As we enter 2017, I have to ponder the literary strangeness of 2016 . . . but good strangeness. All told, I sold 23 works of short fiction last year. This compares with my previous record of10 sales. And I have no clue why. If I had submitted twice as many stories to the editorial world, there would be some sort of correlation. But no, I submitted 90 times in 2016, compared with 140 submissions in 2015. Yet the good news kept flowing in during the year. Moreover, 2016 will also be the gift that keeps on giving. Only12 of the 23 have come out in print during this past calendar year — that’s 11 more yet to appear. As a recap, here’s the list 2016’s publications:
- Sweet Dreams (December 17, 2016) Crossroads in the Dark 2: Urban Legends, Burning Willow Press, LLC
- Rude Awakening (December 16, 2016) After the Happily Ever After: a Collection of Fractured Fairy Tales, Transmundane Press, LLC
- Tears of a Dead God (November 2, 2016) Sword and Sorceress Volume 31, Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Trust
- Phantoms of the Opera (September 25, 2016) Stories from the Near Future, Darkhouse Books
- Greatcloak (August 15, 2016) Visions V: Milky Way, Lillicat Publishers
- Love and Oil (August 13, 2016) Shadows in Salem: Wicked Tales from the Witch City, FunDead Publications
- Scow of Destiny (June 26, 2016) InfectiveInk, online magazine
- Something Wicker This Way Comes (June 9, 2016) Strange Mysteries 7, Whortleberry Press
- Lab Rat (May 17, 2016) What Went Wrong?, Lit Select
- Between Two Heartbeats (May 15, 2016) Hyperpowers (Third Flatiron Anthologies), Third Flatiron Publishing
- Whisper (April 29, 2016) Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Lillicat Publishers
- Pale as the Noonday Sun (January 11, 2016) The Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, vol. 1, Altair Australia Pty Ltd
