Forty

I finished and submitted my fortieth short story of the year this evening. This one's an erotic spy story I started writing on October 28.

Published

My erotic fantasy "One for the Toad" appears in the just-published anthology Dead Sexy (Xcite), edited by Antonia Adams. Currently available as an ebook, the paperback version will be released soon.

Thirty-nine

I completed and submitted my thirty-ninth short story of the year this evening, a 3,900-word Valentine's Day story.

46

I received my 46th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this time for the New Year's Eve-themed confession I submitted on the 19th.

Published 2x

My story "A Holiday Disaster Turned into a Miracle" appears in the December True Confessions and my story "1 Little Tree with Big Heart" appears in the December True Story.

Thirty-eight

I finished and submitted my thirty-eighth story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 3,900-word story about a woman torn between romance and religion that I began writing December 23, 2009.

45

I received my 45th acceptance of the year a few minutes ago, this time for the winter-themed confession I submitted on the 13th.

Thirty-Seven

I finished and submitted my thirty-seventh short story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a New Year's Eve-themed love story that I started writing August 2, 2011.

Shout-outs

In his review of Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction, Kevin Tipple mentions my contribution to the textbook and writes, among other things:

"Prolific author Michael Bracken [...] makes the point that short stories can be more lucrative than novels while also making you a stronger writer."

Kevin concludes that Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction is "an excellent book that you must have and use." Read his extensive review here. (And purchase Mind Slices, Kevin's latest collection, here.)

In his review of this blog in "Blog Bytes," his column in the December issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Bill Crider refers to me as "the hardest working guy in the short-story game."

You may have to purchase the magazine to read the entire review, but failing that you can read more from Bill at Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine and follow the links to learn more about his extensive list of publications.

Thirty-six

I finished and submitted my thirty-sixth short story of the year this evening. This one's a confession I started writing on September 18, 2011.

Published

My paranormal love story "Mourning has Broken" appears in the Fall issue of Bohemia. See the on-line edition here and turn to page 30.

Thirty-five

I finished writing my thirty-fifth story of the year this morning, a 1,900-word action-packed erotic romance that I started writing September 29.

44

In this morning's batch of email is an acceptance from an anthology editor in England, my 44th acceptance of the year.

I wrote this story in 1991, it received a dozen rejections back in the early '90s, and it had been sitting in my files since the mid-'90s.

Lesson learned? Sometimes you write for the market; sometimes you write and wait for the market to catch up.