"Three Times a Killer" Available Free at Plan B Magazine

My crime story "Three Times a Killer" is live at Plan B Magazine and available to be read for free. This story features the same main character, South African criminal Lawrence Thomas, as my Amazon/Kindle eBook short story "Levels of Trust."

Here's a little preview of the story which is up at Plan B:

I was sitting at a bar, drinking another Black Label, when the man came up to me. I should have known he was bad news, a fellow like that with his nice suit, in a low-rent bar like the one I was in that day. Maybe it was the beer, maybe it was that I was still basically a kid, only twenty years old, but I didn’t twig to it.

“I hear you’re looking for work, Lawrence,” he said, lowering himself gently onto the stool next to mine.

I took another swallow, cool-like, before answering. “If the pay’s right, sure.”

The suit nodded and pulled an envelope from his pocket. “I’ve got a problem, see. Girl trouble.”

He grinned at me like we understood each other. I would have just as soon punched that smarmy grin off his face, but I needed money and there wasn’t no use biting the hand. I grinned back at him.

And, for the heck of it, a little preview of "Levels of Trust."

"There's some stuff you should know before you go in there," Ian said, meeting me at the nondescript front door of the complex. I came inside, leaving the heat, stench and noise of the slum streets behind. My eyes were slow to adjust from the noontime sun to the comparative dark indoors.

"Hit me," I told him.

Ian had arranged things so he'd be the one letting me into the complex. I was on unfriendly ground, and any intelligence I could get would raise my odds of success.

"One, no weapons. If you're packing, turn it over to the guy at the door. They'll still pat you down, but this is gonna go a lot easier for you if they don't find anything when they do. Get me?" I nodded.

"Two." He pressed a button and waited briefly until he heard the click of a latch opening. We passed through a door. "Inside, the man you meet will appear to be in charge. But he won't be the person deciding what happens next."

"So who will be?"

Ian's mouth twitched. "I shouldn't answer that."

"You shouldn't be telling me what you've told me already, should you?"

"Just remember, everyone's got to answer to someone. Three, and this is most important, whatever answer you're given will be final. There's no appeal, no debate." He stopped me, put a hand on my arm. "You hear me?"

"Fine."

"No, Lawrence. Not 'fine.' I'm serious, do not try to get cute. You'll get a yes or a no. You say thank you. You leave." He caught my eye and repeated "You hear me?"

Me and Ian, we go back. Having bumped into him a few months ago, not long after I arrived in Johannesburg, had seemed like just a happy accident. With recent developments, that chance encounter might be a lifesaver. I'd saved Ian's ass a couple of times years back, now I was cashing in all that goodwill. So I didn't deck him for grabbing me.

But I still yanked my arm away hard.

Two Short Story Sales & Two Anthology Releases

I got a double shot of good news a couple of days ago with short story sales to both Nature ("An Alien Named Tim") and InterGalactic Medicine Show ("Small Creatures and Large"). I'm looking forward to the release of both of these stories later this year.

Also, this month, two anthologies in which I have stories have been released.

First was the Sidekicks! anthology, edited by Sarah Hans and featuring, among others, Alex Bledsoe. My fantasy con-artist story "Learning the Game" appears in this anthology. There's also a print edition of this book and if you'd like a copy signed by me, hit me up on my contact form and we'll get it worked out.

Second is The California Cantata anthology, released by Kazka Press. My fantasy story "Counting it Up" was accepted for this anthology before I came on as editor of the monthly flash fiction contests for Kazka. So this may well end up being my last story released by the press, and I'm glad it's available for purchase now alongside stories by other writers such as Beth Cato.

"Scraps" Available on DSF Website

My story "Scraps" which was emailed to Daily Science Fiction subscribers last week is now available to be read for free on their website. If you're not used to reading stories on that site, please note that to see the whole story, you'll have to click the "Display Entire Story" button. There's also a "show author story comments" if you want to read my notes relating to this story.

Story Publication: "ReFormed" at Buzzy Mag

"Marshall churned away on an elliptical machine at his gym. His attention wandered from the news during a commercial and he noticed a woman running on a treadmill across the room. He only saw her in profile, but she looked like Carol. Not Carol right before she died, lying in a hospital bed. Carol when they first met, several years ago. Carol when she said 'Yes' to his proposal and accepted the ring he offered."

- From "ReFormed"

My science fiction story about a man who finds a woman who has the same face as his dead fiancee is live today on Buzzy Mag. "ReFormed" is one of my favorites of my stories.

I need to give special thanks here to Brenda Stokes Barron. She read several versions of this story and kept encouraging me to make it a fuller story as I took it through revisions. I'm sure it's a much better story than it would have been without her help.

This is, as far as I know, the last story I'll have published for a little while. I'm sure you'll all be glad for the break. :)

If you read this story, I hope that you enjoy it!

Story Publication: "Other Kinds" in Issue #3 of Nine

The third issue of new speculative fiction electronic magazine Nine is online now. My story "Other Kinds" appears in this issue. I've mentioned before that I like crime and mystery fiction and this story is a blend of a crime story with a dark fantasy.

I have both of the first two issues of Nine and have enjoyed the stories I've read from them. The issue is $5; if you happen to read this issue, I hope that you enjoy "Other Kinds."

"Ars Gratia Artis" is Live at Sorcerous Signals

My short story "Ars Gratia Artis" is live now on the Sorcerous Signals website. This is a short fantasy flash fiction blurbed as follows:

"Larry has a dying request of his friend Malcolm. Will Malcolm help him create his final work of art?"

If you get a chance to stop over and read it, I hope that you enjoy the story.

Sunday Links: July 29, 2012 Edition

July is almost over, can you believe it? Tomorrow I'll post my month-end goal status and also write up my planned goals for August. It's been basically a year to the day since I returned to writing last summer and I'm very pleased with how the past year has gone writing-wise. I'm excited to see where the next 12 months take me.

If you missed it earlier this week my mystery story "Present Company" ran on Every Day Fiction on July 24th.

Also, as a reminder, there's still over a month until the August 31st deadline for submissions for Unidentified Funny Objects.

Below are this week's writing-related links that I wanted to share with my readers. Also, if you're so inclined, Kasia James has a guest post up today on my Write Every Day blog where she talks about, well, about NOT writing every day.

"Present Company" is live at Every Day Fiction

My mystery short story "Present Company" is live today at Every Day Fiction. I'm as much of a fan of mystery and crime short fiction as I am of science fiction and fantasy, so having a mystery story published for the first time is a treat for me.

This story was inspired by a passing comment from a coworker at lunch one day late last year. I hope that you enjoy reading it.

Short Story Sale: "Present Company" to Every Day Fiction

I just received word that my mystery flash fiction "Present Company" will be published by Every Day Fiction. This will be my first story for EDF and I'm very much looking forward to this story being published there.

"Present Company" arose from a stray comment a coworker made during a lunch conversation one day. It began as a slightly-longer story, about 1600 words. Over time I trimmed a bit here and a bit there and the last set of cuts made it just short enough for EDF.

I'll update everyone when it's live and ready to read on their site.

"Sequence" is Live on the Grand Science Fiction site

My story "Sequence" is up today on the Grand Science Fiction site. It's a flash story, exactly 1000 words (per the market's guidelines -- they only run stories of exactly 100 or exactly 1000 words). I wrote this one earlier this year and am pleased that it is available for others to read now.

I hope you enjoy reading it!

Short Story Sales to IGMS, Book of Pulp Heroes, Kzine

I mentioned a few days ago being on a kind of amazing run of short fiction acceptances. That's continued since then. Yesterday and today, I received a total of three more story acceptances. I'm thrilled beyond belief -- particularly the "beyond belief" part!

The three sales are:

• "The Flower of Memory" to Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show - This sale was especially exciting since IGMS is a particularly tough market to crack. It's a SFWA-qualifying market but since this is a very short story (about 650 words) I don't expect this to be my third sale to qualify for Active membership in SFWA.
• "No Way But the Hard Way" to The Alchemy Book of Pulp Heroes - This is one of the earliest stories I wrote when I returned to writing last summer and I'm very pleased that it will be appearing in print (literally) in this publication. One of the highlights of my year is a convention named Pulpfest so the aesthetic they're going for in this publication is one that appeals to me. And the "appearing in print" really appeals to me. There's a good chance this will be the first of my recent stories to actually show up on paper in my hands, depending on publication timelines.
• "Taking Chances" to Kzine. - I've finally sold a mystery story! This is one I wrote in 2007, the first time I tried to develop a daily writing chain. I went through and revised it last year and sent it out several places. I'm glad that it's found a home and tickled to say that I've sold a mystery now, as well as my speculative fiction sales.

I'll be sure to post information when these stories become available in their respective publications.

Short Story Sale: "ReFormed" to Buzzy Mag

My science fiction short story "ReFormed" has sold to Buzzy Mag. This is the longest story I've sold to date, coming in at about 4200 words. It also represents my fourth pro-rate sale. For the moment, it won't add to my list of SFWA-qualifying sales since markets have to publish regularly for a year before they can be added to the SFWA list. From what I've seen of this market, I'd say they have a better than average chance of making it to that point, but only time will tell.

Either way, I'm very pleased to have this story coming to "print" and I'm looking forward to when it's available for others to read.

I have to give lots of thanks to Brenda Stokes Barron for her input on this story as I took it through several iterations. She urged me to keep going back and deepening the emotional aspects of the story. It ended up a much better story for the effort.

"Special Ops" is Live on the Ray Gun Revival Site

My short story "Special Ops" was posted today on the Ray Gun Revival website. This was one of the first stories I wrote when I returned to writing fiction last summer. As I recall, it was inspired in part by having listened to a collection of Ian Fleming's James Bond short stories on audiobook and thinking about how a Bond-esque story might play out in science fiction.

Earlier this year RGR sent me a response to the version of the story I had sent to them saying that they liked certain aspects of the story but didn't like certain other aspects as well. If I'd give it a rewrite, they would take a second look at it.

The rewrite ended up being fairly involved but (as I so often say about my stories) I have a fondness for this story and I was more than happy to take another crack at it. The revised version struck me as being better and, fortunately, the editorial staff of RGR agreed.

I hope you enjoy reading "Special Ops." If you read it, you can comment on their site and/or here -- either way, I'll make sure to check out your comments.

While I'm here, since it's getting close to mid-month, I'm going to do a quick June Goal status check.

Sunday Links: June 3rd, 2012 Edition

I'm not going to include #storyeachnight comments this week since I haven't done a good job of keeping up with reading a new story on a regular basis the past two weeks. However, I'm looking to try to get back in the habit of doing so -- maybe that should have been one of my monthly goals! -- and I intend to add that back into the Sunday mix next week.

Below are links which I've come across since my most recent Sunday Links post (two weeks ago) which I think could be of use to fellow writers. Have you come across any particularly interesting links in the last week or so? I'd be interested to see them!

"Great-Uncle's Visit" - A One Sentence Story

Twitter is a heck of a lot of fun sometimes. I know a lot of really cool writers there and though I haven't spent as much time keeping up on things the past week or two as I usually do, I somehow managed to not quite entirely miss out on the #1ss hashtag conversation which popped up last week. 1ss stands for "One Sentence Story" and began with Alex Shvartsman finding a sentence unbearably long when he was critiquing a piece by Anatoly Belilovsky. That sentence spawned a conversation which spawned a challenge and -- voila -- the #1ss hashtag! Writers were challenged to create the most interesting story consisting solely of one sentence.

M. Bennardo has kindly put together a list of all the resulting stories which were made publicly accessible for everyone's reading pleasure.

As far as my attempt, it is below.

Originally I had thought about trying to add a massive Degree of Difficulty aspect to mine by having the first word start with "A", the second with "B" and so on with repetition (or reversal if I wanted the real challenge of putting two "Z" words back-to-back) until done. So, that story might have started "After being certain David escaped from Galt House..." But my attempts at that proved too contrived and I abandoned that idea for the one which turned into the following story. According to Google Docs, it's 334 words long. (Good luck diagramming this sentence!)

Without further ado, let's slip back in time a bit and eavesdrop while a boy patiently listens an elderly relative during...

Great-Uncle's Visit

These things which we have discussed happened far in the distant past, back beyond your father’s day and his father’s day and that of his father’s father, back so far that when anyone tells these stories today they always begin the telling with “This legend” or “This myth” or “This fairy tale” but as I have told you such descriptions are themselves the myths, themselves the fairy tale, as all of these happenings were real and all of these things I spoke of are as real as you are -- as real as I am, even -- and should not be consigned to the category of stories with which to amuse; rather, these stories should be ones to catch the breath and prickle the skin and worry the soul for they are the real history of our world and the things which walk among us all and if the power of these creatures pales somewhat in light of modern technology, a position which I hope you will pardon me if I find somewhat lacking since this newfangled television which you are always watching with its Howdy Doody and its Mickey Mouse Club and its Davy Crockett is not as wonderous as a djinn (though the real Crockett was indeed a fearsome man and I know full well that he would understand the import of these histories which I am sharing with you) and neither are the most modern firearms any more deadly than a ravening pack of ghouls or ogres but even were I to concede that these creatures are no longer the most powerful forces on Earth that would not be the same as to say that they were powerless for, indeed, nothing could be further from the truth and I speak not just from a theoretical perspective but from one which is all too personal and so I ask you for the last time, boy, would you please keep that damnable pizza away from me -- the garlic gives me hives!

Using Index Cards To Plan Short Fiction Submissions

I've talked before in posts like my "Life of a Story" post about using Duotrope to research markets and track submissions. I've always handled sending a story out to market in what seems like a somewhat time-intensive manner. When a story is rejected or is going out for the first time, I run a Duotrope search, go through the list of possible markets (excluding ones I already have a story out to) and then submit the story. This can be very quick or somewhat tedious. And I ended up looking at a lot of the same markets' information repeatedly.

Recently I've started doing a bit of pre-planning around my submission. I think that this will help me save a bit of time on resubmissions in the future. Here's what I've done.

Short Story Sale: "Special Ops" to Ray Gun Revival

I woke up today to an acceptance from Ray Gun Revival for my short story "Special Ops." I'm looking forward to seeing this story on their site; they said it should be released sometime over the next few months, probably in June or July.

"Special Ops" represents the first rewrite request I received from a publication. They liked the premise and character but had some concerns about the execution. Given that this was one of the first stories I wrote when I dove back into fiction last summer, I wasn't surprised when I opened it up to tackle the rewrite and saw exactly what they meant.

The rewrite itself was surprisingly fun -- I had enjoyed writing the story and working with this character the first time around and a chance to take a second crack at it with some more experience under my belt was enjoyable. I'm pleased with the outcome; their suggestions definitely helped lead to a better story. And of course I'm very pleased that they agreed that the story was improved and elected to buy it for an upcoming issue of RGR.

I'll post a link to the story this summer when it's live on the Ray Gun Revival site.

Dissecting the Short Story: "Memories of My Mother" by Ken Liu

As discussed recently, this is the first post in the reboot of my Dissecting the Short Story series. Remember that I won't be shy about including spoiler material in this analysis, so if you haven't read this story it might be worth your time to read it first before reading the bulk of this post.

Story:
"Memories of My Mother" by Ken Liu
Published in:
March 19th, Daily Science Fiction
Approximate Length:
1000 words
Presentation:
First Person, Chronological, Mixed Past and Present Tense
Summary [WARNING: Spoilers Included!]:

"Gravity's Pull" eBook Live on Amazon

I have been thinking for months about starting to do some self-published eBooks through Amazon and/or other sites. Recently, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge.

"Gravity's Pull" is one of the first short stories I wrote last summer. It's a hard science fiction "problem" story of the kind that I associate with Analog. The blurb I wrote for it on Amazon reads as follows:

Camilla is beginning her first tour of duty as a crew leader and is expecting a routine three months on the GT Donald Ademu, a gravity tractor ship assigned to change the trajectory of an asteroid. An unexpected development jeopardizes the lives of her and her crew as well as many other people. Camilla and the two others on-board race to find a solution in "Gravity's Pull."

I plan to post several blog entries in upcoming weeks talking in more detail about the ePublishing process. For now, I just wanted to share the news that the story is out there to be read and also share the cover art that I developed for the book.

Sunday Links & The Week in #storyeachnight: March 11, 2012 Edition

First off, a quick update relating to Dissecting the Short Story. As some of you may know from comments I've made on Twitter or other places, things have been incredibly crazy in my life recently. In the span of two weeks my father was injured in an accident which has drastically (and, thankfully, presumably temporarily) restricted his ability to get around and my mother-in-law had a stroke. Between taking on extra tasks to help family members and a lot of driving (750 miles in one 36 hour period) I've been both short on time and energy to do anything writing related. My writing time has been spent almost totally on things that either have a deadline or where I have time-based commitments (such as my Seinfeld/Daily Writing Chain and blog schedule).

How this relates to Dissecting the Short Story is that some of the benchmarks in my original timeline (as discussed in Monday's post about the future of the feature) are likely to slip a bit, though hopefully not by too awfully much.

So, with that out of the way, let's move on to the usual Sunday business of my #storyeachnight recap for the week and links to blog posts, etc. which I read in the last week and found worth sharing. First, the week's nightly short stories:

3/4 - "The Stars Are Falling" by Joe Lansdale from THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR 2011. A man returns to his wife, son, & East Texas home after experiencing the horrors of World War I but everything is different.
3/5 - "Accident Report" by Ed McBain from LEARNING TO KILL. Seemed very much a predecessor to the 87th Precinct stories
3/6 - "Something Real" by Rick Wilber from the 4-5/12 ASIMOV'S. A story of alternate timelines, WWII and Moe Berg.
3/7 - "Hurt Me" by M.L.N. Hanover from YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY & HORROR 2011. An interesting ghost story, nicely atmospheric, with a resolution I didn't expect.
3/8 - "Chinese Puzzle" by Ed McBain from LEARNING TO KILL. Another pre-87th Precinct procedural, this one 1st person.
3/9 - Ironically when I couldn't sleep I read "Insomnia" by A. G. Carpenter from DAILY SCIENCE FICTION. I mostly liked "Insomnia" (the story) though the ending left me a bit underwhelmed. Good voice & main character.
3/10 - "Electrica" by Sean McMullen in the Mar/Apr 2012 F&SF. Wow! If you have this mag, make time to read it! "Electrica" had some steampunk elements & setting (though not tone) put me in mind of the Flashman novels. I thoroughly enjoyed "Electrica." Didn't want to put it down. McMullen apparently is working on a novel in this universe. (* My favorite this week, though many weeks "The Stars Are Falling" or "Hurt Me" could have been my favorite. An especially good batch of stories this week.)

And now, here are this week's links: