Twenty-six

I finished, but have not yet submitted, my twenty-sixth story of the year. This one's a 2,100-word bit of dark crime fiction/non-supernatural horror. Trying to decide where to submit first.

Twenty-five, 37

I completed my twenty-fifth short story of the year this evening, a 5,200-word PI story. It was promptly accepted, making it my 37th acceptance of the year. This is, of course, a bit of a cheat as I wrote it for one of my own projects.

My 36th acceptance, which I failed to note when it happened, was a reprint accepted December 26.

Twenty-four

I completed and submitted my twenty-fourth short story of the year. This one's a 1,100-word bit of crime fiction begun April 27, 2019.

35

I received my 35th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this for the 15,000-word PI story I submitted two weeks ago.

34

I received my 34th acceptance of the year this evening, this for a bit of crime fiction.

My last acceptance post was for acceptance 20, so why the big gap? Turns out I had several reprints published this year that I didn't learn about until they were already published, and I just didn't get around to noting them all.

Twenty-three

I completed and submitted my twenty-third story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 15,000-word PI story written by invitation, and it's the longest piece of fiction I've completed in at least two decades.

Twenty-Two

I finished by twenty-second short story of the year this afternoon, a 1,300-word bit of crime fiction I started January 8, 2018. Alas, there don't seem to be any appropriate markets at the moment, so I'll hold onto it for a bit and hope something opens up.

20

I received my 20th acceptance of the year, but this one's a bit of a cheat—I'm co-editor of the series.

Twenty-one

I finished and submitted my twenty-first short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 1,700-word bit of crime fiction.

Twenty

I finished and submitted my twentieth short story of the year this morning. This one's a 3,000-word bit of crime fiction begun on November 23, 2006.

Nineteen

I completed and submitted my nineteenth story of the year this afternoon. This is a 1,660-word bit of crime fiction for an established series, begun November 11, 2019. 

Eighteen

I finished my eighteenth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 136-word flash. With no known (or open) market, it goes into my file for submission later.

Seventeen

I completed and submitted my seventeenth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 5,600-word bit of crime fiction I started on August 14.

18, 19

I received my 18th and 19th acceptances of the year this afternoon. Both are for crime fiction. One was written by invitation for an anthology, the other was a slush-pile magazine submission.

Sixteen

I completed and submitted by sixteenth story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 4,700-word bit of crime fiction started on September 22 and written to invitation.

17

 I received my 17th acceptance of the year this afternoon, for a short bit of noirish crime fiction.

16

 I received my 16th acceptance of the year, this for a short piece of dark crime fiction.

Fifteen

I completed and submitted my fifteenth story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,800-word noirish story I started March 22, 2020.

Fourteen

This evening I completed and submitted my fourteenth short story of the year, which ties my productivity for all of last year. By word count I've completed about 7,000 words less than all of last year, but with four months to go, I suspect I'll meet or exceed last year's word count. Anyhow, this story's a 3,200-word bit of crime fiction begun March 26, 2019.

Thirteen

I finished and submitted my thirteenth short story of the year today. This one, a 5,000-word bit of crime fiction begun July 13, is loosely based on a historical event.

Twelve

I finished and submitted my twelfth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a mystery I started May 13, 2018.

15

I received my 15th acceptance of the year this evening, this time for a 300-word flash, accepted by the same publication as my 14th acceptance.

Note: With this acceptance, I've now had as many acceptances as I did in all of last year (and last year was a particularly slow year).

14

I received my 14th acceptance of the year this evening, this for a 182-word flash. I don't think this is the shortest story I've ever sold, but it must be darned close.

Eleven

I finished my eleventh short story of the year this afternoon. It's a 180-word bit of flash fiction. I'm unsure where to submit it.

13

I just received my 13th acceptance of the year this afternoon. This is to reprint a 2,500-word horror story.

Ten

I completed and submitted my tenth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,600-word bit of crime fiction written specifically for an open-call anthology.

12

I received my 12th acceptance of the year this evening, a 4,300-word bit of crime fiction. This one's a bit of a cheat; I'm co-editor of the anthology.

Nine

I finished and submitted the ninth story of the year this evening, a 5,800-word crime fiction collaboration with Sandra Murphy that we began writing September 23, 2018.

Eight

I finished and submitted my eighth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 7,400-word quasi-police procedural I started September 22, 2019.

Seven

I completed and submitted my seventh short story of the year this evening. This one's a 7,500-word bit of crime fiction I began writing on February 23.

11

I received my 11th acceptance of the year a few minutes, ago, this time for a 6,000-word story about a female sheriff dealing with her first homicide.

10

I received my 10th acceptance of the year, this time for a piece of crime fiction written specifically for an open-call anthology.

Six

I finished and submitted my sixth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 7,150-word quasi-police procedural started on April 22, 2019.

Five

I finished and submitted my fifth story of the year. This one's a 7,400-word PI story that I started writing in May 2006.

Four

I completed and submitted my fourth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 1,670-word bit of crime fiction begun January 24, 2008.

9

I received my 9th acceptance of the year this morning, for another bit of crime fiction.

8

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

Three

I finished and submitted my third short story of the year this evening. This one's a 1,600-word bit of crime fiction.

6, 7

Some days are filled with surprises. Today is one of them. I checked my Submittable account because I'd heard nothing about a few submissions from last year and discovered that two stories had been accepted—one yesterday and one 20 days ago. One—the acceptance from 20 days ago—is from a publication where I've placed several stories, and the other is a new market where, I think, this was my third submission.

I thought Submittable sent an email notifying users of acceptances, rejections, and etc., but I didn't receive notice about either acceptance (and I check my spam folder several times a day).

Anyhow, these are my 6th and 7th acceptances of the year, one a private eye story and one a bit of noir crime fiction.

Two

I finished my second story of the year this evening. This is for an anthology I'm co-editing, but I'll not count it as an acceptance until my co-editor weighs in.

Though this year is off to a slow start, completing two stories the same day is good.

One

I finished and submitted the first story of the year this afternoon, a 3,400-word collaboration begun at the 2019 Malice Domestic.

5

I received my 5th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this for a collaboration with James A. Hearn.

4

I received my 4th acceptance of the year, this for a bit of noirish crime fiction.

3

I received my 3rd acceptance of the year this afternoon, this time for a ghost story submitted about ten months ago.

2

I received my 2nd acceptance of the year yesterday, this for a bit of crime fiction written in 2018 for a tribute anthology that is just now entering production.

1

I received my first acceptance of the year yesterday. This one's a bit of crime fiction written for a music-themed crime anthology.