Two Acceptances

I received an acceptance from Santa Fe Literary Review for a short story of mine and I'm THRILLED. This particular story started as a rather brutal scene between a father and mother as witnessed by the young son. I'd initially wanted that scene to stand on its own but couldn't seem to make it work. So I went at it a different way, backing up, going forward, filling in the blanks while trying to keep it short. It comes in at just under 1500 words. I'm SO pleased that it found a home, and the warm acceptance email from the editor made my day. "Picture Window" will be in the next issue, which comes out in June 2013.

I received an acceptance last month from the editor at Blue Lake Review for my short story "Counting Proper." This story was originally published in May 2009 by Bryant Literary Review, and it's still one of my favorites. Every time I reread it, I'm instantly drawn to the place in my mind's eye from which these characters emerged: my neighborhood during the short time I lived in Wheaton, Illinois as a teenager. I'm THRILLED that this story has found a second life. It will appear in the January 2013 issue.