Published 2x

My story "Memories of Forever" appears in the November True Confessions, and my story "Blinded by Love" appears in the November True Story.

Thirty-two

I finished and submitted my thirty-second story of the year this evening. This one's a 600-word bit of crime fiction I started August 20.

Thirty-one

I finished and submitted my thirty-first short story of the year this morning, a 4,900-word confession I started on September 28, 2011.

35

I received my 35th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this time for an erotic coming-of-age story.

Published

My story "Big Guns"--an erotic crime fiction romance (how's that for blending genres?)--appears in the anthology High Octane Heroes.

34

I received my 34th acceptance of the year this evening, this time for an erotic mystery/ghost story.

33

I received my 33rd acceptance of the year last evening. This one's for an essay about writing.

Published

"Sporting Wood," an erotic story about lumberjacks, appears in the recently published anthology Team Players.

Published

My erotic short story "Learning Curve" appears in the anthology Daddy Knows Best.

32

I received my 32nd acceptance of the year this afternoon, this time for an erotic romance story.

Thirty

I finished and submitted my thirtieth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 4,600-word erotic coming-of-age story.

Published

My erotic story "Discovering the Underground" appears in the just-published anthology Big Man on Campus.

31

I received my 31st acceptance of the year this evening, this time for a Christmas story.

30

I received my 30th acceptance of the year this evening, this time for an erotic romance story.

Reviewed

Nona Raines reviews High Octane Heroes at The Divas of Desire and has this to say about my contribution:

"I also enjoyed the sassy first-person voice of the heroine in Michael Bracken’s Big Guns and how she fantasizes about a bad man, though she thinks he’s bad news."

Read the entire review and an interview with co-contributor Elle James here.

Five-year anniversary

Three days ago I turned 56. Five years ago today I had quadruple heart bypass surgery. I haven't any words of wisdom to share about either event. I'm just glad I'm still here, still writing, and still getting published.

Life is good.

I Quit

Last week I was invited to contribute to an anthology. While discussing the theme of the anthology, a friend suggested a setting that I am pretty sure no other contributor will use. I spent a few hours researching the setting, learning enough that I knew it should work.

Yesterday morning I sat down to write. Eight to ten hours later, having put only 1,300 words on the page, and having written and discarded several thousand more, I quit.

No matter how many ways I approached it, I couldn't find a story that fit the setting. All I had was the connective tissue--background bits and pieces that I could weave into a story, if I had a story.

Frustrated, I closed the file, shoved all my research material aside, and took a break from the computer.

When I finally returned, I opened a new file and began typing. Within an hour I had the first 800 words of a new story. Contained within those 800 words are a hook, the genesis of a plot, and three viable characters. The setting's a little sketchy, but if everything else works, I can flesh out the setting as I go.

Lesson learned: Sometimes quitting is more productive than actually writing.

Twenty-nine

I finished and submitted my twenty-ninth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 4,800-word Christmas story.

29

I received my 29th acceptance of the year this evening, this time for a bit of erotic crime fiction.