My story is in here.
It’s nice to see my name in print again. It’s also bittersweet, since “Dead Black Cadillac” is a story I wrote a couple of years ago, and sold a couple months later, and only now appears in print in what may be the least-read magazine in America. But I’m not complaining.
Well, maybe I am complaining a little. A few months ago I concluded that cooler heads had prevailed at Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and they’d decided to eat the few hundred they’d paid me for it rather than run a piece that, upon further reflection, really didn’t fit the magazine. So I dusted it off and rewrote it, and cut about a thousand words, and ended up with something I thought was quite a bit better. I’d even decided to try selling it somewhere else under a different title. But now that it’s in print, the original prevails.
My advice to all writers: Make sure it’s the best it can be before sending it out to anybody. Otherwise, you may end up like me: Glancing askance at a mixed blessing. You always want to see your words in print, but in the fullness of time you sometimes know you could have done a lot better.
Reflections on some ancient tomes
Big Book o’ Time
This time with feeling
Advice taken (ex post facto).
Stock
Congratulations, Dave. I look forward to reading your “new” story.
Cheers,
Jeff
Congratulations, Dave! And thanks for the sage advice about connecting with your inner editor — I wish more writers did. I’m also glad to see your prose again in this blog.
Where is said magazine normally circulated?
Thank heavens for this post, by the way. I was beginning to worry.
I’m off to look for this now. Who’s that Bruen guy in there with you?
Heh. Never heard of him. 🙂
When the latest EQMM arrived, I was pleased to see your name in the contents. Now I’m wondering how to say that I see what you mean about the story, yet I enjoyed it very much. I’m still looking forward to an Ennis novel someday.
Thanks for the honesty and the support, John. Much appreciated. I’m working on an Ennis novel. My first attempt at a novel is gathering some well-deserved dust.