Published

My story "Bunny Slippers and Sunrise Service" appears in the April True Story.

Quoted

I am quoted in, and my photograph is included with, "Turing a No into a Yes," an article by Glynis Scrivens in issue #137 of Writers' Forum, a UK magazine for writers.

Three

I finished and submitted my third short story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,000-word bit of cowboy erotica that I started on Friday.

Although I'm off to a slow start this year, I did write twice as many stories this month as last.

Published 2x

"Total Package," a romance, has been reprinted in Best Gay Romance 2013 (Cleis), and "Bareback Rider," an erotic story, has been reprinted in Best Gay Erotica 2013 (Cleis).

8

I received my 8th acceptance of the year earlier today, this time for a bit of erotic crime fiction.

7

I received my 7th acceptance of the year this evening. This is for the Mother's Day confession I submitted last week.

6

I received my 6th acceptance of the year late this afternoon, for a woman-in-jeopardy story I submitted in 2011.

2012 Cash-in-hand from creative writing

Recent discussion with a friend who asked what creative writing genres generated my writing income prompted me to breakdown of last year's writing income. (The following does not include advertising, public relations, and similar work.)

71% Confessions
  8% Erotica*
20% Royalties-Fiction**
 1% Royalties-Non-Fiction

*Includes all forms and includes cross-genre stories (erotic mystery, erotic horror, etc.) **Includes novels, short story collections, and short stories, and represents multiple genres

I don't think 2012 represents a typical year because:
a) a good portion of the confession income represents past-due payments from previous years not received until 2012
b) Though much of the erotica is cross-genre, most years I sell non-erotic stories in those genres
c) Non-fiction sales were non-existent in 2012. Most years I sell one or more essays and/or articles

Reviewed...sort of

Two of my stories are given a lot of attention in a "review" by Mark Hill of the March 2013 True Story and February 2013 True Confessions. Read the Zug review here.

Published

The print edition of Out of the Gutter 8 arrived today--the electronic edition was released in December--and it contains my lesbian noir story "Family Dynamics."

Two

I completed and submitted my second short story of the year this evening, a 4,400-word Mother's Day confession.

One, again

I've only written one story so far this year, and it came back for revisions. The revision added 1,100 words, lengthening the story to approx. 3,700 words. I just submitted the revision.

Reviewed

Brian Callaghan reviews Sexy Sailors (Cleis Press) for Edge and has this to say about my contribution:

"In one of the book's stranger contributions, Michael Bracken's 'Let’s Go Down to the Sea,'* two elderly lovers enjoy a final romp in a harbourside bar before Death shows up to take one of them away on his final voyage."

Read the entire review here.

*Note: The actual title of the story is "Let Us Go Down to the Sea."

Published 2x

My story "A Leprechaun in Love" appears in the March True Story and my story "Willie the Worm" appears in the March True Confessions.

Published

The paperback edition of Boys in Bed (Xcite), containing my story "Memories," has been released.

5

I received my 5th acceptance of the year today, this time for an Earth Day-themed confession.

Published

"Pitching Woo," a short romance, appears in the January 30 issue of Seeds. Read it here.

Reviewed

Rebecca Besser reviews the anthology D.O.A. - Extreme Horror Collection (Blood Bound Books) at varietyreviews and has this to say about my contribution:

Les Sperme Vampire by Michael Bracken: A vampire “tricks” a man into getting what she* wants, and she partakes…greedily.

This was more of an explicit scene than a short story, but was still well written and interesting. I rate it 2Q.

Read the entire review here.

*Note: The character to which she refers is actually male.