Hardbroiled shout-out

In "Murder on the Menu," Kevin Burton Smith gives a shout-out to Hardbroiled (Betancourt & Co., 2003), an anthology of private stories I edited in which food plays an important role.

38

I received my 38th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this time for a ghost story about coming to grips with the loss of a loved one that I wrote in 2003.

Published 2x

My story "Two Men with Chocolate" appears in the October True Confessions, and my story "The Pirate and the Bartender at Halloween" appears in the October True Story.

Reviewed

At Erzabet's Enchantments, Erzabet Bishop interviews Sedona Fox, a contributor to Cowboy Lust, and then follows the interview with a review of the anthology.

In the review she mentions five stories as her "absolute fav's," including my story, "Drought." Read the interview and review here.

37

I received my 37th acceptance of the year this evening, this time for the 1,500-word Thanksgiving-themed confession I submitted a couple of days ago.

36, published, and free

My erotic romance "Picture Perfect," about a widow and a younger man, has been reprinted in Cougar and Kitten, a five-story mini-anthology that's free for Kindle users today through the 21st. Learn more and get your copy here.

35

I received my 35th acceptance of the year yesterday, this time for a 2,500-word bit of crime fiction.

Published

My erotic crime fiction story, "Late One Night at the Tourist Court," about a mid-40s bank heist and what follows, appears in the just-published anthology Past Pleasures (Xcite Books), edited by Elizabeth Coldwell.

Thirty-Two

I finished and submitted my thirty-second short story of the year this evening. This one's a 1,500-word Thanksgiving-themed confession.

"Young Man's Game" reviewed

Fangtasia reviews Model Men, an anthology edited by Neil Plakcy, and my story "Young Man's Game" is one of a handful of stories singled out for special attention. Among other things, Fangtasia writes:

"...this one snagged my attention because of the romance, the luscious outdoor sex, and the older characters."

Read the entire review here.

Microchick reviewed

Kevin Tipple reviews Microchick, a collection of my previously published erotic science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories, and concludes:

"The tales in Microchick are good ones. All are complicated and frequently have multiple twists that encourage the reader to consider other possibilities. Microchick: Erotic Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror is another very good read from author Michael Bracken and only intended for adult readers."

Read the entire review at Kevin's Corner.

Microchick is only available in electronic formats, so look for it wherever eBooks are sold.

Writing a Strong Female Protagonist

Here's a photo and brief description of the "Writing a Strong Female Protagonist" panel at last weekend's ArmadilloCon in Austin. A careful examination will reveal that I'm the only male member of the panel.

Free mini-anthologies

My erotic crime story "Late One Night at the Tourist Court" appears in the mini-anthology Cherry Ripe (Xcite Books). The Kindle edition of Cherry Ripe will be free at Amazon August 4-8. Learn more here.

My erotic story "Boys of Summer" appears in the mini-anthology Stud Poker (Xcite Books). The Kindle edition of Stud Poker will be free at Amazon August 7-11. Learn more here.

33, 34

My 33rd and 34th acceptances of the year are reprints. This is turning out to be a good year for reprints.

"Lost Soul" reviewed

My short story "Lost Soul" is reviewed by Stephanotis at Long and Short Reviews. Stephanotis sums up with

"'Lost Soul' is a snappy, quick read for mystery lovers who are short on time. I’ll definitely be looking for more stories by the author." 

Read the entire review here. Purchase the story here.

Preview

My erotic romance "Drought" is scheduled to appear in Cowboy Lust, an anthology being released in August. Here, the editor shares a preview of my story: http://www.cowboylust.net/2012/07/31/snapshot-3-michael-brackens-drought/.

32

I received my 32nd acceptance of the year, this time for a 4,300-word confession.

Published 2x

My stories "The Little Black Dress" and "Forced to Choose: Work or Love" appear in the September True Story.

Published

My crime story about a kidnapping gone wrong, "Mac and Cheese Get Boxed," appears in Kept Against His Will II, edited by Christopher Pierce. The anthology was released in March but I just received my contributor copy.

I'm lean. Are you?

Is your writing flabby or fit? Don't know? Take The WritersDiet Test:

http://www.writersdiet.com/WT.php

I tested several of my stories (representing different genres) and all but one was rated "lean" overall. The only story that wasn't rated "lean" was an unedited partial first-draft typed directly into the text window, and it was rated "fit & trim" overall.

Weird video

I don't know why, but someone made a 12-second video of the cover of Bad Girls, one of my short story collections:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtiSExm2BGE

31

I received my 31st acceptance of the year a few minutes ago, this time for a Halloween-themed confession.

28, 29, 30

I just discovered that I had three stories reprinted last month, so they count as my 28th, 29th, and 30th acceptances of the year.

Siri knows me

Siri corrected me today when I was using the dictate function of my iPhone to send a text. (I know. It seems so convoluted to dictate a text to be sent via a phone. Why didn't I just call?)

I was telling someone I was a "horror writer." Siri changed it to "whore writer."

Sigh.

Siri knows me.

27

I received my 27th acceptance of the year this morning, this time for an erotic story about a middle-aged widow.

Published

My story "Chance Encounter" appears in the August issue of True Confessions, available on newsstands now.

Thirty-one

I finished and submitted my thirty-first short story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a 4,000-word confession I started writing October 22, 2007.

Thirty

I finished and submitted my thirtieth short story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a 3,300-word Halloween confession I started writing December 22, 2007.

ApolloCon and 26

I spent this weekend at ApolloCon in Houston, where I served time on two panels with moderator Bill Crider and had twice had breakfast discussions with Bill and his lovely wife Judy outside the Con Suite.

Late Saturday evening I received my 26th acceptance of the year--a 2,600-word confession--surprising me because who expects a magazine editor to be working late on a Saturday?

Reviewed

Tam recently reviewed the anthology Stand By Your Man at Tam Reads, Writes & Rambles and had this to say about my private eye story "Stand By Your Man":

"I don't want to ruin the ending but I was surprised to say the least. It's a bit about manipulation and using your body to get what you want, which is something graduate student Jeremy is quite adept at."

And he had this to say about all of the stories in the anthology:

"They were all well-written little shorts."

Read the entire review here.

Sinks and faucets

Writing bears an interesting similarity to sinks and faucets.

Ideas flow from writers like water from a tap. Every so often, when we want to capture an idea and turn it into a story, we put a stopper in the sink to collect the words, sentences, and scenes that will fill the sink and complete the story.

Sometimes the creative tap is wide open and the story sink fills quickly. Sometimes the faucet merely drips and the sink does not fill for a long, long time. Often we have several faucets filling several sinks concurrently.

What I've come to realize is that it doesn't matter how quickly or how slowly each story sink fills. Often no one, not even the writer, will recognize which story sinks filled quickly and which filled slowly because each writer's sinks are filled from the same creative source.

So, stop up a few of your story sinks and start capturing the flow of your creativity.

History sends me spiraling into depression

A few days ago I picked up a copy of Damon Runyon's short story collection Take It Easy. Though first published in 1938, my find is a 1945 PocketBOOK wartime edition.

Last night, I started reading Take It Easy and wasn't depressed until the second paragraph of Robert van Gelder's introduction, titled "A Few Words About Runyon," where he notes that Runyon "gives two days each to the actual writing of these stories that you are about to read [...], but although he is paid for them at the rate of three dollars or more a word, this work is for him a part-time activity."

Holy Mother of God. Three dollars--or more!--per word. In the early 1930s.

At a mere three dollars per word, last year I would have earned more than half a million dollars from my short fiction.

I didn't even come close.

Sigh.

25 and published

I just learned that one of my erotica stories was reprinted, making it my 25th acceptance of the year.

24

I received my 24th acceptance of the year this morning, and there's a story behind this story.

I originally wrote it for the confession magazines, from whence it was returned because it was too "hot." I revised it by amping up the heat a little and sent it to the editor of a series of confession anthologies, where "confession" has a different meaning than it does at the magazines.

Yesterday, the anthology editor asked for a slight revision--amping up the heat even more in the, um, climactic scene--but she wanted to finalize the contents of her anthology today, so could I turn it around quickly?

I said I could, I did, and this morning I awoke to an email telling the revision was "perfect."

I live for those emails.

Awards & accolades

Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction, a writing textbook to which I contributed, has received many awards and accolades since publication last year, including

Winner, "Business: Writing and Publishing" category, 2012 International Book Awards.

Winner, "Education/Academic" category, 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Winner, General Non-Fiction Award. 2011 London Books Festival Award.

Listed 5th in "This Year's Ten Most Terrific Writing Books" by The Writer magazine (Dec 2011).

Finalist, "Business: Writing and Publishing" category. USA Best Books 2011 Award.

Finalist. 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Awards.

Finalist, "Writing" category. ForeWord Review's 2011 Book of the Year Awards.

Health update

I had quadruple heart bypass surgery on Sept 10, 2008, and for the following few months I wrote about it, about my recovery process, and about the impact it had on my writing.

I haven't written much about my health since, but I thought I should provide an update. Today was my annual visit with my cardiologist, and the news is all good.

First, I've lost 15+ pounds since September 2008, most of it finally coming off this year. (This weekend I even bought new chinos a waist size smaller than I had been wearing.) My cardiologist wanted to know how I'd done it because, for the first time in his life, he's been advised to drop 15 pounds. So, I was giving my cardiologist dieting advice!*

Second, my blood pressure and cholesterol levels are now within "normal" range, which means no changes to my current medication.

Third, and perhaps more importantly, my EKG was normal. The doc says my EKG was one of the best post-bypass EKGs he's ever seen.

So, life is good!
_____
*Here's how I've done it:

1) Improve the quality of my diet by including more fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables and eliminating as many prepared canned and boxed foods. Reduce salt and fat intake. Eat more chicken and seafood and less beef. Also, eat more home cooking and less fast food.

2) Reduce the amount of food I consume. Instead of eating until I'm full, I now eat until I'm no longer hungry.

3) Fight my addictions. For example, I'm a Mountain Dew addict. Each time I've gone cold turkey, I've been back on the bottle within a few weeks. Now, I trick my taste buds. When I want a Dew, I take a big swallow of it and then switch immediately to water. I get that first rush of flavor from the swig of Dew but the water ultimately quenches my thirst.

4) Find an exercise I'll actually do because walking is boring. I've always enjoyed dancing, so I've taken some dance classes and have been dancing several times the past few months. (A dance partner and I even won a Twist contest!)

5) Be happy. Enjoy life. Don't stress over the little things.

23 and published

I received my 23rd acceptance of the year today. Sort of. One of my erotic stories was picked up for a "best of" collection published earlier this month, but I didn't know it until I discovered the book for sale on Amazon.

22

I received my 22nd acceptance of the year this morning, for a story submitted three times to the same publication.

The editor to whom I first submitted the story left the magazine shortly after I submitted it. The person checking her emails during the transition had no record of it, so I resubmitted the story. A few months later, after a new editor settled into place, I once again checked on the status of the story and the new editor had no record of it. So I resubmitted it.

Third time's the charm!

Reviewed

Kevin R. Tipple reviews Sex, Violence & Half a Million Dollars and concludes:

"While sexuality is clearly part of each story, the stories are primarily good crime stories and feature the traits that readers of crime fiction writer Michael Bracken know and love. This very adult collection isn’t for everyone, but if you are okay with adult themes and situations, this collection is a very good one."

Read the entire review at Kevin's Corner.

21

I received my 21st acceptance of the year this morning, for a bit of erotic crime fiction I submitted on June 22, 2011.

Nine-year stretch

Effective with publication of the July 2012 issue of True Confessions, which contains four of my stories, I've now had one or more short stories published each and every month for nine years--that's 108 consecutive months.

My short stories have been published in nearly every genre; in anthologies, magazines, and newsletters; electronically, in print, and in audiobooks; in several countries and in a couple of languages.

And I have contracts stretching a few months into the future, so there's a glimmer of hope that this incredible run will continue for a while longer.

Published 4x

My stories "Failure at 30?," "Sundays with Daddy," "Will Date for Food," and "Mama's Boy!" all appear in the July issue of True Confessions.

Twenty-nine

I finished and submitted my twenty-ninth short story of the year this evening. I started the story on January 13, 2002, and had written about two pages. It languished on my computer until a couple of days ago when I realized it was the perfect opening scene for an anthology with an open submissions call and a deadline only a few days away. I finished the story in two writing spurts, the first when I rediscovered what I had written and the balance today, when I alternated writing and various household chores. It's an erotic story about two police officers, and it's complete at 2,800 words.

When editors fail

I'm reading Map of Murder, an anthology published in 2007, and found this in one of the stories:

"[...] she pulled the phone plug out of the wall."

Three paragraphs later:

"She ran to the phone, dialed her father's phone number, but got a busy signal."

She shouldn't have gotten any kind of signal. The phone's not plugged in.

"Chalkers" on sale

Untreed Reads is offering several titles on sale this month, including my mystery short story "Chalkers."

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?

Learn more here.

Kindle reality update

In a response to an earlier post, Jack Owen asked, "[T]his time last year you wrote a review of the 'REAL' state of sales for journeyman writers as opposed to the 'Stars'. As a pro [...], have there been any significant changes?"

There have been changes, but are they significant?

So let's review. I'm an established writer with almost 1,000 short story sales, author of several books published by small presses, and editor of five crime fiction anthologies. I'm not well known, but neither am I a beginner.

I released my first title for Kindle--a romance novella titled Unbridled Love: A Romance with Horse Sense--in April 2010. Since then I've released 13 additional titles--one novel, two novellas, six short story collections, and four freestanding short stories. The titles have been released under my name and under the pseudonym Rolinda Hay.

My bestselling title is the one I released first. As of the end of April, Unbridled Love has sold 480 copies. Released in April 2011, my second-bestselling title is Sex, Violence & Half a Million Dollars, a collection of erotic crime fiction stories previously published in men's magazines, with 18 copies sold as of the end of April. Sales for other titles range down to a low of two for "Pick," a short story released September 2010. (My newest release, Love in Short Order, has only been available for a few days and stats for this title are not included.)

I'm currently earning more than $100 each month from sales of these titles, though the bulk of that income is from sales of Unbridled Love. (Note: I don't give work away so these sales figures represent actual sales, not freebies.)

I enrolled several of my titles in KDP Select. So far only one title has been checked out. Interestingly, it was a short story and I earned more for that check-out than I would have earned if I'd sold that copy.

I've also released two of these titles--Unbridled Love and Memories Dying--through Smashwords. I don't have actual sales figures handy, but my total earnings from Smashwords, as of the end of April, was $104.58. The bulk of the income was generated by sales of Unbridled Love.

The income I receive from self-published Kindle titles encourages me to continue adding titles as time permits, but does not yet come close to the income I earn from sales to traditional (and non-traditional) short story markets. I have not yet written anything specifically for self-publishing. Everything I've released has been previously published (thus generating additional income) or has, at least, made the rounds of my regular markets (thus generating some income rather than sitting in my filing cabinet and generating none).

The income I receive from Smashwords indicates that I should make an effort to release more titles through Smashwords, and I intend to as time permits.

So, significant changes? No.

But things are definitely looking up.

Reviewed

Kevin R. Tipple reviewed "Chalkers" yesterday and "News Flash" today. Both stories are available from Untreed Reads.

About "Chalkers," Tipple says, the story

"...works on all levels and is a good one."

Read the entire review here.

About "News Flash," he says

"...this short story is a powerful read with a certain sad inevitability to it."

Read the entire review here.

Also available from Untreed Reads, "Lost Soul."

Twenty-eight

I finished and submitted my twenty-eighth story of the year a few minutes ago, a story I started writing January 26, 2006, and which I hadn't seen in quite some time. I was trolling my folders of unfinished stories, found this one, and realized it only needed a sentence and a few word changes to be ready for submission.

It's a literary story about a police officer, so I submitted it to a literary journal. Though I don't often submit my work to literary journals, I have been published in a few.

Published: Love in Short Order

When Amy's Bread & Breakfast loses its cook, Amy Hamilton fears that her failing little restaurant is finally doomed. Then she's rescued by a homeless man with a secret talent who transforms her restaurant and her life, and she finds Love in Short Order.

Love in Short Order is the latest title I've released as Rolinda Hay. It's currently available only from Amazon for Kindle. Learn more here.

Twenty-seven

I wrote and submitted my twenty-seventh short story of the year today, a 2,300-word bit of erotica. Although I spent several days pondering the guidelines for the open-call anthology to which I submitted this, I actually took the story from concept through creation to final draft in a single day.

Also Reviewed

Mark Hickinbotham, San Antonio Writing Examiner, has this to say about Andrew MacAleer's The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists: Inside Secrets from Top Writers, a book in which I am extensively quoted:

"It truly warrants a place near the top of the Top 10 Resources for Writer."

Read the entire review here.

Reviewed

Marq at XX Factor* reviews I Like To Watch (Cleis Press), edited by Christopher Pierce, and has this to say about my contribution:

"'Reprieve' steers perilously close to snuff fiction, while delivering the most original story of the bunch. Author Michael Bracken envisions a hired killer who fails to take his shot when the sight in his rifle scope is of two men f*cking. The killer's trigger finger is necessarily diverted to his own anatomy."

*I've not included a link to the review site because it is NSFW.

Twenty-six

I completed and submitted my twenty-sixth short story of the year this evening, a 2,100-word erotic romance that I wrote for an open-call anthology. I started writing this on April 5 and interrupted work several times to finish other stories.

Twenty-five

I finished and submitted my twenty-fifth story of the year this evening. From concept to completion, I wrote the entire 3,300-word story in a single day in response to an anthology's open call for submissions.

I'm not exactly sure what to call this one. There's a bit of blackmail, but it isn't a crime story, and there's erotic content, but it isn't erotica. Regardless, it's in an editor's hands now.

What I want

Publishing is changing. We all know that. While we have the option of self-publishing everything we write, some of us still deal with gatekeepers. In my case, the gatekeepers are primarily anthology and magazine editors. Unfortunately, I deal with an increasing number of editors who lack the professionalism that previous generations of editors taught me to expect.

So here's what I want from editors:

1. Respond to my submissions promptly, especially if you asked me to contribute to your project.

2. Notify me when you accept or reject my submission. If you can't use the story I sent you, maybe someone else can.

3. Edit carefully and let me see review your work. I'm easy to work with and most of the time you catch errors and make good suggestions. I appreciate that.

4. Send me galley or page proofs to read prior to publication. I will proofread and return them promptly, correcting errors and only rarely suggesting or requesting a change.

5. Pay me promptly. This is how I feed myself. Let me choose when I start my next diet.

Thank you.

Twenty-four

I finished and submitted my twenty-fourth short story of the year this evening, a 3,000-word romance I started writing on Thursday.

20

I received my 20th acceptance of the year a little while ago, this time for a confession. The editor is holding two more stories for further consideration, but I can't count them as sales until I see a contract or the word "accepted."

Twenty-three

I finished and submitted my twenty-third short story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a 2,200-word bit of erotica I started writing May 5, 2009. I had written the first page or so way back then but didn't finish writing the story until I received an anthology's call for submissions and thought the story might fit the call.

Published

My short story "Lost Soul" was released by Untreed Reads earlier today.

After signing away his soul for fame, wealth, and women, an accountant for the mob goes missing, and a sexy demon hires private eye Mark Cain to find him.

Here's how it begins:

The statuesque redhead pushed into my office without knocking and I looked up from the newspaper I had spread across my desk. I’m usually a breast man but the redhead’s backside caught my attention first.

“Nice tail,” I said.

She flicked it once. Then she dropped an eight-by-ten glossy on my desk.

“We had a contract,” she explained. “He skipped.”

Order your copy from Untreed Reads, Amazon, or any of many other on-line bookstores.

Twenty-two

I finished and submitted my twenty-second story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 2,200-word bit of erotic crime fiction I started December 14, 2010. I wrote the first page or so in response to an anthology's open call for submissions, but didn't finish the story in time and let it sit. I picked the story up again a few days ago in response to another anthology's open call for submissions and finished it, though maybe not the way I had originally intended.

Twenty-one

I finished and submitted my twenty-first short story of the year this evening, a 2,500-word bit of noir fiction I started on February 15, 2006. I had written about 80% of the story but didn't have an ending, and the story sat on my hard drive until a few days ago when I rediscovered it and realized I knew how the story should end.

19

I turned the computer on first thing this morning and found my 19th acceptance of the year, this time for a bit of erotica.

Published

My story "Getting Out of the Box" appears in Crime Square, a just-released anthology of crime fiction edited by Robert J. Randisi.

Twenty

I finished and submitted my twentieth short story of the year this evening, a 5,000-word confession I started on December 20, 2007.

Nineteen

I finished and submitted my nineteeth short story of the year this afternoon, a 1,700-word bit of erotica I started Thursday in response to a private call for submissions.

Eighteen

I finished and submitted my eighteenth short story of the year this afternoon, a 4,400-word confession I began writing March 15.

Published 2x

My stories "Are My Bikini Days Over?" and "Seeing Fireworks" appear in the June True Confessions.

Published

My story "Scars and Guitars" appears in the June True Story.

Seventeen

I finished and submitted my seventeenth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 4,500-word confession I began writing on March 22.

18

I received my 18th acceptance of the year this morning, this time for a bit of erotica.

Just released: Spicy Confessions 4

The four short stories in Spicy Confessions 4--"Roommates," "I Faked My Engagement," "Date with a Dumpster" and "Stuck"--showcase Rolinda Hay at her spicy best, featuring a woman dealing with a husband who thinks swinging will save their marriage, a woman who fakes her engagement to appease her family, a woman who learns that the man of her dreams may be a nightmare, and a woman whose life changes dramatically when she gets out of the rut in which she's been stuck.

Confessions are a unique form of women's fiction. They aren't romances, though they are often romantic. They aren't erotica, though some are quite sensual. And they aren't chick lit, though they are clearly written for and about contemporary women. What they are, are compelling stories about real women facing real problems.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rolinda Hay, under her own name and several pseudonyms, has been a leading confession writer for several decades, with more than two hundred confessions published in Black Confessions, Black Romance, Intimate Romances, Intimate Secrets, Intimate Story, Jive, Modern Romances, Secrets, True Confessions, True Experience, True Love, True Romance, True Secrets, and True Story.

Spicy Confessions 4 is currently only available for Kindle at Amazon.com.

Order your copy here: Spicy Confessions 4.

16, 17

I received my 16th and 17th acceptances this afternoon, both for confessions.

Sixteen

I finished and submitted my sixteenth short story of the year this afternoon, a 4,900-word confession that I began writing March 3, 2011.

Fifteen

I completed and submitted my fifteenth short story of the year, a 3,500-word confession I started writing December 13, 2007.

Published 3x

My stories "Butterface Bunny," "Trees and Mommies," and "Two Mommies" appear in the May issue of True Confessions.

15

I received my 15th acceptance of the year this morning, this time for the story I submitted yesterday.

Fourteen

I completed my fourteenth short story of the year this afternoon, a 1,700-word erotic anti-war love story I started writing March 18. This was written for an anthology with an open call, but the editor requests queries rather than full submissions. So, the query's been emailed.

Thirteen

I finished and submitted my thirteenth short story of the year this evening, a 3,800-word confession I started writing on March 16.

14

I received my 14th acceptance of the year this morning, this time for a 4,800-word crime/noir story I wrote during early January of last year.

These days most of the fiction I write is on assignment, on request, or to meet the requirements of a specific anthology or periodical. This story isn't one of them. This story is one of the rare stories I wrote with no specific market in mind. I wrote it because I thought the idea too good to let languish in my idea file.

Alas, it languished in my to-submit file for six months before I stumbled across an anthology looking for exactly this kind of story. Though it took nine months from submission to acceptance--I submitted long before the deadline, and then the deadline was extended--the story sold to the first editor to see it.

So, a gamble followed by a long wait ended with a good result.

Twelve

I finished and submitted my twelfth short story of the year this morning, a 3,600-word erotic romance begun on March 13 and written in response to an anthology's open call for submissions.

12, 13

I received my 12th and 13th acceptances of the year this morning. One was for the story I submitted last night.

Eleven

I finished and submitted my eleventh short story of the year this evening, a 3,300-word confession I began writing March 23, 2010.

11

I received my 11th acceptance today, this time for a confession.

5-star review

My short story "Chalkers," released in various electronic formats by Untreed Reads, received a 5-star review from author Roberta Goodman. She said, among other things:

"Chalkers by author Michael Bracken is a study in self-preservation and the horrendous acts it can lead to. This short story also examines the different ways individuals choose to deal with the ramifications that occur when living with extreme guilt."

Read the entire review at Ro-Always Inspired.

Purchase "Chalkers" from Untreed Reads.

10

I received my 10th acceptance earlier this evening, this time for an erotic romance short story.

Ten

I finished and submitted my tenth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 2,000-word confession I started writing March 8.

Nine

I completed and submitted my ninth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 5,200-word confession I began writing March 22, 2010.

9

I received my 9th acceptance of the year a few minutes ago, this time for a paranormal mystery about a private eye hired by a demon to find a lost soul.

Published 2x

My stories "Solo Dad" and "My Naked Mother Led Me to Love" appear in the April edition of True Confessions.

Eight

I completed and submitted my eighth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 3,000-word erotic romance I started writing February 23 in response to an anthology call for submissions.

Seven

I finished and submitted my seventh short story of the year this evening. It's a 3,500-word confession I started writing March 12, 2008.

6, 7, 8

I received my 6th, 7th, and 8th acceptances of the year this afternoon, all for confessions.

This year is beginning the way last year ended, with me selling stories faster than I'm writing new ones. If I don't increase productivity, I'll soon run out of stories to sell!

Six

I completed and submitted my sixth short story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a 4,700-word confession I started writing October 8, 2007.

5

My 5th acceptance of the year arrived a few minutes ago, this time for a 5,000-word confession.

4

I received my 4th acceptance of the year earlier this afternoon, this time for a 3,000-word confession.

Five

I finished and submitted my fifth short story of the year a few minutes ago. This one's a 5,000-word confession I started writing January 25.

Guest lecturer

Wednesday I spoke to students in a magazine writing class at the University of Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton, Texas.

This may be the first time I've ever spoken about writing and editing non-fiction; I usually speak about writing fiction. What I realized when I gave my presentation is that the basic information is the same.

My favorite line of the day: A good magazine article begins with a query letter and ends with a check.

2, 3

This year is off to a slow start, but I finally received my 2nd and 3rd acceptances of the year this afternoon. Both are confessions, one written in 2006 and one written in 2008.

Published

My story "I Found Love at the End of the Rainbow" appears in the March issue of True Story.

Published

My erotic crime story "The Gunsel, the Nance, and the Redheaded Rooster" was published in the anthology Mob Men on the Make. The anthology was officially released last September but my contributor copy didn't arrive until today.