20 March 2021

Hitched and Posted


  


Lately some of my SleuthSayers colleagues have been discussing their recent short stories and the way they were written--either the ideas that spawned them or the genres involved or the styles used, etc.--and I've found every one of those posts fun to read. Like novels, every story is different, to both the writer and the reader, and behind-the-scenes glimpses can be interesting.

At the moment I have stories in the current issues of (I think) six magazines, but I'll talk about two of the most recent: "Friends and Neighbors" in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and "Fool's Gold" in The Saturday Evening Post.

"Friends and Neighbors" (March/April 2021 issue) is my 21st story in AHMM, and the fifth installment of a series I've been writing about Sheriff Raymond Kirk Douglas and his ex-lawyer girlfriend Jennifer Parker. In this one, which is about 3300 words, Ray is struggling with two different mysteries--one at the request of an old friend who's a police officer in another town and one involving Jennifer and a cousin who's trying to cheat her out of part of an inheritance from a recently-deceased aunt. There are no murders in this particular story, but plenty of misdeeds: thefts, break-ins, forgeries, impersonations, lies, betrayals, etc. (Welcome to small towns and dealing with relatives.)

A lot of this story is dialogue, which is always a treat for me as a writer, and it has a fairly lighthearted mood. And, like the other stories in this series, it's set in the contemporary south and written in first-person, from the viewpoint of the sheriff. A quick note, here: I write in several different genres and time periods and most often write in third-person POV (either single or multiple). Anytime I choose to use first-person, the story is usually present-day and the viewpoint character is a male. I'm not saying I would never write a first-person story that's set in the distant past and has a female protagonist, but I don't think I would feel as comfortable and confident if I did. I'm not sure I could relate closely enough to, say, a princess in medieval England to try to tell a story in only her voice. What do some of you think about that issue? Is it even an issue?

One thing I've been experimenting with, in the Ray Douglas series, is occasionally incorporating multiple mysteries into one story. Here's how that's going, so far:


Story #1 of the series, "Trail's End" (AHMM, July/Aug 2017), involves only one plot: trying to solve a murder with four different suspects. Three of them are circus performers, which might say something about my mental state when I dreamed up the story.

Story #2, "Scavenger Hunt" (AHMM, Jan/Feb 2018), is the first to include more than one mystery. This story includes three: a con-game attempt that starts things off, a department-store robbery in the middle, and a murder at the end.

Story #3, "Quarterback Sneak" (AHMM, Mar/Apr 2020), features one mystery, involving a murder disguised as a drowning and a unique way of hiding the victim's body.

Story #4, "The Daisy Nelson Case" (Down & Out: the Magazine, Dec 2020), also has only one plot--a locked-room murder mystery--but is still one of the longer stories in the series.

Story #5, "Friends and Neighbors" (AHMM, Mar/Apr 2021), includes two different mysteries, as discussed above.

Story #6, "Going the Distance" (accepted by AHMM but no pub date yet), involves only one mystery: a dead body discovered on a snowy highway.

Story #7, "The Dollhouse" (accepted by AHMM but no pub date yet), has two mysteries: a school bullying/intimidation incident and the murder of a local lawyer.

Story #8, "The POD Squad" (submitted to AHMM but no verdict yet), features three mysteries: a jewelry-store heist, the theft of a cellphone at a science fair, and a home robbery/assault.


My point is, I've had fair success lately with blending several different cases, puzzles, and plotlines into the same story, at least now and then, and making them somehow tie together. It's sort of a juggling act, but it feels right. Have any of you tried doing this?

Another story out right now is "Fool's Gold," in the March/April 2021 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. The print edition of the Post publishes six short stories a year, one in each bimonthly issue. This is my ninth story there, seven of which have been in the mystery/crime genre. (With the exception of some strictly literary magazines, I think most publications--whether they say so or not--are receptive to stories with some mystery/suspense elements. How could anyone not like those, right?)

"Fool's Gold" is a mystery only if you apply Otto Penzler's generous definition, which says (and I'm paraphrasing) that any story with a crime central to its plot can be categorized as a mystery. Truthfully, this story is more of a Western. I could say that it's historical crime fiction, which would also be true, but let's be honest: it's a story set in the Dakota Territory in the late 1870s with gunmen and horses and saloon girls and prospectors. And if a story looks like a Western and quacks like a Western, that's probably what it is.

I will also say this, though. It's one of my favorite stories ever, and one that I had a great time writing.

As for specifics, "Fool's Gold" is a standalone story of about 3800 words, it includes (again) a great deal of dialogue, and it's told in third-person limited. Part of the fun, for me, was that one of the main characters and four or five off-screen characters are real historical figures who lived in that place at that time. Fitting those people into the story was enjoyable as well as challenging, and I suspect that might've been one of the things that helped the Post decide to buy it. Maybe "historical fiction" or "period piece" was in their minds at the time, rather than "Western."

Other stories I have in current issues of magazines are "The Big Picture" in Black Cat Mystery Magazine, "Nobody's Business" in Strand Magazine, "The Daisy Nelson Case" in Down & Out, and "Twenty Minutes in Riverdale" in Pulp Modern. All these are mysteries, with others of several different genres coming up in Mystery Weekly, AHMM, St. Anthony Messenger, the Strand, Woman's World, BCMM, Sherlock Holmes MM, Hoosier Noir, and others. I also have a story, "Tourist Trap," that went up this week at Pulp Modern Flash. If you happen to come across any of these, either sooner or later, I hope you like them.

Please let me know, in the comments, if you have any stories in current or upcoming publications, and where I and our readers might look for them. And how about non-mystery markets like SF, horror, fantasy, romance, Western, and literary? Do any of you write for those, or are you considering it? 

Whatever kinds of tales you're creating and wherever they appear, congratulations to all who are writing, submitting, and publishing, and thanks to those who are reading. Keep it up!

I hope you're having as much fun as I am.




22 comments:

  1. Wow. You keep them coming like writers in the time of the pulps. That's great.

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    1. Hey O'Neil. I've been lucky lately, and though market opportunities come and go, it seems there are always a good many magazines around that take short mystery/crime stories. A market I didn't mention is of course anthologies--I hope editors like Josh Pachter and Michael Bracken keep turning those out from time to time.

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  3. Thanks for the shout-out, John! I've got two more anthologies coming out in 2021, both from Untreed Reads: you're in Only the Good Die Young: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Billy Joel (due out next month) but somehow not in Monkey Business: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Films of the Marx Brothers (which should be out around October).

    You asked if we've got stuff out or coming out, and I'm happy to toot my own horn (although it's only got about a hundredth the volume of yours, my friend). I have both a story of my own ("The City of Light") and a translation ("A Bucharest Arrest," by Romanian author Bogdan Hrib) in the current EQMM and a translation ("The Bunker," by Flemish author Herbert De Paepe) in the next issue, but those are the only things for which I know the pub dates. (I have another story and another translation in the queue at EQ and a story at AH, plus a couple of things coming out in other people's anthologies somewhere along the line....)

    Keep writing, John! It's always a thrill to see your successes!

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    1. Josh, I'm looking forward to both those anthologies this year. (Wish I had sent you a story to consider for Monkey Business--the Marx Bros. is a great theme for an antho. That'll be fun to read.)

      Good to hear about your upcoming stories. Your publishing record at EQMM is just stunning--I hope they've given you an office there, for when you stop by to visit. And I'll put in a plug here for your recent anthologies The Great Filling Station Holdup (inspired by the songs of Jimmy Buffett) and The Beat of Black Wings (inspired by the songs of Joni Mitchell).

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  4. As always, John, I'm impressed by your seemingly tireless ability to put out new stories. The number you've got on the stands right now would be a good couple of years for me. A question about your process: how many stories might you have in for consideration at, say, AHMM at the same time? For a long time I had the idea that I shouldn't send a market a story if they hadn't yet responded to my previous submission, but I think I need to adjust that thinking.

    In terms of non-mystery markets, I'll put in a plug for The First Line, which is publishing my crime story "Family Man" in the Spring 2021 issue, out this week. For those unfamiliar, they announce an opening line for each issue, and every story submitted must begin with that line. It can be in any genre, though, which makes for a fun mix of stories and styles in each issue. They only pay $25, but I find submitted there to be a great writing exercise.

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    1. Hi Joe -- Thank you so much. I assure you, I produce a lot of stories only because I have a lot of time to devote to it, and especially this past year, for obvious reasons.

      As for your question, I usually do not ever have more than three stories under consideration at any one place at any one time--sort of an unwritten rule to make sure I don't overwhelm an editor and maybe make him/her upset with me. If/when one's rejected, I send them another one. But at AHMM it's a little different, in that their response time is so long. At this moment I have three stories already accepted and upcoming at AHMM (two series stories and a standalone) and I have five stories in to them that I've not yet received a yes/no decision for. I feel I need to have a few in the queue there at any one time, otherwise it'd be a really long stretch between story appearances if/after they're accepted. I think everyone probably has a different take on that question, but that seems to have worked well for me. (Though some markets of course ask that you not send them something else until you've received a response from the previous sub.)

      Thanks for the tip, on The First Line--I need to take a look at their site again. And congrats on the new story there!

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  5. Congratulations on all the stories! I have two stories coming out in anthologies (no pub date set on one, the other should be out this summer) by Murderous Ink Press. The one this summer will be Collateral Damage in "We're All Animals Under the Skin". And there's something else in the works...

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    1. Good for you, Eve! I'll be on the lookout for both.

      Several anthologies I've sent stories to lately have said they'll be publishing in 2022, and some of my accepted stories in magazines are also due out next year. (Guess that's okay--at the moment it just sounds like a long time to wait!)

      Thanks for the note!

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  6. John, keep having fun. Your fun is also our fun.

    I've not tried multiple mysteries in a story. I can barely manage one! Something to try, though. Lots of nuance.

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  7. Thanks, Bob. Yep, there are a bunch to ways to do all this. Keep up the great stories!

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  8. I'm working on a flash story with two unrelated mysteries. I can't tell yet if it's going to work. I like writing the really short stuff & have published a little flash science fiction. Still trying to sell a historical crime story I scribbled up.

    Elizabeth - recently Sleuthsayers has been calling me "Unknown" 😎

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  9. Hi Elizabeth -- Good luck on the flash stories. Those are fun to write.

    For some great flash SF stories, check out Fredric Brown--his stories are wonderful.

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  10. Hey John, I have a book called From These Ashes, which I think you mentioned you've also read. I used to allow myself to read one story & then put it aside for a while so I could prolong the time I spent discovering his stories. I wish there was a book of his collected short mysteries!

    Elizabeth

    Elizabeth

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    1. Elizabeth -- Yes, I have From These Ashes, and I love it. Another collection of Fredric Brown's short stories is Nightmares and Geezenstacks (I have that one too), but I think all of those are repeated in Ashes. (I bought N&G first, before discovering the other one.)

      My good news is, there IS a collection of his short mysteries. I have it too--it's called Miss Darkness, and contains 31 of his short crime stories. It's huge--726 pages, and you'd like it. The stories are great!

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  11. I haven't read the SEP story yet, and I am way behind in reading my EQMM/AHMM. I'll probably sit down and read through your series; thanks for posting the issues!

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    1. Hey Jeff. I hope you'll like the Post story, and the series stories also. Many thanks!

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    2. I'm sure I will! I love the idea of the detective duo!

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  12. oh, and I have a couple of mysteries in slushpiles, and am working on a couple more---this after a couple of years of not writing any mystery stories at all!

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  13. Congrats on all the upcoming stories, John. You continue to inspire!

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    1. Thank you, Karen! Please keep me updated.

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