Reviewed

My story "Blue Heart," published in Take This Man (Cleis Press; Neil Plakcy, editor), received a nice mention in a Publishers Weekly review:

"Both Brent Archer's 'A Ride Home' and Michael Bracken's 'Blue Heart' reflect on memories of first meetings segueing into loving appreciations of aging bodies."

Read the entire review here.

Fifteen

I completed and submitted my fifteenth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 7,000-word weird menace story I started yesterday morning.

12 years and counting

Effective with the just-published July issues of True Confessions and True Story magazines, I have had one or more short stories published each and every month for 144 consecutive months (that's 12 years). Including the stories sold before this streak began, I've placed more than 1,100 short stories since I made my first professional sale as a teenager in the late 1970s.

Published 3x

My story "Kissing Booth Fundraiser" appears in the July True Story, and my stories "The Maid of Dishonor Led Me to Love" and "Unrequited Love" appear in the July True Confessions.

14

I received my 14th acceptance of the year this evening.

Published: "Blue Heart"

My romance story "Blue Heart" appears in the just-published anthology Take This Man (Cleis Press), edited by Neil Plakcy,

Fourteen

I finished and submitted my fourteenth short story of the year this morning, a 2,700-word confession I began Sunday after learning of the biker shootout less than five miles from my home.

12, 13

I received my 12th and 13th acceptances of the year this morning.

Thirteen

I finished and submitted my thirteenth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 6,300-word confession I began writing June 5, 2012.

Twelve

I wrote and submitted my twelfth short story today, a 1,600-word confession based on something I read in an advice column this morning. It's been quite awhile since I wrote a complete story in a single day, so this feels like a small and pleasant accomplishment.

Eleven

I finished and submitted my eleventh short story of the year this evening. It's a 6,900-word confession I started April 26, 2013.

"Chalkers" on sale

In honor of Short Story Month, Untreed Reads has all of their short stories on sale. Pick up a copy of my crime fiction story "Chalkers" for only 25 cents:
http://store.untreedreads.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_48_698&products_id=268.

Proofreading failure

No matter how good we are at proofreading our mss. before sending them to editors, sooner or later we make an error that embarrasses us such that we feel we should hide under the blankets, curled in a fetal position, until the beginning of the next calendar year. I have done just that, but rather than hide away, I will share my embarrassment with y'all.

I recently had a story published in which an important character's name changes halfway through the story. I didn't notice it before I submitted the ms. and the editor didn't notice before publishing the story. I only know about it because an astute reader pointed it out.

This is a classic rookie mistake, and I haven't been a rookie since Jimmy Carter was president. Sigh.

Not long ago I developed a trick that helps me prevent making this mistake. Unfortunately, this story was written long before I discovered my trick.

Each time I name a character in a short story I'm writing, I scroll to the end of the file, type that character's name and add a brief description. Then I refer to the list each time I identify a character by name to ensure that I'm using the correct name.

Ex.

John Bobsey--protagonist

Sarah Stuffinmister--love interest

Lt. Earl Warner--police officer, antagonist

Joe "Bags" Banaboo--John's sidekick

I leave the list on the ms. through the final proofread. Each time I come across a character's name during proofreading, I check my list to ensure that I have used the correct name and have spelled it correctly. If I come across a name in the ms. not on my end-of-file list, I determine why and then correct the error.

This trick might help others avoid the public embarrassment of Proofreading Failure. It's been working for me.

If only I had started doing this sooner...

(And, no, I'm not going to identify the story by name.)

Published 2x

My story "The Man I Thought I Loved" appears in the June issue of True Confessions, and my story "30 & Living with My Daddy" appears in the June issue of True Story.

Ten

I completed and submitted my tenth short story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a 5,500-word confession I started writing March 25, 2014.