(Going Going) GONE

This year's special publication from Not One of Us, (Going Going) GONE, featuring my short story, In the Cage with Ghosts is available now from Genre Mall (scroll down).

CONTENTS:
Stories:
Patricia Russo: Claude’s Ghost Story
Eric Del Carlo: That Season
J. Michael Shell: Too Cute
Steven J. Dines: In the Cage with Ghosts

Poems:
J.C. Runolfson: Kumiho
Sonya Taaffe: The Golem in Flight
Sonya Taaffe: The Road to Volodny (Partisan Song)
K.S. Hardy: Shy in the Sky

Art: John Stanton (cover), Aunia Kahn

Not One of Us & GUD News

My latest short story, In the Cage With Ghosts (mentioned elsewhere in my blog and one I struggled with for the longest time) has been accepted for publication by John Benson, the editor of the respected small press magazine, Not One of Us. No update yet about what issue it will appear in, but I'm looking forward to seeing the story in print. Thank you, John.

And then yesterday I was reading Wikipedia's entry for GUD, a magazine that published one of my short stories in its second issue, and noticed the following under "Awards":

Stories from GUD Issues 0 and 1 received 3 honorable mentions in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Awards 2008

Steven J. Dines's 'Unzipped'
Sarah Singleton and Chris Butler's 'Song of the Dead'
Leslie Claire Walker's 'Max Velocity'

It was the first I knew about it! I have made some enquiries since, and it seems Wiki have got their facts right - Unzipped received an HM!

Good news indeed.

Out of the cage

"Like birdsong heard through a closed window, you had to open—just a little—and listen."
-In the Cage with Ghosts.

It's done. I finished the latest draft of In the Cage with Ghosts (formerly In the Cage of Ghosts) yesterday morning. It came in at almost 6000 words. So much for 3000 or even 4000… I dunno, is it possible for me to write something longer than a flash but shorter than 4000 words these days? I fear it's not. But I'm almost happy with how this latest piece turned out. Anyone who knows me will know I am highly self-critical, so when I say that I'm almost happy it is a positive statement, believe me. In the Cage is dark, it's psychological, and its two central character are both outsiders; yes, two for the price of one. I've posted this current draft on the writing workshop Critters Bar and so far it has received very positive feedback. So, fingers crossed, I should have it ready to submit for publication soon.

Next, it's back to the novel, which has been set aside for the last two weeks, and perhaps on to the prep work for my next short story – no idea what that will be yet. Watch this space, as they say. Maybe this one will come in at target length!

The hard-working folks over at GUD Magazine are making their final selections for Issue 4 at the moment. One of my stories, Manny Prior's Halloween, has made the shortlist from over 2500 submissions. It goes without saying it will be fantastic if Manny (one of my favourite character creations to date) makes the final line-up, but I know in this game not to raise my hopes too high. I will let you know the outcome either way.

As always, thanks for dropping by.