E.S. Raye

That’s right! Time for a news break!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may recall a few weeks ago, I wrote about some “firsts” in my writing life; one of which was rewriting an old story from scratch.

To briefly recap, I was asked to contribute a story to an upcoming anthology. The topic is “tales of the forbidden, the rare, the hidden, and other rare secrets…” This immediately made me think of the very first short story I wrote in my adult life, “The Stuff Legends Are Made of.” Heavily inspired by The Maltese Falcon, “The Stuff…” was rough and long (topping out at about 11k).

But I couldn’t just submit it as is. For one, they were looking for something between 3k and 8k, with 5k being the sweet spot. Furthermore, as the first short story I had written during my foray into making fiction a career, I’ve learned a ton since then and have progressed as a writer; it was just no longer a good representation of my abilities. It was already on the top of my “needs editing” pile.

As I mentioned in my earlier blog, I set out to clean it up and shorten it.

Well…

Mission: Accomplished!

Not only did I manage to get it down to about 6,700 words, it was accepted!

I don’t want to count my chickens too early, as a contract has yet to be signed, but I have no reason to think things will change. So, one of my all-time favorite short stories, a hard sci-fi/noir with a twist ending, will be in print by the end of the year (assuming everything stays on schedule.

In other news, the results for the first round of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge 2024 came in late last week, and my horror story about Death procrastinating, “Mortem Moratus,” placed third in my group, moving me on to the second round!

There, however, was where I feel like I hit a wall. I was assigned Romance. I do not write Romance, and there’s often very little of it even in my novels. So, it was a stretch for me. But that’s why I like these contests; they push you out of your comfort zone.

In the end, I wrote a love story about an immortal and a time traveler and their promise to watch time end together. I think it’s a unique premise and a cute story. But with my utter lack of experience, to get it right, I’d need at least two weeks and probably double the word count.

As it is, I had three days and 2,000 words. I did it, but I’m not expecting to move on to Round 3. Oh well, so far, I have been extremely lucky with the genres I’ve been assigned, so I can’t complain. And hey, maybe I’m being too self-critical. We’ll have to wait until the results are posted on June 5th.

Stay tuned!