My short story “Dead Even” has been accepted to appear in Red Coyote Press’s anthology Medium of Murder.

“Dead Even” is a River City story featuring Dominic Bracco. Doing a favor for his Uncle Angelo in Jersey, Dom faces an old gypsy woman and her protective nephews.

Medium of Murder is scheduled for a Spring 2008 release from Red Coyote Press.

I’ve started work again on the third book in the River City series, Beneath a Weeping Sky. It takes place in 1996. Aisling will release this book in September 2008.

I’m only about 18,000 words into it at this point, though I’ve got a good handle on where it is going.

In the meantime, though, I’m finishing part three of the Shae quartet of stories. This one is tentatively called “A New Life.” It follows Shae’s arrival in Canada after some bad things happened to her in Ireland. The fourth and final story will be about those bad things.

Whereas the first two stories in this quartet ("Shae" and “Laddie”) were told from Laddie’s viewpoint, the final two are being narrated by Shae. This will be in the first person and marks only the second time I’ve tried to do this – that is, write in the first person with a female character. Being a male, that can be a tricky proposition. My first go-round was “Last Day in Paradise,” which featured Katie MacLeod.

We’ll see if I can pull it off.

The other aspect of this quartet is that it is being told in reverse chronological order. In other words, the first story published ("Shae") was actually the last in the timeline. “Laddie” came before that and “A New Life” is before Laddie. The final story will actually be the first in the chronology.

Joe DeMarcus at Mysterical-E has expressed an interest in printing all four in consecutive issues over the course of a year. “Shae” and “Laddie” are reprints (originally appeared in Crime and Suspense), but the final two are yet unpublished.

I’m probably halfway through the first draft of “A New Life” right now. I hope to finish it this week. Don’t know if I’ll dive right into the final one or not. I might just go back to Weeping Sky and get rolling on that one, then come back to Shae and Laddie.

I’ll let ya know.

HEROES OFTEN FAIL COUNTDOWN: 16 Days

Speaking of Clair Dixon, we are sharing space at Yellow Mama for the summer issue. My story “Cassie” is published there now. You can read it HERE.

Warning..."Cassie" has some language and a little violence, but it is also one of the few stories I’ve written with fairly candid sex scenes in it. Nothing pornographic, or even erotica, but definitely rated ‘R.’ Still, both scenes involve the heart, as well.

If that combination doesn’t dissuade you from looking, click on the “HERE” up above and check it out. Check out Clair’s story while you’re there.

Some good news.

“And a Fall Cometh” will be published in MYSTERICAL-E, probably in the Fall 2007 issue. This story is a sequel of sorts to the very short “Pride Goeth” (originally published in Seven by Seven).

After the issue in which “And a Fall Cometh” appears, MYSTERICAL-E will begin publishing a four-story serial starring the characters of Shae and Laddie. This arc is told in reverse order, with the first two published stories narrated by Laddie and the second two narrated by Shae.

In “Shae,” the two criminals rob a bank, but things go very wrong.

In “Laddie,” they decide to rob a convenience store for some quick cash, but things don’t work out the way they planned.

In the yet-unnamed third tale, Shae and Laddie meet in Canada. The primal connection between them is introduced, as well as their criminal leanings.

In the final story, the first one to occur chronologically, Shae must escape Ireland after a deal she tried to broker goes sour. She flees to Canada. This story is actually related to the events that occur in “No Worse Curse,” although neither Shae nor Laddie appear in that particular tale.

MYSTERICAL-E will publish one story an issue for four issues to complete the arc. I’m very excited about this development.

"From the Roof" has gone live on Amazon Shorts.

For just 49 cents, you can download this store RIGHT HERE!

While you’re there, you can also download “Finch and Elias” and “Last Day in Paradise.” All three are River City stories.

My short story “Cassie” has been accepted by the online magazine YELLOW MAMA.

I will update you when it is available.

“Cassie” is a Stefan Kopriva story that takes place between Waist Deep and the yet unnamed second novel. It comes after “Five for Fighting and a Murder Misconduct,” too.

You can check out the magazine HERE.

I finished three stories over the holiday weekend.

“Prank Call” actually had its origins in a partial story I wrote years ago, but never finished. I used it as a jumping off point for the current version and ended up cutting out about 2/3 of the original text. It is about a man who gets out of prison and seeks vengeance on the man who put him there. Revenge is a nebulous, empty proposition, though, isn’t it?

“Harry and the Bird” is another story that has been humming around in my head since about 2001 or 2002. In it, two detectives arrive at work in the morning to see another detective standing in the grass staring at a little bird. Things go downhill from there.

“Home for Christmas” is brand new and stars Detective Katie MacLeod as she investigates a burglary on Christmas Day. She deals with liars (big surprise), as well as some personal issues.

“Prank Call” and “Home for Christmas” were both written specifically for anthologies that I was invited to contribute to. However, neither one has been formally accepted yet, so we’ll see. “Harry and the Bird” is going to be one of those tough sells, as it doesn’t really fit crime/mystery fiction even though it involves cops. Hopefully, I can find an appropriate home for it.

Currently, I’m working on a story that I intend to send to another anthology. The working title is “Medium” (a title that will certainly change). It stars New Jersey transplant Dominic Bracco as he does a favor in River City for his Uncle Angelo back in Jersey.

After “Medium” is finished and off to the publisher for consideration, I have to make a decision: what long work do I delve into next? There are several options:

(1) Book Three of the River City Patrol series, Beneath a Weeping Sky, which I’ve already written about 15,000 words of.

(2) My hockey novel, All That Counts, which is a completed first draft.

(3) The second Stefan Kopriva mystery (sequel to Waist Deep), of which I’ve already completed about 11,000 words.

(4) A science-fiction/horror book that will be the first in a series, which I’ll be writing under a different psuedonym. I haven’t started this one yet.

(5) A fantasy novel, which is only about 2000 words deep so far.

(6) My “Nice Guy” book, which I haven’t started.

(7) “Nor Shadowed Heart”, which is a Connor O'Sullivan novel that takes place in 2004. This one is only just barely begun. It really isn’t a candidate right now, anyway, as it will likely be written when the River City Patrol books catch up to that point in the timeline.

Of course, there are always more short stories that are simmering. And there are revisions for Heroes Often Fail surely coming from the publisher. And there is always the business of looking at markets and submitting...

So. Plenty to keep me busy. We’ll see which way the play goes once “Medium” is finished and off to that publisher for a look-see.

LL Dreamspell has accepted my short story, “For the Sake of Art” for their vampire anthology.

“For the Sake of Art” is a story that I first wrote in about 1990 or so. It has undergone several re-writes over the years (in fact, the original title was “Jailbat,” but I thought that sounded too campy. The story is definitely a serious one, not a comedy), but the basic premise is the same.

Upir is a vampire who is faced with tax evasion charges. He can easily flee, but risks the confiscation of his beloved art collection. In the course of the story, you see how he solves this problem, how much the art means to him and why.

There isn’t a release date set for the anthology yet, but I’ll update when I get the news.

I received notification today that my River City short story “From the Roof” has been accepted into the Amazon Shorts program. It will be available shortly. Like all Amazon Shorts, it is available for a 49 cent download.

“From the Roof” tells the story of two cops, one a training officer and the other a rookie, watch the action on a busy drug corner from the roof of the State Theater.

The veteran, Glen Bates, is a very minor character in Under A Raging Moon. He appears in other books, as well, including Waist Deep and Some Degree of Murder. He is also the unnamed main character in the short story, “Take a Hand,” published in Koboca Publishing’s anthology The EX Factor.

The rookie, Romeo McClaren, also appears in Some Degree of Murder. The events in “From the Roof” take place shortly after Some Degree of Murder while McClaren is still in the training car.

I finished the first draft of a new short story today called “Jack’s Town.” It is set in La Sombra, with the same characters that are featured in my short story “In the Shadow of El Paso.” That story appears in the anthology Map of Murder, currently available from Red Coyote Press.

In this story, Carl is once again the main character and Isabella, la morena de su corazon, is also featured. Carl goes up against the richest man in town, Jack Talbott.

No telling when and where this one will be available, but it has gone from the idea stage to the corporeal.

My short story “Last Day in Paradise” is now live at Amazon Shorts for a 49 cent download. You can check it out right HERE.

“Last Day in Paradise” follows Officer Katie McLeod on her final day as a patrol officer before her promotion to detective.

This is my second Amazon Short. The other is "Finch and Elias."

I just received word today that my story, “Last Day in Paradise,” has been accepted into the Amazon Shorts program.

This will be my second story in the program. The first was “Finch and Elias.”

Both cost 49 cents to download.

I imagine that the story will be available in about one month.

My story, “Sign of the Burning Moon,” is now available at Mouthfull of Bullets, an online magazine.

In addition to my story, I am the featured author in an interview by the editor, my friend BJ Bourg. Plus, Kevin Tipple has a review of “Under A Raging Moon” in this issue as well.

Not only that, but there are two other author interviews, more stories and reviews. You can check it all out right HERE.

My thanks to Kevin and BJ for featuring me and my work so prominently!

"Finch and Elias" has gone live on Amazon Shorts. You can buy this short story for just 49 cents!

The link is right here!

This story is related to “Be My Santa Baby,” which was originally published at Mysterical-E around Christmas of last year. You can read that here, if you’re interested.

Crimson Highway has gone live with its special preview issue. This issue contains my story, “In Your Warm and Darkened Grave.”

This is not a River City story, but rather a vampire story.

You can check out the issue HERE.

My short story, “Labor in Vain,” was accepted by Long Story Short and will be featured in their December issue.

This story is not a River City story and is a bit of a departure for me.

My short story, “Lowest Point,” was accepted by 5th Story Review. It will be published electronically this month, entered into a reader’s choice content and will be considered for the print publication later this year.

“Lowest Point” was originally a scene in Under A Raging Moon that was cut for pacing purposes. It involves Stefan Kopriva responding to a suicide call.

My short story, “Finch and Elias,” will be part of the Amazon Shorts program. It was accepted and I am in the paperwork process. I’ll post here when it is available, at which time anyone who is interested can download it for just 49 cents.

Also, my poem, “Forever Love,” will be included in the mummy anthology, My Little Book of the Dead. My story, “No Worse Curse,” is already part of that collection, which is due out on Halloween.

My short story, “The Sign of the Burning Moon,” was accepted for the December issue of the new crime/mystery eZine MOUTHFULL OF BULLETS.

The story was originally my entry in a Clarity of Night contest and inspired by a photograph taken by Jason Evans. The word limit was 250. This new version clocks in at over 500 words, fleshing out the story a tiny bit more. In the story, a particularly vivid moonrise plays upon the conscience of a weak-willed man.

My book, Under A Raging Moon, will likely be reviewed in that same issue of MFoB and there is a possibility that the editor will be interviewing me, too.

In the meantime, my story, “Short Till,” will be in the debut issue of the mag when it goes live in about three days. You can read my story and the rest of the issue right here.

My story, “Party Dress,” is up at Flashquake.

It was an Editor’s Pick, which means that one editor felt strongly enough about it to publish it in spite of a chorus of ho-hums from the other editors. Thank you, David Shapiro! You’ll find the story in the Editor’s Pick section of the eZine, along with Mr. Shapiro’s comments about why he selected it and a very cool piece of accompanying art.

The link is here.

This story is not crime fiction but it set in the River City world.

It’s a veritable shower.

Crimson Highway, an eZine of dark romantic fiction will publish “In Your Warm and Darkened Grave.” This story is about a man who serves a lady vampire, but yearns to join her as her vampire mate. Some things you shouldn’t want. It will appear in their special October preview issue here.

Next I heard back from Tony Burton, my publisher for Under A Raging Moon. He is publishing a Christmas charity anthology to benefit the USMC’s Toys for Tots program. It’s called By the Chimney with Care and my story, “Three Days of Christmas” will be in it. It’s about a burglar who steals presents and the River City officers and detectives who investigate. It will be available here.

Thirdly, I received a response from BJ Bourg, editor of a new paying eZine called “Mouthfull of Bullets.” He is going to publish my story, “The Short Till,” in his premiere issue in September. “The Short Till” is about an ex-con who has always thought he was smarter than he is. When he’s interviewed about scams at his job at the video store, he decides he can out-wit the investigator. After all, he’s a smart guy, isn’t he? This will be right here.

After a bit of dry spell, it is nice to have some stories find good homes.

My short story (a ‘flash,’ really) “Party Dress” will be published at flashquake in their September issue.

It is a very cool eZine. Each story is accompanied by art, which I always enjoy. It is interesting to see what images a visual artist comes up with after reading a story I’ve written.

Thanks to David Shapiro, the editor who made it his “Editor’s Pick” over a pack of maybes from his fellows. I appreciate it.

If you have have moment, hop over to flashquake and read some selections. There are some very good ones.

I’ve written two new short stories recently. Both are River City shorts.

“Three Days of Christmas” (working title) takes place in December of 2005. It is about a burglar who steals Christmas presents and features Detective Katie McLeod working the case. I’ve written it for a specific Christmas anthology, but it is outside the length guidelines. I have an alternative version that is shorter called “Two Days of Christmas” that may be the version that gets used, if it is picked up by that editor.

While “Three Days of Christmas” is an investigative procedural, it also looks at all the emotional gray areas that exist in police work, which are only magnified around Christmas time.

“Lowest Point” is actually an excised scene from Under A Raging Moon. While I really like the scene, the truth was that it didn’t propel the main storyline or any of the major sub-plots along. So while it was, I felt, a scene that gave the civilian a close-up look at the kinds of things a patrol officer deals with (in this instance, Officer Stefan Kopriva responds to a suicide that has just occurred) and what the emotional toll of those things are, it had to be cut from the novel.

I was considering saving the “Lowest Point” scene for River City: Patrol, but truthfully, I don’t know if or when that particular book will get written or published. I think the event has enough stand-alone strength to be a short story in its own right, so there ya go.

“Lowest Point” explores the procedural aspects of a patrol response to a suicide. It also explores the emotional reactions of the suicide victim’s husband and ultimately, the responding officer. Anyone in law enforcement or the medical field can tell you that being around death, particularly of the unnatural variety is hard on the individual.

Both stories are already in submission.

My story “Five for Fighting and a Murder Misconduct” will be in the July/August issue of FMAM (Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine). I received my early run contributor’s copy (a .pdf) and I have to say that, as always, it is a slick mystery magazine. They did a beautiful job with my story.

I’m very pleased to appear in this magazine.

I finished another short story yesterday. The title, right now, is “The Bastard Mummy.” It was my original idea for the My Little Book of the Dead entry. Originally, I figured about 3500 words, but it quickly ballooned. The final first draft weighs in at just under 14,000 words.

Ouch!

Luckily, I had another mummy idea ("No Worse Curse") to get off to the editor for the mummy anthology. Now the trick will be finding a home for this one!

My short story “Walking Through” will be published in the debut issue of Lavender Raven.

Lavender Raven is a crime/mystery fiction eZine with a gay/lesbian theme that will premiere sometime in the Fall of 2006. It is edited by Joe DeMarco, who also edits Mysterical-E.

“Walking Through” is about a gay River City cop who is still in the closet. He runs into a situation that focuses on his sexuality. In addition to the surface story, I intended the story to be a metaphor for how civilians treat a person different after discovering that s/he is a cop...and also a larger metaphor for just treating people different based on a label rather than as an individual.

I’ll post again when “Walking Through” is published.

My short story, “No Worse Curse,” will appear in an independent anthology with a mummy theme called “My Little Book of the Dead.” This one is not a River City story. Release date of the anthology TBD.

Meanwhile, I’m working on another mummy-related story starring Detectives Finch and Elias...we’ll see how that goes. I’m still looking for a home for their first starring role.

My short story, “Running Into Darkness,” was accepted today for inclusion in an anthology called Never Safe.

“Running Into Darkness” is a River City story. It asks, what’s the most dangerous thing a cop does? Is it a traffic stop? Or a foot pursuit into the darkness of the city at night?

What happens in this story (Officer Paul Hiero gets into a foot pursuit) is a seminal event in River City history...for the other side of the coin, read “The Meat-cutter’s Wife.” I’d recommend doing that after reading “Running Into Darkness,” though. These events are also referenced in “If Only” and the novel SOME DEGREE OF MURDER.

This acceptance marks the fourth anthology I will have stories in: Seven By Seven, The EX-Factor, Map of Murder and now Never Safe. 2006 is only half over and it has already been a fruitful year for writing. I’ve been very lucky in that regard.

My River City short story called “The Cleaner” will be published in the August issue of The Writers Post Journal.

“The Cleaner” is about a guy whose job is to clean up the crime scenes (homicides/suicides, etc.) after the police are finished. Everything is fine until he comes across something suspicious while cleaning up a murder scene.

The main character is a new character, and likely a one-timer, but for the Constant Reader, Officer Glen Bates and Detectives Tower and Browning are in the story.

You can check out The Writers Post Journal HERE. It is a full-size print magazine and very slick. I encourage you to pick up the August issue (for some strange reason...) and if you like it (you will!), consider subscribing.

My short story, “In The Shadow of El Paso,” has been accepted for the anthology Map of Murder, coming out in the Fall from Red Coyote Press.

I’m pretty excited, as this was a specific market I had in mind when I wrote the piece. I had Earl Staggs, resident Texan, read it for authenticity and general comments. Jill Maser did a lot of work, too, helping with critiques and making a ton of suggestions.

I’m looking forward to seeing this anthology come out!

My story The Meat-cutter’s Wife has been published at Mysterical-E Magazine. It’s the lead-off story, in fact.

You can read it right HERE.

What’s cool is that even though I wrote the stories over six months apart, both The Meat-cutter’s Wife and it’s brother story, Rescuing Isaac, were published at the same time. Rescuing Isaac is still up over at Thuglit, right HERE.

If you haven’t read either one yet, read The Meat-cutter’s Wife first, then Rescuing Isaac.

The characters of Dom and Valeriy from these two stories also appear or are referenced in Be My Santa Baby (in the previous issue of Mysterical-E), Finch And Elias (unpublished) and Pride Goeth (from 7x7). The events in The Meat-cutter’s Wife are referenced in If Only (February 2005 issue of Ascent Aspirations Magazine), Good Shepherd (November 2005 issue of Ascent Aspirations Magazine and a Derringer Finalist) and the unpublished, collaborative novel Some Degree of Murder.

Just another example of the character overlap in River City.

"Laddie" will be published in the July issue of Crime And Suspense.

This story is a prequel to “Shae,” which was published in the February 2006 issue of the same magazine. It is the second story in a four part character arc...which I am telling in reverse chronological order. The third story will take place in Canada when Shae and Laddie meet and the final story will revolve around Shae and her departure from Ireland.

My short story, “A Soldier’s Valentine,” has been accepted by Writers Post Journal for publication in the May issue.

This story is written in the form of a letter from “Patrick,” a soldier in Afghanistan, to his wife back home, “Therese.”

After a long wait (and well worth it!), Mysterical-E accepted my short story The Meat-cutter’s Wife. It will appear in the Spring 2006 issue.

The timing couldn’t be better, as Thuglit just published Rescuing Isaac, a story containing many of the same characters a year or two later in the River City timeline.

One of the great things about Mysterical-E is the illustrations that accompany the story.

Round Trip appeared last week as the featured story in Espresso Fiction, a weekly subscription email service that sends a quality short story out every week. It is a paid service and a paying market (actually the highest pay I’ve received yet for a single story!).

Each week, the readers vote on the story. Here was the result on mine:



On top of that, one reader made a comment...

Round Trip by Frank Zafiro
Published on 28th Mar 2006
This story had me hooked from the first line. I thought the narrator’s quiet desperation and frustration with his marriage were finely drawn. A really good read.
Posted by on 4th Apr 2006, 11:32:AM

Pretty cool, huh?

I have been invited to contribute to another anthology.

This one is called The Ex-Factor and focuses on revenge/poetic justice meted out to ex’s, whether that’s an ex-spouse, ex-lover, or whatever.

Each author will contribute up to three stories. So far, I’ve submitted one of the three–
Helping Out. I’ll be working on the other two over the next few weeks.

Also included in the anthology are: Colin Conway, Jill Maser, BJ Bourg, Sunny Frazier, Earl Staggs, Tony Burton and Tonya “Katt” Dunsmore (who originated the concept).

The book is slated for an October 2006 release. Here’s an early cover design:

I finished “The Cleaner” and got it into submission.

I finished the first draft of “Laddie,” a prequel to “Shae,” and it is with a critique partner.

Same with another story, called “The Last Day In Paradise.” This is the first short story I’ve written featuring Katie McLeod, a long-standing River City character. The story occurs in late 2004, as Katie is about to be promoted from patrol officer to detective.

Also, I was invited to contribute to a multi-author anthology called, “The Ex Factor.” All the stories will focus on ex-spouses/lovers and some sort of revenge or poetic justice. The tentative publication date is October 2006.

My short story ‘Rescuing Isaac’ was accepted for publication in the next issue of Thuglit.

My short story ‘Good Shepherd’ made the cut from “nominated” to “Finalist” in the Derringer Awards. It is one of five stories in the ‘Long’ short story category. This story was nominated by David Fraser, the editor at Ascent Aspirations Magazine, where the story originally appeared in the November 2005 issue.

As a member of Short Mystery Fiction Society, I was able to nominate two stories. I nominated stories by two of my friends (both were great stories)–> “In The Pocket” by Colin Conway and “Hell Hath No Fury” by B.J. Bourg. Bourg’s story also made it to the Finalist stage. Colin’s was in one of the two middle categories, which is where the largest number of entries also were, so it was a tougher field (my own ‘If Only’ and ‘Baker-124’ didn’t make it out alive, either).

And I finished the first draft of a short story this weekend called “The Cleaner.” No, it is not a hit man story. But it is a crime story. The main character is a guy who cleans up crime scenes after the police are done.

My flash stories (all 100 words or less) De-fragged, Lost My License and Inside Out Job were accepted tonight by Flashshot Magazine.

Flashshot is a daily email eZine that ships a single story every day to each of its subscribers. All the stories are 100 words or less, for a quick read.

You can subscribe by going here.

Looking at the schedule, I’m guessing my stories will appear in the July/August time frame, but I’ll update when I know for sure.

My short stories, “Baker-124” and “Bill’s Son” are now available for download (99 cents!) at Wolfmont Publishing. Just go to the main site and click on Short Stories on the left hand menu.

“Baker-124” was originally available in the November issue of a print magazine, but if you missed it there, here’s a chance to get it as a stand alone document for less than a buck. The story is about a police officer who goes on a ‘Check The Welfare’ call.

“Bill’s Son” was originally published in a print magazine in 1990. This version is a slight revision. The story is about a man who lives vicariously through a co-workers’s son.

Wolfmont Publishing did a nice job on the covers, too–and you can check those out for free!.

I’ve written a new short. The working title is “Finch And Elias.” It involves two detectives investigating the aftermath of the events that take place in Be My Santa Baby. If you haven’t read that story yet, you can still see it in the current issue of Mysterical-E. This is somewhat of a sequel to that story. There is also some overlap with another short story I wrote, the yet-to-be published The Meat-cutter’s Wife.

My short story, “Vancouver Dreams” is now available for download (FREE!) at Wolfmont Publishing. Just go to the main site and click on Short Stories on the left hand menu.

Other stories are available there and some more of mine will be soon, too. The stories cost 99 cents each. Some are free as samples–complete stories, not teasers.

For less than a cup of coffee, you can enjoy some good fiction, so give it a try!

My short story, Shae has been accepted for publication in the February 2006 issue of Crime and Suspense.

I just received notification that my short story Round Trip has been accepted by espresso FICTION magazine for future publication (week of March 27, 2006).

Woo-hoo!

My story Five For Fighting And A Murder Misconduct was accepted today by FMAM magazine for future publication!

The premiere issue of Dispatch Literary Journal is up:

Click Here

My short story The Worst Door is the lead off story.

Aha!

There I was, minding my own business, sitting in my hot tub (hard won luxury recently attained after wanting one since 1999) and thinking about the specific details in the story for WRATH when FLASH! The idea for ENVY popped into my head.

A few minutes later, it was solidly rounded out and I made a few notes after I went inside (dripping water onto the notepad while I wrote for good measure).

So now the dreadline fear is no more. Sigh. Relief.

Well, AVARICE (Lead Time) is done (it was the audition piece for this anthology).

SLOTH (Oprah’s Smile)and GLUTTONY (Strength of a Dancer) are now finished.

WRATH, LUST and PRIDE are pretty well done in my head.

But ENVY...the green monster is proving elusive...I’ll have to give it some hard thought, because it is the fourth piece due to the editor.

My short story, Party Dress is up in the January/February issue of Saucy Vox.

Maggie is a character I plan to use elsewhere in River City at some point...

My short story, Trails of Red is now up at Crime and Suspense Magazine.

Check it out, along with the other stories there!

I finished the story originally titled Bitches Ruin Everything.

When I started the story, I wasn’t sure if the woman in the story was going to be good or bad and the same with the hockey player.

Well, I’ve finished the first draft and I’ve obviously decided. The new title is Five For Fighting And A Murder Misconduct. Of course, that is subject to change, too.

It runs just over 9,000 words, so it is a little bit longer than I intended. It may need some major work, too. I’ll run it past some readers...and we’ll see.

I finished another short story...this one is called From The Roof and the second draft is finished.

Now I am working on two others...one is a Stefan Kopriva short, though it might end up being on the long end of a short story...tentatively titled Bitches Ruin Everything. Most likely I’ll change that. The title was just something I was using as a marker. I had the idea and wanted to create a file in my ‘Short Fiction’ folder to spur me to get it written. The phrase was coined by my friend Colin Conway and I stole it in a couple of instances, but I don’t think it has made its way into print yet...

The other is just barely started, called El Paso Redux. It’s an idea I head due to a themed issue of an eZine. As you can imagine, it has a western theme.

The ideas for both are still forming.

I just completed the first draft of a new short story called “Shae.”

It is pretty short (about 1900 words). You can read more about it in the Unpublished Short Stories menu of my site.

My short story Trails of Red was accepted today for publication at Crime and Suspense magazine.

It will appear in the January 2006 issue, as part of the “Icy Fingers” theme.

Watch for it.

The Winter 2005 issue of Mysterical-E, which features my story “Be My Santa Baby,” is now up.

You can find it HERE.

Let me know what you think of the story and the artwork.

My short story, Party Dress was accepted today for the Jan/Feb 2006 issue of Saucy Vox.

The magazine link is here.

It’s short (about 740 words) and more of a character study than a story...but I like it. And the really cool thing is that I wrote it in the River City universe, so the setting and the female lead are available to me for inclusion in a later story...somehow I think Kopriva is going to cross paths with her.

My short story, Baker-124, was accepted by GenderiZine of Massachusetts.

You can order a copy of of the magazine right here. It comes in either an E-zine format or a hard copy format that they will mail to you.

As the title suggests, this magazine deals with issues of sexuality, including orientation. The story, Baker-124, has an element of that within it, though it is not the main theme.

As I mentioned earlier, Baker-124 is a River City short story featuring Officer Matt Westboard.

One of the pieces in Heroes Often Fail that really didn’t have anything to do with the main storyline was a chapter involving Matt Westboard.

Westboard is a supporting character in Under A Raging Moon, who works on the same platoon as Katie McLeod. He’s a good guy and a solid cop.

In this chapter, he responds to a welfare check on a little girl at some run-down apartments in River City. The call requires him to investigate her living conditions and determine if she should be placed with CPS or not.

The chapter is a powerful chapter, I think (Conway agreed when he read it), but the fact is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the kidnapping of Amy Dugger, which is the main story of the novel.

Truth be told, I’ve wanted to include calls for service experiences as part of the River City books from the very beginning. I’ve also wanted to make sure most of the characters get at least a little face-time in each installment. What I’ve discovered (read: one part pointed out to me, one part further reflection) is that the story must be paramount. In both Under A Raging Moon and Heroes Often Fail, I have passages that serve no purpose other than to tell an interesting tale about a call some cop went on.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve begun revising both books, taking out these unrelated calls and putting them in a file all their own with an eye toward fashioning a book around them where that is the point—patrol calls. Meanwhile, I’ve found that there are enough calls for service in Under A Raging Moon to still give the reader that flavor and yet not impede the story itself. Same with Heroes Often Fail.

This chapter with Westboard, however, looked like it could stand alone as a short story. I edited it with that in mind, removing references to the Heroes Often Fail storyline that weren’t necessary and tightening it a little bit. At the end of the process, I believed it was a stand alone short piece, so it has officially entered the River City lexicon as such.

Baker-124 is Matt Westboard’s patrol callsign. If you haven’t read Good Shepherd yet, please check it out—Westboard is mentioned there, too.

I have another Westboard story in mind that I haven’t written yet, and he will show up as a supporting character in the third, fourth and fifth River City books (Beneath A Weeping Sky, River City: Patrol and And Every Man Has To Die) for sure. I imagine he’ll be around for others, too.

This story is out in submission already.

My short story, Be My Santa Baby, which I recently submitted to Mysterical-E magazine for the December issue, was accepted.

When it is published next month, the link is here. Ho, ho, ho.

My short story, Good Shepherd, which was accepted by Ascent Aspirations Magazine, has been published.

Warning: Good Shepherd is a sexually charged story. You’ve been warned.

The link is right here, amigos.

There were a couple of formatting problems (indentations and returns), but it still turned out nice. I emailed them about the formatting problems. There were a couple when they published If Only and the editor fixed them right away.

Anyway...cool, huh?

I’ve sent this story out for consideration. It is officially in the game.

I finished the first draft of a short story called “Be My Santa Baby” (working title). It’s a dark Christmas tale that I intend to submit to a Christmas-themed issue of an online crime mag.

Any story with the phrase “Ho-ho-ho, motherfucker” in it won’t be mistaken for Miracle On 34th Street, that’s for sure.

Although the tag next to each on my “Unpublished Short Stories” page says submitted, that doesn’t mean that some of them haven’t come back and been sent out again more than a few times.

Round Trip came back just this week. So did Gently Used. The Worst Door did, before it found a home. Others have been out for a long while. The Meat-Cutter’s Wife has been under consideration at the same eZine for months...but I really want them to accept it, so I’m not complaining.

Any time a story comes back, I look for another place to submit it ASAP. I try not to simultaneously submit and don’t do it if the publications says not to. Even those who allow it, I feel kinda guilty. So I limit each story to two or three submissions at the same time at most.

So, even thought the word “submitted” does not blink on my web page, there are rejections and submissions and rejections and submissions and that is why when a story is accepted, I am thrilled.

I finished the first draft of a new short story today. It’s called “Helping Out.” It’s listed on my site as being in progress. After a revision or three, I’ll look for a place to submit it and hope it moves to my “Published Short Stories” page.

The story is about a cop who goes to help someone out and ends up in a mess. The cop in the story, at least right now, is Aaron Norris, who appears as a supporting or minor character in other River City short stories and in the novels.

My short story, ."The Worst Door" was accepted for publication by Literary Dispatch Journal for their inaugural issue (Winter 2006). I’ll post more when I know more, but the acceptance letter was very enthusiastic and I’m pleased that this story found a place.

This is a River City short short (about 1400 words). Two detectives, Joseph Finch and Elias (haven’t given him a first name yet), appear in another short story, No Good Deed. Well, ‘appear’ is a bit strong. More like, they are mentioned by the narrator, who sees them arrive on scene.

In this story, told from Finch’s perspective, they are outside the door of a house they are hitting with a search warrant. Finch does not want to be there, but he knows that there is no where else he can be. Someone is inside this house that he doesn’t want to face.

I listen to too much Springsteen, because there is another song reference in this piece, too, though it wasn’t the genesis of this story. Even though I have submitted it, that doesn’t mean I won’t be revising it again if the song reference is too clunky (they usually are). But the idea of the story is actually a very personal one and it is a conflict that many members of law enforcement face.

In No Good Deed, the question is, what if a cop runs into someone off-duty that they once arrested? You can read the answer, or one answer at least, here.

The question here is, how does an officer deal with the problem of someone s/he loves being on the wrong side of the law? And which is greater, the bond of love or the oath of office? And is the answer to that a constant one, or is there a threshold?

Hopefully, this story will be published and you’ll be able to read the answer, or at least one answer.

I wrote this very short piece of flash fiction (less than 800 words) about a small town woman finding escape vicariously in a man she meets at a bar, and willing to pay for that escape in the world’s oldest coin.

The title comes from a line in a Springsteen song, “Loose Change.” It was never released on an album proper, coming out in the Tracks collection. It’s a great song. The first two verses are vignettes of a man and woman meeting in a bar and retiring elsewhere for a sexual encounter, and that got me to thinking about loneliness and small town desperation.

This story is currently being submitted.

Oh, and why is it a great song? Here’s a snippet:

Sitting at a bar stool, Miss A Little Time On Her Hands
Yeah, I knew she was trouble
but trouble sure was looking fine
And when I held her close
what I knew kinda slipped my mind...

Please note that this short story has been accepted for the current issue of A Cruel World.

As always, I hesitate to say “accepted” or “published”, because I happen to know and be close personal friends with the editor of ACW. I also serve as an associate editor for the Ezine (which has a new look, by the way–check it out!).

However, I never ask Conway to publish a story. He always asks me, and when he asks, it is for a specific story that he has read and usually had some editorial input into. He is at least as critical as other submissions that come in. So when he asks, I say yes. I guess the other advantage to being close friends and editing each other’s work is that he doesn’t bullshit me on quality...

Anyway, it’s here, if you want to take a look.

As always, comments are appreciated.

I finished revising this short story, originally called just “Walter,” yesterday. I got some input from Conway and another writer named Scott. I’m much happier with this revised version, and I sent it out to a magazine.

The next short story I need to work on (I think) is the one I began, but stalled on, called “Helping Out” (working title).

I also have a couple of ideas for a Stefan Kopriva story, but one might actually be the basis for the next novel starring him, while the other might only be a short story.

Another story in the works is a little bit of a crossover with the hockey novel I am writing, in that one of the teams in that novel is a Police/Fire team. I have an idea for a short story involving that Police/Fire team.

The September/October issue of Crime Scene Scotland is up.

Crime Scene.

My story “Saving Grace” is one of the only two pieces of fiction featured this month. The editor wrote some kind words about me, too.

In addition to my story, there is some great reading in this e-zine and in previous issues. Click on the link and spend some time there. You won’t regret it.