8

I received my 8th acceptance of the year this afternoon. This one's for a private eye story. The editor doesn't like the title, so I've spent the afternoon trying to come up with something better. So far: Nothing.

7

I received my 7th acceptance of the year this evening, this one for a mystery submitted to an open-call anthology.

Reviewed: "The Mourning Man"

On her blog, Catherine Dilts reviews four stories from the March/April Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and has this to say about my story "The Mourning Man":

The story Mourning Man by Michael Bracken is a touching tale wrapped up in a dangerous game. Cab driver Johnny Devlin is pressured into driving for a robbery when he can't pay a loan shark back for the money he borrowed to pay for his wife's funeral. You can read about the author's inspiration for this story here.

6

I received my 6th acceptance of the year this afternoon, this for an essay.

5

I received my 5th acceptance of the year this afternoon. This is for a a noir story I started on February 20, finished and submitted on March 2, and revised to editor specifications on March 3.

Eight

I finished and submitted my eighth short story of the year this evening, an 1,800-word noir crime story.  I started the story on February 20, actually finished it a few days ago, but hadn't added it to the count until now because I had to find an appropriate market.

Seven

I finished and submitted my seventh short story of the year this evening, a 2,200-word bit of noir I started February 24.

Reviewed: "Dixie Quickies"

In "Short & Sweet," his column in the just-arrived Winter issue of Mystery Scene Magazine, Ben Boulden reviews the first issue of Wildside Press's Black Cat Mystery Magazine, devoting two paragraphs to the issue, and singling out two stories for closer attention, including my "Dixie Quickies," which he calls "a thriller dressed as a straight crime story where a dead cartel gangster, a motel clerk, and a motel room maid, are all caught in the same gravitational pull."

Six

I completed and submitted my sixth shorty story of the year this evening. This one's a bit of crime fiction I started November 20, 2017.

Published: "My Stripper Past" and "The Mourning Man"

My story "My Stripper Past" appears in Pulp Adventures #28, and my story "The Mourning Man" appears in the March/April Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

Five

I finished and submitted my fifth short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 5,600-word private eye story I started January 16.

Published: "Plumber's Helper"

My story "Plumber's Helper" was published today on The Saturday Evening Post's website: http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/02/16/post-fiction/contemporary-fiction-art-entertainment/plumbers-helper.html

Published: "Poster Child"

Today I write about all the mystery publications that have come and mostly gone, and about how publication in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ties short story writers to the genre's history in a way publication in no other magazine does, in my guest post, "Poster Child," at Something Is Going to Happen: https://somethingisgoingtohappen.net/2018/02/14/poster-child-by-michael-bracken/

Note: I also now blog as one of the SleuthSayers. My posts appear every third Tuesday at SleuthSayers.org.

4

I received my 4th acceptance of the year this afternoon. This one's for an essay.

Best American Mystery Stories

My story "Smoked," first published in Noir at the Salad Bar, has been selected for inclusion in this year's The Best American Mystery Stories.

Published: "Texas Hot Flash"

"Texas Hot Flash" appears today at Tough.

Published: "Skirts"

"Skirts" appears in Black Cat Mystery Magazine #2, released at the tail-end of last month.

3

I received my 3rd acceptance of the year last evening, this time for a reprint.

2

I received my 2nd acceptance of the year yesterday, this one for a romance.

Four

I wrote and submitted my fourth short story of the year today. This one's a 250-word dark-crime/horror flash.