The Best of Every Day Fiction 2009

Managing Editor Camille Gooderham Campbell e-mailed me yesterday to let me know four of my five flash fiction stories published at Every Day Fiction during the magazine’s second year (September 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009) will be included in The Best of Every Day Fiction 2009.

They aren’t a thing alike.

I Must to the Barber’s Chair is a gentle love story.  It appeared the first day of the publishing year — September 1.  In His Prime (October 16) is speculative fiction, a time-travel story involving one of boxing’s most famous champions. Oh, Woman of Easy Virtue (November 21) is a snarky bit of whimsical word play.  Upon the Doorsteps (January 22 — my birthday) is a somber mother-daughter encounter that just might be a ghost story.

I love each one and each for a different reason.  And I’m so pleased they appeared at Every Day Fiction.

Thank you, Camille.

Back in the saddle

After a six-month stint, I stepped down last week as a slush reader for Every Day Fiction. My time in the job was a delight and an education, and I think I am a better writer and a better editor for the experience.

It’s amazing what some folks submit to magazines, hoping to be published. That was part of the education. But it was also so much fun to happen upon a well-told tale. That was the delight.

And stepping down allows me to submit flash fiction to Camille and Jordan again. I wasted no time.

The day after I turned in my notice, Jake Freivald, editor at Flash Fiction Online, e-mailed me, passing on Canticles. So I wiped its nose, tucked in its noir and sent it back out the door to Every Day Fiction.

I just heard from Camille. She said it was “a great story” and that she would give it a home.

Canticles didn’t wander around forever, but it’s a good example of why a writer shouldn’t give up on a story because one or two (or a dozen) editors reject it. If it’s a good story, the right fusion of writer-story- editor will happen.

As Tim Allen’s Captain Jason Nesmith said in Galaxy Quest, “Never give up. Never surrender.”

Thanks, Camille. It’s good to be back on the writers’ roster at Every Day Fiction.

I’ll let the rest of you know when to look for Canticles. Thanks for dropping by.

The rider and the kid

Ninety days has passed since Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid appeared in Murky Depths #8, so I can let you read it here.

Neil Stuthers, the Irish artist who painted the kick-ass art that appeared with the story, has given me permission to show you that, too. Thanks, Neil.

I think the story is my own personal favorite and I get goose bumps when I look at Neil’s painting.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

A well-placed word

Well-placed words are valuable.

Yesterday, novelist and teacher Mary Rosenblum was kind enough to tell folks about 10Flash, my quarterly e-zine for genre flash fiction, in her Writer’s eNews column at Long Ridge Writers Group and visits to 10Flash have rocketed.

Thank you, Mary.