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!.

Rejections are a fact of life for writers. Before the advent of online submissions, all of my stories were submitted via snail mail and thus, all my rejections were physical pieces of paper. that I kept in a folder. I kept another folder with acceptances. Guess which looked like a dictionary and which one look like an instruction manual for a basketball? I still use both of those folders, by the way, for the snail mail submissions and rejections.

Stephen King writes about tacking each of his rejections to a wall and using them as motivation. Excellent tool, I’d say, unless you’re weak-minded and easily discouraged (in which case, writing is not for you).

Most of the rejections take on a very brisk “Thanks but no thanks” or “Just not right for us” form letter. Most (read: all) editors are busy and they receive a lot of junk and near-junk, so they don’t have the time to critique everything that comes across his/her desk.

You know you’re getting close when you start getting personalized comments on your rejections...well, as long as the comments don’t say, “You suck, dude!” Seriously, though, it is a good sign when the editor takes the time to say something encouraging or positive.

I’ve had 25 stories accepted (some of those are forthcoming) for publication in print mags, eZines and one anthology. That’s twenty-five acceptances. The rest of what I get are rejections...lots of them, too. However, some of them in the last year or so have contained encouraging words, like “I like your writing. This story doesn’t fit with us, but send us something else.” That came from a flash fiction eMag regarding a story that eventually became one of those magic 25 (just so you don’t think I’m bragging, 25 is a pittance. Many authors who are far from household names have sold or placed stories in the hundreds).

Another flash place took a look at Party Dress, which was eventually placed at Saucy Vox and wrote:

Frank:
Thanks for submitting to NAME OF MAG. Unfortunately, we have decided not to accept this story for publication. Best success selling it elsewhere.
Take care,
EDITOR’S NAME

PS The story has merit. However, I couldn’t find a hint of sciffy (sf) in it, which eliminated any chance of my being able to accept it. You did provide “fantasy” in an entirely different sense of the word

Not bad, as rejections go.

I got another one today:

Hello Frank,

Sorry to take so long to respond about ‘Helping Out’. Anyway, after much deliberation I’ve decided that it’s not quite to MAGAZINE NAME’s taste. That said, I liked the story and I definitely think you’ll have luck placing it elsewhere – my immediate suggestions are to submit to ANOTHER MAGAZINE (edited by EDITOR) and YET ANOTHER MAGAZINE (edited by EDITOR) if you haven’t done so already.

Good luck!

All best

EDITOR
Fiction Editor, MAGAZINE NAME

These types of rejections don’t change the fact that they said ‘No.’ But it makes for a much softer landing.

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!

I recently met another writer named John Floyd. He’s one of the seven authors contributing to Seven By Seven. John is a heck of a nice guy and I just found out that several of his short stories have been accepted to appear on Amazon as part of their short story program.

The first two stories are called Midnight and Thursday’s Child. They cost $.49 each. Yes, folks, that is less than the cost of a cup of coffee for quality fiction. What a great program and an excellent opportunity for writers and readers alike. I’d encourage anyone reading this to head over and splurge.

You can find them here:

Midnight and Thursday’s Child.

Enjoy!

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!

Writer Jill Maser has said some very nice things about me in her BLOG. You can click to her page from the menu on the right. It’s a well-done page and she has a number of books available. A short time ago, she read All That Counts for me and offered some great insight in her critique. I am returning the favor with one of her books, a horror piece (and it is horror from page one, word one, let me tell you!).

She’s written several books, including one called Red Passion. I wish I could recommend it, but I haven’t read it yet. What I can say is that I am going to buy it for my wife for Valentine’s Day (ssshhhh, don’t tell her), if that is any indication of my faith that it will be a good one.

Give her a look-see!

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.

As I review my projected novels, I am starting to think that A Village of Strangers will likely be more of a novella or a very long short story, a la Good Shepherd or so. I’m not certain the story will support a full novel or have the impact it might have as a shorter piece.

I’m also not so sure I want to use this “new” character, Peter Conway, or perhaps put a different, existing character into this role. It will have more emotional impact with a character that a River City fan already knows. It is also an opportunity to deepen the background of an existing character rather than create a new one.

Anyway, if it goes novella (which I think it will), I’ll move it to the SHORT STORIES page...on the plus side, that length increases the likelihood of the story being completed in 2006 (see my back-dated New Year’s Resolutions for more– 1/1/06).

The editing process for Under A Raging Moon is still underway. At the editors' request, I am taking another pass through the book with an eye toward a couple of trends. I am at chapter 8 (there are about 15). The editors are coming behind me and I review their edits and return them. Together, we just finished chapter 5.

So it is moving along.

What surprised me is how much I edited it on my pass. Part of it was focusing on the trends that the editors pointed out, but part of it was also having some time and distance from the work. That makes me feel better about letting All That Counts sit while my readers take a look at it, figuring I’ll be ready to slash it to ribbons when I finally get back to it.

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.

Here’s an advance mock-up of the cover for this anthology.

Seven By Seven COVER

I learned yesterday that I was selected to join six other authors in an anthology called “Seven By Seven.”

The concept is this: seven authors, seven deadly sins, one anthology. All stories will be flash, between 300-600 words long.

I had to submit my take on avarice as an audition piece. I wrote a story called “Lead Time.”

I’m very excited and honored by this selection. I’m looking forward to the process. It should be finished by April 2006.

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...

Due to excessive spamming, I have shut down the comments section of the Blog.

Please email me if you have something to say.

Thanks!

Okay, so it is a cliche. So what?

My goals for 2006?

1. Complete the editing process with ePress and see my book “Under A Raging Moon” published.

2. Continue to write short stories (minimum of one per month, on average).

3. Revise “All That Counts” and get it placed.

4. Assemble my book of poetry (with illustrations) and get it
submitted...this is cheating a little, because it is mostly done,
just waiting on the illustrator to work his magic.

5. Here’s the more amibitious one...complete as many of my projected
novels as possible! As of today, that means seven.

But...one is Kopriva’s sequel that can wait.

Another is Irika’s story, which is still simmering, so that leaves five.

Of those, the most likely candidate for the next book is one I initially wrote part of back in 1995 – “Beneath A Weeping Sky.” I don’t think I’ll be able to salvage much of it, but some.

Another is “River City: Patrol,” which contains a good number of scenes I removed from the first two books in the series because they took away from the main plot...but in this book, those types of police calls *are* the main point. So there’s about 20-30% of the book already done (first draft).

So that leaves three from scratch..."And Every Man Has To Die," “A Village of Strangers,” and “Nor Shadowed Heart”...and I have very solid ideas on those plots.

So this is it...it’s in the record books...let’s see how I do, come December.