Saturday, August 12, 2006

What I’ve Been Up To…

So far this summer I’ve plugged away at a bunch of short stories. I want them out there working for me. Preferably earning me money though I’ll take fame and glory as well. Here’s a list of what is currently out of my hands and in slushpiles around the country:


A Smile for the End of the World - (science fictiony) a young man with a crush brings does something that might just annihilate all mankind, but his memory is too faulty to help stop the process – This story is currently at a webzine called Firefox News (not to be confused with anything else called Firefox).

The Way Mike Saw It – (Mystery) A murder on campus and a professor investigates. Hilarity ensues. – Sitting with the good people at EQMM.

Fiesta – (Mystery) Two men drive into town in a pickup, but what’s the cargo they don’t want people to see? Priginally written for the Junk in the Trunk blog anthology, but never posted because...well, I wasn’t invited. This one’s been sitting at Shred of Evidence since February.

Taking the Van der Flieder Star – (Mystery) Three friends go into the woods to find a meteorite, but will they find it or will they all die trying? Or, alternatively, will they quit and go home before someone gets hurt? This one is at AHMM.

Firefly – (Science fictiony) A man struggles with the idea that he is slowly turning into a firefly. Hilarity ensues. This one is at Strange Horizons.

Murder at DynaCorp – (Sci-fi/Mystery) One of the employees at a research and development company has been murdered in a most Star Trek fashion. Who done it? Why? No hilarity. This is at Oceans of the Mind. They had a call for science fiction mysteries.

The Dean – (Science fictiony) What if a man turned into an equal weight in roaches? Normal roaches, not one big one like that Kafka crap. Hilarity ensues. This one is in the hands of editors at Asimov’s, and I expect it to be back in my hands very shortly.

Long Distance – (science fiction) A con man claims to be able to conjure the voice of the dead. But do the living want to hear what the dead have to say? This one is at Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Desert People – (literary) An American in a desert country witnesses the sale of women into slavery and decides that he must act. Poignancy ensues. After kicking around at the biggest literary venues (The Atlantic got my rejection ready in record time) this one is at Summerset Review.

There are a couple of other stories I’ve started writing and hope to get done in the next couple of days: two Sheriff Gonzalo stories and a follow up to the Murder at DynaCorp story.

Of course, I rank my stories by the chances they have at being published wherever I send them. I think four of the ones out there have a good chance of being accepted – Desert People, Long Distance, Murder at DynaCorp, and The Way Mike Saw It. These sales would make me very happy, since they represent submissions to venues or to fields that I’d like to get into. The other stories have varying chances of being published where I’ve sent them, but I continue to hope.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cricky that's impressive. There's just something about the summer that inspires short stories, doesn't it? I'm a bit disappointed there are no goat sucker shorts out there.

August 13, 2006 6:32 PM  
Blogger Daniel Hatadi said...

Man, have you been working out. Your writing muscles must be huge!

"Poignancy ensues."

Tee hee.

August 13, 2006 8:03 PM  
Blogger Steven said...

Oh and I haven't even mentioned the short story reviews and the novel I wrote. And the fact that I wrote a short story for Bronx Noir. Of course, the trick selling any of this stuff. Except the Bronx Noir one, that's sold.

August 14, 2006 4:49 AM  

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