CrimeFictionWriter

Four

2012-01-29T09:19:00.000-06:00

I finished and submitted my fourth short story of the year this morning. This time it's a 3,000-word confession I started writing October 23, 2009.

Published

2012-01-25T20:46:00.003-06:00

My short romance "Love in Full Bloom" appears in today's edition of Seeds.

Three

2012-01-20T09:21:00.002-06:00

I finished and submitted my third short story of the year, this time a 3,900-word Earth Day-themed confession that I started writing on January 9.

Two

2012-01-18T10:10:00.000-06:00

I finished and submitted my second short story of the year. This one's a 3,100-word confession that I actually started writing yesterday.

One

2012-01-11T19:03:00.000-06:00

I completed and submitted my first short story of the year, a 3,000-word confession that I started writing February 12, 2010.

Published 2x

2012-01-11T18:19:00.001-06:00

My story "Endless Love" appears in the February True Story and my story "It's No Fun at a Table for One" appears in the February True Confessions.

1

2012-01-08T09:16:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I received my first acceptance of the year, this time for a St. Patrick's Day-themed confession.

2011 in review

2012-01-06T19:02:00.000-06:00

Here's what happened in 2011:

73 acceptances (vs. 59 in 2010)

28 rejections (vs. 72 in 2010)

81 short stories published* (vs. 51 in 2010), 4 articles/essays published (vs. 2 in 2010)

I completed 52 short stories (vs. 42 in 2009).

I completed (to final draft) 180,200 words of short fiction (vs. 144,930 in 2010).

That's an average story length of 3,465 words (vs. an average of 3,451); the shortest story was 1,400 words, the longest was 6,100 words.

I completed and submitted an average of 1 short story each week (vs. an average of .81 each week in 2010).

(I only track completed short fiction word counts, not words written for incomplete projects, nor words written for other forms of writing.)

Income from
Editing: Up 2.3%
Fiction (not novels): Up 133.54%
Non-Fiction (not books): $0
Royalties (from all books and, beginning in 2010, from Kindle self-published short stories and novels): Up 663.22%
Seminars/Teaching: Up from $0
Salary: Down 3.46%
Overall gross income: Up 8.52%

Observations:

I could have and should have written more, but the past few months my productivity has declined while my attention has been elsewhere.

Even though my gross income increased, expenses also increased so I’m no better off.

___
*I may update this information later; I’m confident that I’ve had additional stories published but have not yet received my contributor copies.

Short year

2011-12-30T14:24:00.000-06:00

One of my goals this year was to limit my fiction reading to short stories, including all variations of less than novel length. With only two exceptions--the final proofread of my novel Stud and a rereading of William Goldman's The Princess Bride--I accomplished my goal.

I started the year reading mostly crime fiction because I had several back issues of AHMM and EQMM and several crime fiction anthologies in my to-be-read pile. As the year progressed, I added fiction from other genres, including fantasy, horror, literary fiction, and science fiction.

I read books and magazines; anthologies and single-author collections; stories written by male and female writers; stories written by gay, straight, and lesbian writers; stories written by black, white, and hispanic writers, as well as stories by writers of other ethnicities; stories by young, middle-aged, old, and long-deceased writers; stories by new and long-established writers; stories that were funny and stories that were sad; stories that turned me on and stories that turned me off; and all manner of other stories.

My original goal grew out of the realization that the bulk of my fiction reading consisted of novels, yet the bulk of my fiction writing consisted of short stories. I was becoming insular, my knowledge of the current state of short fiction increasingly limited to what I was selling and not what other writers were creating.

As the year ends, I find myself having learned one important lesson:

There is no single correct way to write a short story.

Will I continue to limit my fiction reading to short stories in 2012? No.

Will I include more short fiction in my reading mix than I did prior to this year? Yes.

Will I continue to concentrate on writing short stories rather than novels? Absolutely.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T13:21:00.000-06:00

I'll be away from computers for the next few days, celebrating Christmas with family and friends, so I'm taking a few minutes now to wish all of you a Merry Christmas.

This blog is primarily a public journal where I track my writing progress--sales, publications, and occasional thoughts about the process of writing and publishing--and I appreciate the comments y'all leave on the blog and in personal emails.

So this holiday season I wish you all health, happiness, and increasing success.

73

2011-12-21T18:35:00.002-06:00

I received my 73rd acceptance of the year this evening, this time for an erotic crime story.

Some days are better than others

2011-12-19T14:20:00.000-06:00

Today's mail brought eight rejections.

Eight.

I've had better days.

71, 72

2011-12-14T15:29:00.001-06:00

I received two acceptances today, my 71st and 72nd of the year. One is for a story about a pickpocket and the other is a romance.

Published 6x

2011-12-12T16:48:00.000-06:00

My stories "Dance Partner for Life," "Just My Type," and "Love in Aisle 6" appear in the January 2012 True Story.

My stories "Kissed and Dismissed," "When New Year's Eve Came Twice," and "Heartbreak in the Homeland: Is My Son a Killer?" appear in the January 2012 True Confessions.

Published

2011-12-10T14:56:00.002-06:00

My short crime story "Woman in White" appears in the December issue of Big Pulp.

70

2011-12-07T14:57:00.003-06:00

I received my 70th acceptance of the year in today's mail, this time for a Valentine's Day-themed confession.

Published 2x

2011-12-06T07:22:00.001-06:00

My short mystery "Chalkers" is now available from Untreed Reads (read an excerpt and order a copy through the The Untreed Reads Store http://bit.ly/v85k5W.

When eleven men return to their college alma mater for homecoming forty years after graduation, do they dare reveal the long-held secret that binds them to one another?

From the publisher: "We are also running a special in The Untreed Reads Store that if a reader adds both Chalkers and News Flash" -- my previous release from Untreed Reads -- "to their cart, they'll save 30% on News Flash. That's good through December 31st."

Also published: The November issue of Bohemia includes a reprint of my ghost story "Pushing Coal."

66, 67, 68, 69

2011-11-21T18:04:00.001-06:00

I received four acceptances in today's mail, all for confessions. Three were written this year and sold on first submission; one was written in 2004 and sold on fifth submission, to the magazine that originally rejected it in 2004!

There have only been three years since 1976 when I recorded more acceptances--71 in 2004; 77 in 1995; and 84 in 1991--and there's still more than a month left in the year!

Free "News Flash"

2011-11-20T11:13:00.000-06:00

November 20-November 26th is National Puzzle Week, and Untreed Reads is offering all mysteries (novels, collections, short stories, novellas, series) are 30% off all this week. Some titles, including my short story "News Flash," featuring Waco, Texas, private eye Morris Ronald "Moe Ron" Boyette, are free.

Read an excerpt and order your free copy of "News Flash" here.

Published

2011-11-17T17:36:00.000-06:00

My story “The Bear Family Christmas Project” appears in the anthology Christmas Warmth (XoXo Publishing) edited by Cynthia MacGregor.

Fifty-two

2011-11-14T21:57:00.001-06:00

I finished and submitted my fifty-second short story of the year this evening, a 3,700-word Valentine's Day confession that I started writing on August 18.

Published

2011-11-14T21:09:00.002-06:00

My story "Mother's Christmas Gift" appears in the December issue of True Confessions.

63, 64, 65

2011-11-11T17:52:00.002-06:00

I received three acceptances yesterday, my 63rd, 64th, and 65th acceptances of the year. All were for confessions scheduled for January publication.

Published

2011-11-09T16:59:00.002-06:00

My story "Woman in White," scheduled for the Winter 2001 issue of Big Pulp, is temporarily posted at their website: http://bigpulp.com/issues/2011_12/bracken_womaninwhite.html.

Published

2011-11-09T16:19:00.002-06:00

My Christmas story "Bright Lights, Big Hearts" appears in the December True Story, on newsstands now.

Recognition for Many Genres, One Craft

2011-11-07T19:14:00.000-06:00

From the editors of Many Genres, One Craft, a writing textbook to which I contributed, this news:

First, the book was an Award-Winning Finalist in the Business: Writing and Publishing category of The USA Best Books 2011 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News.

Second, it was named #5 in 10 of This Year's Terrific Writing Books by The Writer Magazine in their December 2011 issue!

210

2011-11-06T08:43:00.000-06:00

No, this isn't the number of stories I've written this year or the number of acceptances I've received. This is a different, but equally important number.

This morning I weighed 210 lbs. This is my lowest weight in 20+ years.

Mid-summer 2006 I was near my peak weight in the mid-230s (my peak was 239 several years earlier). Through a combination of circumstance and intent, I slowly took weight off until I was in my mid-220s when I had my quadruple heart bypass in September 2008. The cardiologist wanted (and still wants) me to lose more weight.

Ever since then, my weight has bounced around. I would work to pull it down to the mid-210s, only to see it climb back up to the mid-220s. And it's always easier to gain weight than lose weight.

This summer, again through a combination of circumstance and intent, I began losing weight again. Only this time my weight has continued to drop; I've not yet had it bounce back up.

I've lost weight through a combination of smaller portions, better food choices, and a modest increase in exercise. If I could kick my worst habit--the over-consumption of Mountain Dew--I would probably lose weight faster.

Why am I posting this news in my writing blog? Because I suffer from the same malady as many writers: Too much time with my ass in a chair, mindlessly munching on snacks as I write.

If you suffer from this same malady, perhaps it's time to make some changes in your life.

Get up, get moving, and get healthy.

I know I'm better off for having done so.

62

2011-11-04T19:13:00.002-05:00

I received my 62nd acceptance of the year this evening, this time for a fantasy involving a dragon.

61

2011-11-01T07:28:00.000-05:00

I received my 61st acceptance of the year Sunday, for a story about love and death, but I've been so overwhelmed with work that I'm only now able to post the news.

Fifty-one

2011-10-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

I finished and submitted my fifty-first story of the year this evening, a 1,900-word confession about finding love on St. Patrick's Day. I started writing this story on November 16, 2008.

Published

2011-10-26T20:24:00.001-05:00

My essay "Don't They Come in Pairs?" appears in the just-published anthology Wait a Minute, I Have to Take Off My Bra (Inkspotter Publishing).

My grandmother owned a corset shop that specialized in treating mastectomy patients in the days before reconstructive surgery was much of an option, and, at different times, both my mother and my aunt were employed there. I also did odd jobs around the shop and my essay is about what I learned from the experience.

A portion of the profits from the sale of the anthology will be donated to the Breast Cancer Society of Canada.

Model

2011-10-18T19:38:00.000-05:00

This is one of the photos taken by Joshua Schnizer at Saturday's photo shoot for Bohemia magazine.

59, 60

2011-10-18T17:06:00.000-05:00

I received my 59th and 60th acceptances today. One is for a 3,300-word Christmas-themed confession I wrote back in 2009; the other is for a 4,600-word erotic romance I wrote this summer.

With these two acceptances, I now have more acceptances than last year's 59 and must look all the way back to 2006, when I had 66 acceptances, before I find a better year.

Of course, there are still 2.5 months left in 2011. There's still a chance to best 2006!

Keeping abreast of my publishing news

2011-10-17T18:01:00.000-05:00

I have an essay scheduled for this upcoming anthology, about my experience as a young man working in my grandmother's corset shop, where she specialized in fitting mastectomy patients long before reconstructive surgery was a real option.

Fifty

2011-10-16T21:17:00.002-05:00

I completed and submitted my fiftieth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 4,500-word Valentine's Day confession I started writing October 10, 2010.

58

2011-10-16T11:57:00.002-05:00

I received my 58th acceptance of the year, this time for a reprint.

Forty-nine

2011-10-15T20:24:00.000-05:00

I finished and submitted my forty-ninth short story of the year this evening, a 4,600-word confession I started July 19.

Poser

2011-10-15T19:35:00.000-05:00

I spent several hours late this afternoon and early this evening posing for a magazine photo shoot. The other two models: a pair of beautiful young women, one a high school senior and the other a college junior.

We visited various locations around Waco, posed for dozens of photos, and will wait to see which photos are selected for publication.

Published

2011-10-15T19:22:00.002-05:00

My story "A Friend in Need" appears in the November issue of True Confessions.

Forty-eight

2011-10-15T10:22:00.000-05:00

I completed and submitted my forty-eighth story of the year this morning. This one's a 3,300-word bit of erotica I started writing December 13, 2007. I originally intended the story to be a confession, but the theme was too sexual for the current confession magazines. So, I amped up the sex and turned it into erotica.

Reviewed

2011-10-14T19:44:00.003-05:00

Lisa Watts reviews the anthology I Like to Watch at Fresh Fiction and has this to say about my story:

"If you're looking to catch someone in a private moment try 'Reprieve' by Michael Bracken in which a contract killer spies more than just business as usual through his high-powered rifle."

Read the entire review here.

Reviewed

2011-10-14T19:36:00.000-05:00

Rubyyy Jones reviewed the anthology Dark Desires at For Books' Sake and had this to say about my story:

"I also loved 'House Of Seven Inches,' written by Michael Bracken; a lovely gay erotic f*ck from beyond the grave, what more does a girl need? I loved the inclusion of the paranormal element, it was seamless and easy, some of the concepts I found a bit distracting so I really appreciated Bracken’s elegant and dirty style."

Elegant and dirty, huh?

Read the entire review here.

Forty-seven

2011-10-14T19:03:00.002-05:00

I finished and submitted my 47th short story of the year, an 1,800-word erotic crime story that I started writing August 10.

57 and published

2011-10-13T17:49:00.000-05:00

I received my 57th acceptance of the year, this time for an erotic short story.

I also received a copy of Explicit Encounters, a paperback anthology that contains my story "MILF and Cookies," which previously appeared in an electronic anthology titled MILF and Cookies.

Wounded

2011-10-12T20:47:00.001-05:00

While proofreading a short story this evening, I came across a line of dialog with a typo, a w where an s should be:

"She wounds like a good friend."

Wow. That's a great line, though totally wrong for the story, because who can wound you better than a lover or a close friend?

Hoist a Guinness for me

2011-10-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

Earlier this evening I sent an application to Guinness World Records to determine if consecutive months of short story publication is a valid category for a world record and if my having had one or more short stories published each month for 100 consecutive months is, indeed, the record.

It may be several weeks before they respond, and I have no idea what proof I'll need to provide if they wish to validate my claim.

Poor mental health makes better bloggers

2011-10-10T07:35:00.000-05:00

Read Susannah Breslin's "Why Crazy People Make Better Bloggers" to understand why.

She may be right.

Everybody needs a little romance

2011-10-09T13:26:00.025-05:00

I've written three romances--a YA romance, a sweet contemporary romance, and an erotic romance. Because everybody needs a little romance in their lives, following are the opening pages of each of the three.

JUST IN TIME FOR LOVE

CHAPTER 1

Mrs. Webster called out our names. Finally, she came to mine.

"Justin Tyme."

A tough-looking, broad-shouldered guy snickered. "Just in time for what?"

I slumped in my seat. At every school I attended, somebody made a wisecrack about my name.

Mrs. Webster waited for the laughter to subside. Then she said, "That's enough, Mark," and finished calling the roll.

The first class of the new school year passed quickly.

When I got lost on my way to second period, I wasn't surprised. I'd attended the orientation session during the summer, but I'd forgotten most of what I'd been shown. I stopped at the intersection of two halls. I looked down one, then down another. Then I looked back where I'd come from. All the halls looked the same.

A teacher in gym shorts tapped me on the shoulder. "May I help you?"

I uncrumpled my class schedule and read him my room number.

"Down that hall to the end. Turn left. Second door on the left." He pointed.

I hurried through the slow-moving crowd of high school students. A moment later I squeezed into my next class. I'd just dropped my notebook on the first empty desk when the bell rang.

A girl's voice from behind me said, "You're just in time, aren't you?"

I flushed, then turned to see who had spoken, expecting to find someone from first period. I swallowed a smart remark when it wasn't.

I found myself staring into the prettiest pair of pale blue eyes I'd ever seen. "Yes," I said, trying to get the lump out of my throat. "I got lost."

"Me, too," she said. "I was ten minutes late for homeroom. When we came in from the stable, my mother dropped me off at the wrong door and ittook forever to figure out where I was." Her blonde hair hung in loose curls to her softly rounded shoulders and she twirled one curl around her slender fingers as she spoke. Her fingernail polish was chipped.

"I don't remember you from last year," she said. "What's your name?"

"Jay," I told her. I always told people my name was Jay. "What's yours?"

Just in Time for Love is available in print, and in various electronic forms

UNBRIDLED LOVE: A ROMANCE WITH HORSE SENSE

CHAPTER 1

If I had it to do all over again, I would do many things differently and hope that the end result remained the same. I was young when I first met Hans Edelmann and had never truly been in love. I barely understood my own emotional turmoil, and I can only blame the stupidity of my youth for nearly driving him away.

The afternoon we first met, I sat astride Hershey, my chocolate-brown mare, and stared in bewilderment at the new riding instructor.

He stood in the center of the dusty arena, a well-used riding crop jutting from the top of his black knee-high right boot. “I have never, ever, seen such sloppy horsemanship,” he shouted at us. The louder he spoke, the thicker his German accent became. “I can see that we have a lot of work to do if any of you expect to compete at Stallion Stables in August.”

He paused, glared at each student individually, then said, “Class dismissed.”

I glanced at the other women in my riding class and noticed that many of my classmates were fighting back tears. No previous instructor at Rocking Horse Stables had ever been so harsh in his assessment of our riding abilities. My own chin had trembled a bit when Hans started his tirade, but I had forced myself not to succumb to his ranting. At twenty-five, I was the oldest student in the class and I felt as if I had to be the group’s pillar of strength.

Swinging my right leg over the horse’s broad back, I dropped to the arena’s dirt floor. I took the mare’s reins in my hand and led her around the arena. After Hershey cooled off, I led her out of the arena, across the dusty gravel parking lot, and into the massive white barn. Once I had Hershey in her stall, I stripped off her tack.

I heard two of my classmates talking in the next stall.

“Mr. Edelmann is an ogre,” the first said.

“He isn’t anything like the instructor I used to have,” came the response.

“Did you see what he did to Bertha when she missed the second jump?”

“He even criticized Melissa, and she’s the best rider we have!”

I nodded in agreement with the young woman’s assessment of Hans Edelmann as I brushed Hershey’s coat. He had criticized me, but his comments were nothing compared to the things he told other riders. The two girls hadn’t been exaggerating when they classified Hans as an ogre. Based on his performance during class, I thought he was that or worse. I shook my head, almost ashamed of myself for the tingle of excitement I’d felt when I’d first met him the day Mr. Harriman gave him the two-minute tour of Rocking Horse Stables.

Hershey stood sixteen hands tall, each hand equaling four inches, and I could just see over her withers when I stretched up to brush her mane. As I did, I could see down the long corridor between the stalls and out through the open barn doors. Hans strode across the parking lot past the open doors, his riding crop tucked under his muscular triceps, his bearing military in its precision.

Watching Hans march past brought my blood to a boil. Who did he think he was to be yelling at us the way he had? He’d only been at the stable a week and already he’d brought tears to the eyes of most of the younger girls. I didn’t think anyone deserved the kind of treatment Hans had been dishing out.

After I finished grooming Hershey, I cleaned the horse’s tack, including the saddle, bridle, reins, and other accessories. Finally, I hoisted the heavy leather saddle over my shoulder, gathered the rest of my tack in my arms, and carried the entire bundle to the tack room where most of the private owners had specially-built cubbyholes.

I stored everything, then wiped the sweat off my forehead. The barn had become uncomfortably warm.

By then, I had worked myself into an emotional lather. I was determined to speak to the new instructor about his teaching methods. Cleaning my tack had kept my hands busy, but my mind had been free to continuously relive the worst moment of my class.

I searched the stalls in the barn, scanned the two practice fields and the pasture as I crossed the parking lot, then walked to the arena. Hans’ apartment was at the far end, above the glass-enclosed observation room. When I didn’t see him in the arena, I hurried toward his apartment. I strode across the room, then took the stairs two at a time, my boot heels clicking against the worn wood of the stairs.

I rapped on the door once, then shoved it open without thinking. “Mr. Edelmann,” I said as I stepped through the open doorway. I stopped when I caught sight of him standing in the middle of his small living room, stripped to the waist.

He turned to stare at me. “Yes?”

Unbridled Love: A Romance With Horse Sense is available in various electronic formats

STUD

CHAPTER 1

“Another livestock magazine?” Christiana Kern slumped in her chair. She was the best and most overworked customer service representative at Wett, Inc., the country’s largest printer of special interest magazines. “Special interest,” as far as Christiana was concerned, meant magazines that nobody she knew personally was interested in reading. “If I have to handle another magazine about pigs or turkeys or chickens, I’ll go crazy!”

Erma Harrison attempted to calm her. “Horses,” the account supervisor drawled, “Great big fancy thoroughbreds.”

It was meant to tempt. Christiana was not swayed. “Why me? What happened to Carlisle? I thought this was his account.”

“Carlisle jumped ship this morning and the client’s due here within the hour.”

The news about Carlisle Morris surprised her, and Christiana knew she’d want more details later, but right then she was more concerned about her new title.

“I don’t suppose I have time to run home and change out of this eyesore.” Christiana pulled at the fresh coffee stain on her blouse and took in the sour expression on Erma’s face. “No? Well, where’s the file? Who’s the sales rep?”

“You’re going to love this. Handley out of Nashville met this guy—name’s Bobby Ray Cartwright—at the racetrack and they became buddies. Anyway, this Bobby Ray’s got a passel of male horses he’s been itching to hire out for stud. Problem was he didn’t know how to get his message out, so Handley tells him to print up a bunch of ads and send them out to people who might be interested. Well, now he’s got so many people interested that he can’t keep up with the fliers so he’s decided to make a magazine out of the ads. Makes you wonder how the horses are keeping up.”

“A rookie?” Christiana groaned, pulled the file to her chest, and headed out the door. “He doesn’t know anything about magazine production? I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning.”

The first thing to do was to get organized. Christiana always felt she could fumble her way through just about any customer’s visit as long as she was organized. The customer’s name and company name had to be posted at the plant entrance, and the customer room had to be cleaned and filled with fresh coffee, snacks and sodas. Other plant supervisors had to be notified that a customer was coming to visit.

Accomplishing everything in record time, Christiana let voice mail catch her calls while she pored over the scant little file that that ingrate Erma had dumped on her. The new magazine had already received credit approval—an amazing accomplishment considering the glacial speed at which corporate handled these things—and Handley had already faxed a signed copy of the contract.

Christiana’s phone rang once, signaling an inside call, and she lifted the receiver to her ear. Erma said, “Our client’s here. He’s in the customer room.”

After dropping the phone receiver back in its cradle, Christiana stood, smoothed her skirt into place, and took a deep breath. She’d met with many clients over the years, but the first time was always a little scary. She never knew quite what to expect—especially after the time she met the gnome from New York who talked a mile a minute and then keeled over from a heart attack—so she always took a moment to prepare herself before walking down the hall and entering the customer room. This time she needed more than one deep breath because she’d worked late the night before. After she’d finally gotten home and in bed, the bindery had woken her four times, asking questions they could have answered themselves if they’d just bothered to look at the instructions she’d left them. First impressions counted a lot, and she always wanted to make a good one. With one last rueful glance at the coffee stain on her blouse, Christiana tucked some stray strands of ebony hair back into place at her nape and headed down the hall.

When she first caught sight of Bobby Ray Cartwright, Christiana stopped dead in her tracks. He was leaning over the conference table with his back to her, rummaging through a briefcase, and she saw the best set of buns that ever graced denim. Then she noticed his mud-caked cowboy boots, and the smile that had started to cross her face disappeared completely. Christiana had a very deep sense of cleanliness and Bobby Ray was anything but clean.

“Here’s the magazine,” Bobby Ray said to Handley as he handed the sales rep a disorganized stack of papers and photographs. He had a nice drawling baritone, Christiana mused before snapping herself back to business when he saw her.

He smiled and his deep blue eyes twinkled. “And who’s this little filly?”

Stud is currently only available for Kindle

Forty-six

2011-10-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

I completed and submitted my forty-sixth short story of the year, a 3,300-word confession I started writing on August 9.

I was surprised to realize it's been almost two months since I completed a new story. There's no single reason I haven't completed a new story in two months. Though editing clients and family matters have kept me busy, I have been writing.

I suppose the seeming drought is the result of writing too many beginnings and middles and not writing enough endings!

Who benefits by fewer books at B&N

2011-10-07T20:45:00.000-05:00

Like many writers, I am distressed by the ever decreasing number of books at my local Barnes & Noble. Tonight, though, I realized that many of the authors whose books remain for sale are benefitting by this, especially authors whose books have attractive covers.

Why? Because many more books are now shelved face out rather than spine out.

Quoted

2011-10-07T08:37:00.000-05:00

I was quoted in Dawn Copeman's article "Using Pseudonyms" at Writing-World.com. Read the entire article here.

Release party

2011-10-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

This evening I attended a release party for Bohemia's second issue. I read my story "Where the Cold Wind Blows." Several other contributors also read their work.

I've read at conferences and conventions, and I've done stand-up comedy in nightclubs, but this was an odd combination of the two.

Much of the audience was not paying attention to the people on stage. They were eating, fussing with crying babies, talking with each other and on cell phones, and generally not paying attention. Yet, each of the writers and poets read their work as if the audience members were paying rapt attention.

Weird.

Published

2011-10-06T21:40:00.002-05:00

My story "Where the Cold Wind Blows" was just published in the October issue of Bohemia.

Coming March 1, 2012: Crime Square

2011-10-05T18:21:00.000-05:00

They call it the “crossroads of the world,” and from its inception Times Square has been the pulsing heartbeat of a city filled with life. Now, in this eclectic and electrifying collection, twenty acclaimed mystery writers take readers into the past history of Times Square, where danger lurked around every corner, and where characters walked its streets with the easy confidence of a con man. Spanning over one hundred years—from its christening on April 19, 1904 to the contemporary “Disney-ized” version, Crime Square is filled with guys, dolls, booze, and bullets. With contributions by such award-winning authors like Parnell Hall, John Lutz--and a host of others--CRIME SQUARE is the ultimate collection of crime stories, set in the world’s ultimate destination.

Edited by Robert J. Randisi and containing stories by 20 top crime fiction writers, this is a not-to-be-missed anthology.

See the full line up at Amazon.

(And, oh yeah, if you squint at the cover you'll see my name included at the bottom right as: "And 15 others.")

100 consecutive months

2011-09-30T22:29:00.000-05:00

I normally only post this information when I reach an annual milestone, but with publication of two stories in the November issue of True Story ("Thanksgiving Bombshell" and "Learning From Past Mistakes"), I have now had one or more short stories published each month for 100 consecutive months.

Published 2x

2011-09-30T22:13:00.000-05:00

My stories "Thanksgiving Bombshell" and "Learning From Past Mistakes" appear in the November True Story.

Reviewed

2011-09-28T08:34:00.001-05:00

My story "Garden Variety" was reviewed by Tina as part of her review of the anthology All the Boys. I find the review particularly interesting because the reviewer gets two pieces of information wrong but still grasps the overall emotional impact of the story.

For example, she wrote, "Kyle is the grandson of a wealthy customer Doug gardens for." Actually, Kyle's the young lover of the wealthy customer.

And the reviewer is disappointed by the short length in part because the story isn't a romance: "instead of making it a romance to making it just a scene from a romance story." The story was never intended to be a romance.

Though all the characters in the story are gay, the story has a classic noir set-up: The protagonist falls for and has a relationship with the beautiful lover of a powerful rich man. If you read enough noir, you know the story won't end well.

The review does note that "'Garden Variety' is a very bittersweet story." And that's exactly the emotional impact I intended.

Just to be clear, I'm not complaining about, nor am I arguing with the reviewer's assessment of the story. It is what it is.

What interests me is that either I failed to make certain details clear or the reviewer didn't pay close enough attention, yet the emotional weight of the story is strong enough that the details don't matter.

Anyhow, read the entire review of All the Boys here.

56

2011-09-26T07:31:00.001-05:00

I received my 56th acceptance of the year this morning, for a 2,900-word erotic story about a young man who, in the early 1970s, has a crush on the host of the local UHF station's Saturday-night monster movie triple feature. The editor in his acceptance email referred to it as "the most inventive tale" submitted.

55

2011-09-24T10:07:00.002-05:00

I received my 55th acceptance of the year in yesterday's mail, this time for a 3,300-word Christmas-themed confession.

Published

2011-09-20T07:36:00.000-05:00

My erotic story "MILF and Cookies" appears in the just-published anthology MILF and Cookies (Xcite Books), edited by Elizabeth Coldwell.

54

2011-09-12T14:41:00.002-05:00

I received my 54th acceptance of the year in today's mail, this time for a 2,700-word Thanksgiving-themed confession.

Published

2011-09-02T17:32:00.000-05:00

"Anybody Seen My Shorts?" a revised and updated version of a previously published essay about writing short fiction, appears in the September issue of SPAWNews.

Published 2x

2011-08-30T18:13:00.002-05:00

My stories "In Sickness and in Health" and "Behind the Mask" appear in the October True Story.

The Big Book of Bizarro book trailer

2011-08-28T18:51:00.000-05:00

Watch The Big Book of Bizarro book trailer here.

53

2011-08-26T15:11:00.000-05:00

I received my 53rd acceptance of the year today. I think. In lieu of an actual acceptance, I received a request from the publication's editor for a photo to include in the contributors section.

This acceptance is for a 1,000-word horror story based on an old Appalachian folk song that I originally wrote for an anthology. Unfortunately, the anthology was cancelled because the editor did not receive enough quality submissions. So now the story will appear in a regional literary magazine.

Money flows...where?

2011-08-20T18:27:00.000-05:00

I posted this is response to a blog post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, "The Business Rusch: Common Sense and the Writer," and thought I should post it here, as well:

The “money flows to the writer” mantra doesn’t apply with self-publishing. Once a writer self-publishes, he stops being a writer and becomes a publisher. And if you’re a publisher, money flows to everybody: writers, editors, designers, illustrators, photographers, typesetters, printers, distributors, and on and on and on.

52

2011-08-19T18:41:00.000-05:00

I received my 52nd acceptance of the year this evening. I revised and updated an essay on writing that I'd written for Sleuths' Ink a few years ago. "Anybody Seen My Shorts?" will appear in next month's SPAWNews.

Forty-five

2011-08-17T17:27:00.002-05:00

I finished and submitted my forty-fifth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 4,600-word erotic romance written in response to an anthology's open call for submissions. I started writing this on August 4 and finished it a few minutes ago.

50, 51

2011-08-15T14:33:00.000-05:00

I received my 50th and 51st acceptances of the year in today's mail, both for confessions. One's tied to Thanksgiving, the other to National Diabetes Month.

Forty-four

2011-08-14T17:55:00.000-05:00

I completed and submitted my forty-fourth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,600-word erotic crime story about an experienced pickpocket who catches an amateur pickpocket trying to lift his wallet.

I started writing this story on August 9 in response to an open anthology submissions call. I've placed several stories with this editor during the past few years, so I hope that I'll do it again.

49

2011-08-14T16:03:00.002-05:00

I received my 49th acceptance of the year a few minutes ago, this time for a bit of erotica to be published in an anthology.

"Dark Promptings"

2011-08-14T10:51:00.000-05:00

As part of Michael Arnzen's on-going series of story prompts for horror writers called "Dark Promptings," I contributed six story-starters under the heading "If you can't write about your family, who can you write about?"

See my prompts here.

Forty-three

2011-08-13T09:31:00.000-05:00

I completed and submitted my forty-third short story of the year today. This one's a 5,300-word confession with a New Year's Eve theme.

I started writing the story August 2, 2010, and had reached 4,000+ words. I had forgotten about the story until yesterday when I was looking for New Year's Eve stories (it's that time of year on editorial calendars!). I read what I had written, read the notes I had made about how the story should conclude, and then wrote the final 1,300 words. I let the story sit overnight, proofread it this morning, and then submitted it.

Write faster

2011-08-11T11:19:00.000-05:00

Here's how: "Slowpoke."

48

2011-08-10T14:43:00.000-05:00

I received my 48th acceptance of the year earlier today, this time for an erotic crime fiction story about two kidnappers who are outwitted by just about everyone.

Forty-two

2011-08-08T18:35:00.000-05:00

I finished and submitted my forty-second short story of the year this evening, a 4,200-word Christmas-themed confession.

I started this story on November 23, 2009, but only wrote a one-paragraph rough outline. Although I noodled with the story a little bit earlier this summer, I wrote the bulk of it this week, interrupting work on this one long enough to write my forty-first story.

With this story I have now written as many as I wrote all of last year, which was, admittedly, a slow year. The year before that I wrote 75 short stories. At this pace, I might come close to producing as much as I produced in 2009.

Published

2011-08-08T15:36:00.000-05:00

My story "Jumpers" appears in The Big Book of Bizarro, now available from Burning Bulb Publishing.

I dream in sentences

2011-08-08T07:47:00.000-05:00

I don't understand this, and I don't know for certain when it changed. I used to dream in moving pictures, just like everyone else seems to, but now I dream in sentences. Rather than seeing events unfold while I dream, I see words on a page describing the events unfolding. And I don't hear dialog; I see it written on a page with quotation marks and dialog tags. I suppose this is a good thing as a writer--sometimes when I rise I'm able to transcribe parts of my dreams directly from memory because the writing's already been done--but I don't understand why I now dream like this.

Forty-one

2011-08-07T15:13:00.001-05:00

I finished and submitted my forty-first short story of the year a few minutes ago, a 3,000-erotic story with paranormal elements.

In May I received a call for submissions from an anthology editor for whom I've previously written. I had a pair of stillborn ideas right away but didn't have a workable idea until July 29. I wrote the opening couple of paragraphs that day and wrote enough additional material that I knew the protagonist/narrator and the setting, and vaguely knew the two other key characters and the plot.

I returned to the story yesterday, realized in looking at what I'd written that my original idea for the ending didn't work, and headed in a different--and much better!--direction.

It's in the editor's hands now.

Reviewed

2011-08-07T08:55:00.000-05:00

"WildAboutBones" reviewed Dark Desires, an anthology of paranormal erotica in which I have a story, at the Bitten By Romance Blog, and writes, "Overall I enjoyed this book. There are some very creative paranormal stories here. I think paranormal fans will enjoy most of the book."

Each story was reviewed separately, leading up to that conclusion, and my story "The House of Seven Inches," was rated 4/Hot. I'd quote the review itself, but it provides a major plot spoiler.

Order the paperback of Dark Desires here and the Kindle edition here.

Forty

2011-08-03T20:18:00.000-05:00

I finished and submitted my fortieth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,400-word erotic fantasy for an anthology with an open submissions call.

The deadline in the original call for submissions had expired before I had an appropriate idea. Then a revised call with a new deadline appeared in my in-box. An appropriate idea and some free time soon followed.

I started this story on Monday and finished it today.

Questions come and questions go

2011-07-31T09:36:00.002-05:00

This morning Patti Abbott posted 13 questions for short story writers on her blog, pattinase. After I answered them in the comments section, she changed the original post and eliminated 12 of the questions!

So here are her original questions and my responses:

1. How often do you finish the rough draft of a story in one sitting?

I don't write rough drafts, but I do occasionally write a complete story in one sitting.

2. What is the average length of time it takes you to finish a polished story?

Actual writing time? From a few hours up to about 10 hours, Rarely more. Rarely less. However, years may pass between the time I make notes for a story I'd like to write and when I actually write it.

3. Do you outline your stories?

Rarely, and never in detail.

4. Do most of your story ideas come from your own life, stories you read about, a flash of an idea? What?

They come from everywhere. Lately I've been writing for a lot of anthologies so calls for submission are sparking many of my new story ideas.

4. How do you know when a story is truly done?

When it gets published.

5. Do you have someone read it before sending it out?

Never.

6. Do you take suggestions seriously or are you your own best critic?

I am my own best critic. But if an editor with the power to accept a story suggests a change I'll certainly try to accommodate the suggestion.

7. Do you let it sit or send it out immediately?

Immediately, if there's a market. Occasionally I write a story and have to wait for the market to find me.

8. Do you read your story aloud?

Often.

9. Do you simultaneously submit if there are no restrictions?

No.

10. How do you decide where to send it? What is the most unusual place you have placed a story?

These days I usually write-to-market so I know where I'm sending the story before I ever write it.

11. Do you often rewrite a story months later, suddenly seeing what was wrong with it?

Rarely these days, but I did when I was a beginning writer.

12. Do you like reading your stories once they appear in print or do you get the queasy feeling you could have done better?

A published story is the best I could write at the time I wrote it. Even if I could do better now, I can't change the story. So, I find it better to look forward and strive to improve rather than look backward and fret about what could have been.

47

2011-07-30T21:48:00.002-05:00

I received my 47th acceptance of the year today, this time for a heart-warming Christmas story scheduled for a Christmas anthology.

Thirty-nine

2011-07-30T17:19:00.000-05:00

I completed and submitted my thirty-ninth short story of the year a few minutes ago. This is an erotic story written in response to a call for submissions I received on July 22. Although the anthology has an open call, the editor sent an advance call to writers he's previously worked with, "all of whom I admire as writers," and how can I not try to write something when I've been buttered up?

Anyhow, 2,900 words written over eight days.

Published 2x

2011-07-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

My stories "Coach" and "Two Weeks In Paradise" appear in the September True Confessions.

Bios reveal more than you think

2011-07-30T09:32:00.000-05:00

Because my fiction reading goal for this year is to avoid novels and to read short stories only, I've been reading more short fiction than usual. Because of this concentration, I've noticed an interesting correlation between author bios and the stories they accompany.

For example, if I read the bios in an anthology and I notice that some are written in first-person and some are written in third-person, I'm reasonably confident that no professional copy editor has touched the book. (One thing a copy editor does is ensure consistency.)

In the cases where it appears no copy editor has touched an anthology, I have noticed an additional correlation: a well-written bio often accompanies a well-written story and a poorly written bio often accompanies a poorly written story.

This correlation--and it's only anecdotal evidence at this point--might make my purchasing decisions easier. After picking up an interesting anthology I might be best served by glancing at the author bios than by reading any of the fiction before making a decision to purchase or not to purchase.

After all, if the writers can't present the details of their own lives without spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors, what's the likelihood that their fiction will be any better?

Man or machine?

2011-07-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

From Kevin R. Tipple's blog, Kevin's Corner, this:

"I have long thought that the prolific Michael Bracken is some sort of writing robot sent from the future. The man is a machine generating stuff constantly and selling left and right."

Make of that what you will.

Reviewed

2011-07-29T18:03:00.001-05:00

Earlier today Jim Winter reviewed Sex, Violence & Half A Million Dollars on his blog Edged in Blue. He has many good things to say and selects three stories for in-depth discussion, including the first story, "Adam's Rib" ("The ending, however, comes straight out of a Stephen King short story when the husband finds a lurid solution to his situation. Talk about starting with a bang.") and his favorite, "How to Pick Up Beautiful Women":

"Of all the stories in this collection, though, I liked 'How to Pick Up Beautiful Women,' wherein a man in the bar hustles fellow bar rats by bragging about how he can pick up a woman on any given night with his 'system.' His partner in crime will either leave you laughing or thinking, 'Ew!'"

Read the entire review here, purchase the collection here or purchase Jim's "A Walk in the Rain" here.

46

2011-07-28T07:17:00.000-05:00

I received my 46th acceptance this morning, and this is one I feel particularly good about.

Earlier this year I was invited to contribute to a themed crime fiction anthology by a well-known, respected writer/editor, and the list of other invitees includes several writers I have admired for years.

I delivered my 3,200-word story in late May, learned that mine was the first in, but I wasn't certain the story was accepted until this morning when I received a request for an accompanying bio.

I am the center of the universe

2011-07-26T20:25:00.000-05:00

After I purchased my home in 1994 I learned that my house is one that the U.S. Census Bureau visits every two years. So, since 1994, all that interesting statistical data the Census Bureau compiles during the years between the complete censuses likely includes information gleaned from me.

And now I've become a source of data for another large survey. The University of Michigan produces a Health and Retirement Study of people age 50 and older that they update every two to three years. Last year I was invited to participate, apparently met the qualifications, and this evening sat through my first survey interview. Unlike the Census Bureau, which targets a specific residence, the U. of M. study follows the individual. So, for the rest of my life, they will be tracking me down wherever I go.

Unlike the U.S. Census Bureau, which I'm expected to participate in as a good citizen, the U. of M. pays for my time. And they pay pretty good, all things considered.

Thirty-eight

2011-07-24T14:19:00.002-05:00

I finished writing my thirty-eighth short story of the year this afternoon, a 2,000-word bit of erotica I started July 17, and it's already been submitted to an anthology with an open call for submissions.

Published 2x

2011-07-23T13:58:00.000-05:00

My stories "Back to School Blues" and "The Passionate Professor" appear in the September True Story.

Thirty-seven

2011-07-23T12:51:00.000-05:00

I finished writing my thirty-seventh short story of the year a little while ago. This one's a 3,300-word Christmas-themed confession I started writing May 3, 2010. It'll go in the mail the next time I leave the house.

Interviewed

2011-07-22T18:08:00.000-05:00

I was interviewed by The Non-Horror Reader Survey blog, and the interview can be found here.

2011-07-20T18:06:00.001-05:00

On June 6 I uploaded Unbridled Love: A Romance with Horse Sense to Smashwords. Since then it has slowly filtered out to other booksellers and is now available for Nook through Barnesandnoble.com and for iPad through iTunes.apple.com.

I don't know how many copies it's selling in these other formats because Smashwords reports and pays royalties on a quarterly basis, but it's already my bestselling title in any format at B&N. At the same time, it continues to be my bestselling title in any format at Amazon.

Watching the steady sales of Unbridled Love and comparing them to the hit-or-miss sales of the other titles I've self-published makes me think I should consider writing another sweet romance involving horses.

Thirty-six

2011-07-17T13:48:00.001-05:00

I completed and submitted my thirty-sixth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 2,000-word bit of erotica I started writing Friday evening.

Thirty-five

2011-07-16T12:30:00.000-05:00

I completed my thirty-fifth short story of the year today, a 4,000-word confession set at Thanksgiving that I started writing July 18, 2007. It'll go in the mail the next time I leave the house.

44, 45

2011-07-15T15:27:00.000-05:00

I received my 44th and 45th acceptances of the year today, both for confessions.

Published

2011-07-14T18:12:00.000-05:00

My erotic ghost story "House of Seven Inches" appears in Dark Desires, now available from Xcite Books.

Thirty-four

2011-07-14T17:28:00.002-05:00

I completed by thirty-fourth short story of the year today, a 2,700-word confession for Thanksgiving. This is a one-day project, conceived this morning, written this afternoon, and in the mail in a few minutes.