46

I received my 46th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this time for 4,400 words of violent crime fiction about a hired killer.

ArmadilloCon pics

Michael Bracken (moderator) and Thomas M. Wagner answer the question "Are Online Sites the New Fanzines?"
George Wilhite, Michael Bracken, and Joe R. Lansdale discuss "Writing in Other Fields." Not pictured: Steve Wilson and moderator Michael Ashleigh Finn.

45

I returned home from ArmadilloCon this afternoon to find my 45th acceptance in my mailbox. This one's is a 6,600-word Thanksgiving-themed confession I submitted July 18.

Marketing gone amuck

I can't claim to have seen everything, but this comes close: My name (and the names of the other contributors) on a tote bag promoting Passionate Hearts, a forthcoming anthology containing one of my stories:

http://www.zazzle.com.au/passionate_hearts_bag-149385558866592477

Great review

In a Bookgasm review of The Baddest of the Bad, a collection of the best material from the first three issues of Out of the Gutter, Rod Lott writes:

"...followed by the even-better 'Professionals,' in which Michael Bracken spins a story of a male prostitute who gets into big trouble with one of his johns."

ArmadilloCon

I'll be at ArmadilloCon (a science fiction convention) in Austin, Texas, this weekend. I'm on three panels (moderating one of them) and will be reading "Pushing Coal," a ghost story to be published later this year in the anthology Specters in Coal Dust, at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

If you are also attending, say howdy.

Thirty-three

I finished and submitted my 33rd short story of the year this evening. This one's a 1,000-word horror story, inspired by a folk song, that I began writing yesterday evening.

Thirty-two

I finished and submitted my 32nd short story of the year this evening. This one's a 5,700-word Christmas-themed confession that I started writing July 19, 2007. I'd completed the first scene--just shy of a thousand words--some time in the past and wrote the balance of the story over the course of several days this week.

44

I received my 44th acceptance today, this time for a romance to be published in an anthology of romance stories.

Thirty-one

I finished and submitted my 31st short story of the year earlier this evening, a 3,000-word Christmas confession that I started writing on July 30.

43

I took a break from office work and went grocery shopping. When I returned, my 43rd acceptance of the year was waiting for me. This one's a romantic/erotic story about finding a modern-day "handsome prince." In my story, the handsome prince is a rich Texas cowboy.

42

My 42nd acceptance of the year was waiting in my inbox when I checked email this morning. This time it's a ghost story, accepted by the editor of an anthology of ghost stories set in the Appalachian coal mines.

40, 41

I received two acceptances today, my 40th and 41st of the year. The first is for a story about a hitman and what he sees through his rifle scope. The other is for an article I wrote for a gardening magazine.

Published

"I Was a Topless Waitress," a confession, was released in electronic formats by Lady Leo Publishing.

The publisher describes the story this way:

When Samantha ”Sandy Beaches” Beecher loses her job as a Web site designer, the only job she can get is waitressing topless at Mountain Tops.

The money becomes seductive, allowing her to pay off her debts. But, she soon learns that the real money’s in stripping, and she seriously considers making the change until one night, her world falls apart, and Samantha must decide what kind of woman she really is.

"I Was a Topless Waitress" is currently available from the publisher's website and should soon be available from Amazon and other sources.

This Little Piggy Went to Market

What I'll be doing on Facebook next Wednesday:

MICHAEL BRACKEN presents “This Little Piggy Went to Market: How I’ve Sold More Than 800 Short Stories”

You're invited to visit www.facebook.com/janice.curran to participate in this special Featured Friend event for writers! Click on over Wednesday, August 11, between 12 and 1 P.M. Central/1 and 2 Eastern to read Michael's tip, comment and ask questions. Have to miss the event? The thread will remain posted so you can view it at a later time. Hope to see you there! :-)

Janice Curran, host
www.facebook.com/janice.curran

Published x2

My story "Burning Love" appears in the September True Confessions and my story "Lessons in Love" appears in the September True Story.