What to Write?

This year I've started three novels and I currently have about five short stories going. Four of them on one character - more about that at a later date. The Summer is just starting for me (though I am teaching a class) but I'm going to be house hunting (I think) so I can't really get too tied up in a big project. It is short story city for at least a while.

But which short story? The ones I've started will be finished soon. Then what? I've decided -- ones that can be sold for cold hard cash. Or checks. That is, ones that would suit the good people at Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen. AHMM has recently taken one of my stories and that's a good feeling. It would be great to get EQMM to do the same.

But how do these outlets differ from other fine outlets like CrimeSpree Magazine, Shots or Shred of Evidence (when I figure out how to do linking, I will)? It seems that part of the difference is that AHMM and EQMM have a distaste for graphic violence (which I write well) and for spousal and child abuse (which I find to be great motives for action). They lean more toward the puzzle story (which I can't write and can sometimes get confused by as a reader). Still, I'll have to find some happy medium because, well, checks are pretty sweet.

On the other hand, it is a privilege to have one's story selected even by a market that doesn't pay. And they are more tolerant of the crime story I like to write as opposed to seeking actual MYSTERY in my stories. That, I think, is another post.