8

I received my 8th acceptance of the year a few minutes ago, this for the brief essay I submitted this afternoon.

Essay

I completed and submitted a 550-word essay this afternoon.

Eleven

I completed and submitted my eleventh short story of the year this evening, a 5,800-word confession.

This is the first story I've written using The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet. I actually outlined the story on January 16, and then I let the outline sit until last week because I don't usually write from tight outlines. I used this outline because it was for a confession set during the summer months and it's time to submit summer confessions.

The final story more-or-less follows the plot I created in January, but I did find myself taking a few liberties as the writing progressed.

Back in January, I outlined two other stories using The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet. At some point in the future, I will probably write those stories, too.

 Will I outline any more stories using The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet? It's too soon to tell.

"Cowboy Adonis"

I'm one of the contributors to Cowboy Heat, a collection of erotic cowboy romances scheduled for release later this month.

Today I posted a little about my inspiration for the story and a brief except from the beginning of the story at  http://cowboyheat.delilahscollections.com/2014/03/15/cowboy-adonis-by-michael-bracken/.

Reviewed

Michelle at MsRomanticReads reviewed Cowboy Heat and had this to say about "Cowboy Adonis," my contribution to the anthology:

"The shortest story thus far but no less hot. I enjoyed their flirtatious banter and mature confidence."

Read the entire review here.

Ten

I finished and submitted my tenth short story of the year this morning. This one's a 2,200-word bit of crime fiction.

I dictated the entire story on January 26, corrected some formatting problems, printed it out, and let it sit. Today I reread it, made some minor changes, and submitted it.

This is one of the few stories I've dictated start-to-finish. I'm still not comfortable with the process, but will try it again soon with another story.

Nine

I finished and submitted my ninth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 4,700-word confession set in Mexico that I began writing February 28, 2011.

Unlike many of my stories, this one has an origin tale.

I travelled to Mexico to speak at the Puerto Vallarta Writers Conference February 25-27, 2011. I led two workshops, titled "Sin, Suffer, Cash the Checks," about writing and selling confessions. When I lead confession-writing workshops, one of the things we do as a group is to plot several stories.

During the first workshop of the conference, the group plotted a story that I liked so much I told the attendees I would write the story. I finally did, and the end result sticks pretty close to the plot we outlined.

Nominated

I have stories in two anthologies nominated for Lambda Literary Awards: Richard Labonte's Show-Offs (Cleis Press) and Winston Gieseke's Team Players (Bruno Gmuender).

Published

My story "All-American Male" appears in the just-published anthology Blowing Off Class.

7

I received my 7th acceptance of the year late this afternoon, this time for a confession.

6

I received my 6th acceptance of the year this evening, this time for an erotic romance story.

Eight

I finished and submitted my eighth story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a 6,000-word Father's Day story I started February 20, 2013.

Reviewed

Vanessa Clark reviewed Big Man on Campus on her blog and thought "Discovering the Underground," my contribution to the anthology, was "a solid story, not amazing but I did enjoy it." Read the entire review here.

Published 2x

My story "A Knight for a Night" appears in the April True Confessions and my story "Easter Lilies" appears in the April True Story.

Seven

I finished and submitted my seventh short story of the year this evening, a 1,700-word Father's Day story.

5

I received my 5th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this time for a 4,700-word Mother's Day story.

Six

I finished and submitted my sixth short story of the year this morning. This one's a 5,800-word confession that I began on February 1 after seeing a cowboy sitting alone at at dance hall.

4

I received my 4th acceptance of the year this evening, this time for a 2,000-word light-hearted confession submitted in December.

Reviewed

V.C. reviewed Nasty Boys and had this to say about "Dicked," my contribution to the anthology:

"This one is an undercover cop story. No surprises really. This one left me underwhelmed for some reason. [...] This story overall was just okay. It didn't wow me."

Read the complete review here.

Published 3x + 1

"Stealing Roses to Save a Friend" appears in the February True Confessions, "I Dumped Him but He Won't Get Out of My Life!" appears in the February True Story, and "The Girl Who Had it All" appears in the March True Story.

My Derringer Award-winning story "Getting Out of the Box," appears in a new edition of Crime Square, edited by Robert J. Randisi. The original publisher went out of business and the anthology has been reprinted by Perfect Crime Books.