Two more of my short stories have been accepted for publication. “The Copper Thief”—a homeless, drug-addicted recycler/scrapper stumbles on a dead body while casing an abandoned apartment, forcing him to reconsider his lifestyle—is set to be published by DarkWinter Magazine later this month. And “What Seemed Like Silence”—a down-on-his-luck adjunct professor is harassed by a gangbanger while grading papers at a fast-food restaurant off the Strip—was just accepted by Be About It magazine. (Yeah, I like the name of that mag.)
So, fourteen of the fifteen pieces have been published or accepted for publication. The one that hasn’t been? “The House of Cards Began to Quiver”—the arrival of a young, pretty, mentally ill woman threatens the stability of a homeless camp in the underground flood channels—which I envision as the title story of this potential collection.
Are writers the worst judges of their own work? Possibly. But, more likely, it has something to do with the story’s length (5,462 words). It is the longest story of the bunch, and very few literary journals accept submissions that are more than 5,000 words.
Nonetheless, I remain confident that the story will be published, though it may have to run in two parts. Also, the collection has been well received by smaller and independent traditional publishers. I hope to have more news on this soon.
