave a comment here or at EDF, if you would. Anyway, the link below will take you to EDF. There's a spot to leave comments there or to give the story a rating up to five stars.

I hope you like In His Prime. If not, I offer my apologies and the promise that there will be another story along tomorrow to takes its place.

In His Prime at EverydDay Fiction

At Fear and Trembling

Good news today!

Two pieces of my flash fiction, Hostel Intent and Hack, have been accepted for publication at Fear and Trembling, an online horror magazine; no word on publication dates yet.

Hostel Intent is a tongue-in-cheek tale of a haunted college dormitory; it introduces Babbu Singh, assistant hostel proctor, and his boss, the Bhagwan Shatrunjay, a holy warrior and the twenty-fifth Teerthankar of the Jain. I like these two and may visit them again.

There is nothing funny, though, about Hack; it's a nasty cautionary about the hazards of townhouse living.

I'll let you know when I get confirmation of appearance dates.

October at Every Day Fiction

Lots of good stuff coming in October over at Every Day Fiction.

Gallery Four, by Dave MacPherson, is set for October 4th. It's a sobering story we critiqued in the EDF Writers' Group. Kevin Shamel continues his run of great stories October 8th with Outlast the Stars. In addition to being a great writer, Kevin sells shamelessly funny tee-shirts at Shameless Humor.

My take on a time-travel tale, In His Prime, will appear October 16th. Alex Burns, who holds forth at Meanwhile..., will serve up Apotheosis Cake on October 20th.

My friend, Erin, who speaks so eloquently about the writer's life at Living the Fictional Dream, shows us A Million Faces on October 25th. And Sylvia Wrigley's pre-Halloween chiller, Darren Is Updating His Facebook Status, will be ready to read October 28th. This is another story that worked its way through the critiquing process at EDF Writers' Group; it creeps me out.

You can check out the entire month's lineup at the October TOC and then read the stories, every day, at Every Day Fiction.

A moving line: about writing

One of the most valuable tools a writer can have is a good critiquing group.

For a time, when we lived in the Florida Keys, I drove to Miami once a month to sit with other writers and critique each others work. Even after a change in my work schedule forced me to give up that pilgrimage, I maintained contact with two of the other writers in the group, and they continued to read my work-in-progress. That was my novel, Lifting Up Veronica.

When we moved to Seattle, I wasn't able to hook up with another group, and my work suffered, I think. Then in June, Jordan, the managing editor at Every Day Fiction, was kind enough to set up private space at the EDF web site, and the Every Day Fiction Writers' Group came to be.

In the four months since then, I have found that there are differences between a face-to-face group and an internet group; good and bad.

The bad is that you have to post work to be critiqued and wait, for which I have no talent. Life makes demands; not everyone in the group has the amount of time I have to devote to the group, and so those waits can be frustrating.

For the good, critiques, when they come, are less complicated by the hangups of face-to-face communications; and when presented by someone who truly is interested in helping you improve your writing, the results can be incredible.

That has been the case; I have come to value the opinions of the other writers in the group in a very short time; and the stories we have been critiquing for each other are starting to find their way into print.

The Banshee by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley was in Every Day Fiction this month, and got rave reviews; Dave MacPherson has a nifty tale about a sea serpent and some art students coming in October in Abacort Journal and my flash, Stand and Deliver, is in the fall edition at Boston Literary Magazine.

Stand and Deliver is a great example of the magic of a critiquing group.

It is a tale of the Pizza Dude; I conceived the character as an unassuming fellow with superpowers, who uses his ability to manipulate the flow of time to help him in his chosen work. Delivering pizzas. However, he is not above acting as a good Samaritan when the need arises.

I was so pleased with the results, and when I submitted it to the group, Dave MacPherson posted almost right away, praising the story, calling it "fast and funny". And then he said, "My one question. Is the fantasy element necessary at all?"

Was it? I rewrote the story and Dave was right; the Pizza Dude didn't need superpowers to be a hero. And the story wasn't different, just better. It was right there in front of me, but I was too close, too invested in what I already wrote, to see it.

I liked the rewrite so much, I sent it to Boston Literary Magazine, a site I have been trying to crack, and the editor replied twenty-four hours later; she said, "Fantastic. I love it. You nailed the sense of a True American Hero ... a great, great job!!"

What writer doesn't love to hear such words.

Thanks, Dave; I owe you one.

If you would like to read the Pizza Dude's adventure, check out Stand and Deliver at Boston Literary Magazine.

At Boston Literary Magazine

Good news!

My flash fiction story, Stand and Deliver, was accepted for the Fall issue of Boston Literary Magazine. Robin Stratton, the editor, said I "nailed the sense of a True American Hero".

Here's the link, if you would like to check it out:

Stand and Deliver

Tick tick; tick tick

I am not a patient person.

Standing in line drives me up the wall, whether it is at the bank, on the interstate or at a restaurant. Someone I used to know, gone now from this world and much missed, once told me that she did not think I would wait an extra five minutes to have lunch with Jesus.

One of my favorite cartoons, I have a photocopy of it in a folder somewhere, shows two vultures, sitting upon a sagging branch, and one says to the other: "What do you say we kill something?"

It is a character flaw for anyone; it is particularly troublesome for a writer. I have been writing fiction for almost five years; short stories since February, last year (I started when I finished my first novel, Lifting Up Veronica).

During those eighteen months, I only submitted a few stories for publication, in part because I didn't believe most of what I wrote was good enough (I'm still not certain of that), but mostly because I couldn't stand the thought of rejection. And so, waiting wasn't even an issue.

I submitted flash stories to Everyday Fiction because I fell in love with the site; Jordan and Camille's acceptance of my stories has given me the courage to submit to other publications. I have fourteen stories out right now, one of them for a print anthology and another to a professional-rate publication, and having to wait for the responses is driving me mad; I haunt my mailbox and the Hotmail site. Maybe I should have something to eat while I wait.

I wonder if Jesus is available for lunch?

My first hat trick

Another piece of my short fiction, I must to the Barber's Chair, was published today at Everyday Fiction. It is the third in as many months, sort of a literary hat trick.

My stories tend to be heavy on satire or mayhem, so I am particularly pleased that the folks at EDF decided to publish Barber's Chair. It is a love story, with a fantasy twist, and it is light and upbeat. In fact, this is so out of character for me, that when Rachael read it, she deadpanned, "What? Nobody died?"

BTW: the neon signs that start Cora on her journey are real; although in the real world, and upon examination in the light of day, it can be seen that they belong to two different side-by-side shops. Too bad; the world could use more barbers like Gideon.

Anyway, the link below will take you to EDF. There's a spot to leave comments, too, or to give the story a rating up to five stars.

I hope you like I Must to the Barber's Chair. If not, I offer my apologies and the promise that there will be another story along tomorrow to takes its place.

I Must to the Barber's Chair at EverydDay Fiction

Against the grain

The muse didn't just touch me this morning; she smacked me up along side of the head. And so I spent five hours, from six to eleven a.m., writing a piece of flash fiction.

Folks have differing definitions of flash fiction, but the one that seems to be shared more and more is a complete story under one thousand words.

A complete story presents all the necessary elements of fiction -- characterization, setting, conflict and resolution; not an easy chore in so few words. It's like sticking a moving dismount from a balance beam; difficult to pull off but a thing of beauty when done right.

I think that happened today. Against The Grain is a blend of humor, science fiction and murder mystery. It is set at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle and is the second appearance, in one of my stories, of Seattle Police Detectives John Osbourne and Dorothy Gale. I like the two of them well enough that I hope to involve them in future stories.

Writing this way is so much fun, and when the characters start to whisper in my ear, to tell me how the story should progress, it is such a high. The words rush by and I have no idea the time has passed.

As to whether or not I stuck my dismount; I just sent it off to Jordan and Camille at Everyday Fiction. We shall see.

Today at Everyday Fiction

Another piece of my short fiction, Hair of the Dog, was published today at Everyday Fiction.

It is, no pun intended, a shaggy dog joke; if it were a Monty Python sketch, Eric Idle would be waggling his eyebrows, doing some elbow-poking and spouting "Nudge, nudge; wink, wink. Know what I mean? Know what I mean?" I think all sorts of things are funny, but I have a weakness for this sort of humor; sometimes, I think I should just be taken out back of the barn and shot.

The link below will take you there; give it a look. It won't take long and there's a spot to leave comments or give each story a rating up to five stars.

I hope you like Hair of the Dog. If not, I offer my apologies and the promise that there will be another story along tomorrow to takes its place.

Hair of the Dog at EverydDay Fiction

Hair of the Dog

The Everyday Fiction table of contents for August was posted yesterday. My second story to be accepted by EDF is scheduled to appear on Monday, August 25. It's called Hair of the Dog; a piece of tongue-in-cheek satire that is kinda-sorta about childrens' television programming. I'll mention it again, when it gets closer, and provide a link.

Everyday Fiction has also accepted two more pieces of my flash, I Must to the Barber's Chair, a love story, and In His Prime, a time-travel fantasy. Look for those in September and October.