34

I received my 34th acceptance of the year this morning, this time for a confession.

33

I received my 33rd acceptance of the year this afternoon. This one's for a reprint.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

I spent Saturday in San Jose, Calif., leading "Write Short Fiction for Fun & Profit," a one-day writing workshop for South Bay Writers, a branch of the California Writers Club. Not everyone had arrived yet when I took the somewhat blurry photograph of the venue from my position behind the podium.

Though I didn't have a chance to count the number of attendees, there were 36 pre-registered, a handful of walk-ins, and the organizers, so I'm guessing about 44 writers participated.

We worked our way through plotting, characterization, description and dialog, and wrapped up the day with random writing tips, a discussion of copyright, and a participant-driven Q-and-A.

Andrew MacRae, editor/publisher of Darkhouse Books, provided a copy of And All Our Yesterdays, an anthology containing my story "Beneath Still Waters," and a coffee mug with the anthology cover printed on it as door prizes. He joined us toward the end of the day with calls for submissions for two anthologies he's currently working on, so participants learned the basics of writing short stories and met an editor actively seeking stories to publish.

Brian Evankovich, whose first story I published in Fedora II and who now writes as Brian Drake, was one of the participants. Also participating was Madeline McEwen, a writer I know from the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Dick Yaeger first contacted me about leading the workshop, Vice-President Jenni Everidge negotiated the details with me, and she, President Patrick McQueen, and his wife Jennifer welcomed me at the airport the evening before the workshop.

I had a chance to speak with all—or nearly all—of the participants one-on-one before, after, or during the lunch break, and I wish I could remember all of their names so I could list them here.

I hope the participants enjoyed themselves and learned something about writing short fiction.

I certainly enjoyed myself, and I look forward to the next time I have the opportunity to lead a writing workshop.

Thirty-three

I finished and submitted my thirty-third short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 2,900-word Valentine's Day story I started writing February 15, 2011.

Unaccepted

Last year I had a story accepted by a new publication, and I was looking forward to its publication this year. Unfortunately, earlier this afternoon I learned from the editor that the magazine didn't survive past its first issue. Sigh. Sometimes I think an unacceptance is worse than a rejection.

Published 2x

"Scratch-Off Christmas" appears in the December True Confessions and "Drunk at Christmas" appears in the December True Story.

31, 32

I received my 31st and 32nd acceptances today, for a 2,100-word confession and for a 3,300-word confession.

Thirty-two

I finished and submitted my thirty-second story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,400-word confession I started writing February 19, 2012.

Thirty-one

I finished and submitted my thirty-first short story this afternoon. Though I started this 2,900-word confession on January 17, 2014, it's the first story I've completed in my new office.

Published

My story "Attack of the Nazi Snow Warriors" appears in Weird Menace volume 2, released today.

Available in paperback and for Kindle: http://amzn.to/1Gu0TsR 

This is what happens when your publisher goes out of business

100 copies of my book In the Town of Memories Dying and Dreams Unborn (Barley Books, 2000), on sale now for a mere £25:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/books/joblot-of-100-michael-bracken-gift-books-rrp-£3.99-per-book-/1138895801

Write Short Fiction for Fun & Profit

I will be presenting "Write Short Fiction for Fun & Profit," a one-day, hands-on workshop, in San Jose, California, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2015. Registration fee ranges from a low of $30 to a high of $80.

More information and registration information is here: http://southbaywriters.com/wordpress/.

Thirty

I finished and submitted my thirtieth short story this evening. This one's a 3,300-word confession I started writing December 19, 2013.

Published 2x

"Trapped at Thanksgiving" appears in the November True Confessions, and "Our Cheesy Relationship" appears in the November True Story.

Published

"Killing Victor" appears in the premiere issue of Flash Bang Mysteries.

Twenty-nine

I completed and submitted my twenty-ninth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 2,100-word relationship story that begins at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Published

My noirish mystery "High Cotton" appears in the September issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine.

30

I received my 30th acceptance of the year this morning, this time for a 3,700-word Christmas story.

Reviewed

Brian Bromberger reviewed Take This Man: Gay Romance Stories for The Bay Area Reporter and had this to say about my contribution to the anthology:

"A few tales have special appeal, acknowledging that maintaining a long-term partnership involves hard work and compromise. I especially enjoyed Michael Bracken's 'Blue Heart,' about the evolving relationship of two undergraduates who met at the University of Texas in 2001, and how a gray chest hair sparks old memories."

Read the entire review here.

29

I just received my 29th acceptance of the year. This one's for a 3,800-word erotic viking story.