Wednesday, December 30, 2020

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.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

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.

Monday, December 21, 2020

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.

Friday, December 11, 2020

35

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

Thursday, December 03, 2020

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.

Sunday, November 29, 2020

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.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

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.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

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.

Thursday, November 05, 2020

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.

Sunday, November 01, 2020

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.

Saturday, October 31, 2020

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.

Monday, October 26, 2020

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.

Thursday, October 08, 2020

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.

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

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.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

17

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

Friday, September 11, 2020

16

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

Tuesday, September 08, 2020

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.

Thursday, August 20, 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.

Sunday, August 16, 2020

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.

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Twelve

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

Thursday, August 13, 2020

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).

Sunday, July 19, 2020

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.

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

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.

Saturday, July 04, 2020

13

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

Monday, June 22, 2020

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.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

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.

Monday, June 15, 2020

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.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

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.

Monday, May 11, 2020

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.

Saturday, May 09, 2020

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.

Sunday, April 26, 2020

10

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

Sunday, April 12, 2020

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.

Monday, April 06, 2020

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.

Sunday, April 05, 2020

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.

Friday, March 27, 2020

9

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

Monday, March 16, 2020

8

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

Thursday, March 12, 2020

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.

Monday, March 09, 2020

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.

Wednesday, March 04, 2020

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.

Sunday, March 01, 2020

5

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

Thursday, February 27, 2020

4

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

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

3

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

Saturday, February 08, 2020

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.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

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.