It is always an internal conflict for me whether to write short fiction or simply focus on novel-length work. On the one hand, short fiction can expose me to new audiences and on the other, it pulls me away from my novel-length work.
There are other reasons to write short fiction, of course. Short fiction gives a writer the opportunity to try new genres, settings, characters and so on without having to commit to the lengthy novel work. That’s a great thing if you’ve always wanted to try your hand at noir but don’t really know what you would do with a noir-style novel if you did write one.
At any rate, I was asked by not one, but two different people to submit to their anthologies. When the nice people asked, I had to give them the “I’ll see what I can do” answer because I was trying to tie up a couple of my novel projects.
Before I go any further, let me just say how much of an ego-boost it is to have someone ask you to write something for their anthology. It ranks right up there with, a call out of the blue offering you the job of your dreams when you didn’t even apply just because they’ve heard you are good.
Happily, I was able to finish the story for my first anthology. I REALLY love the character. It is a 1920’s detective noir with magic and the character is a LAPD Detective who has the unique ability to literally smell magic (actually causes an allergic reaction). This ability comes from his parents; an unnatural combination of a succubus and a priest. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the editor likes the story enough to put it into his anthology. I’ve already decided that I will be writing more stories of this character down the road (maybe even a novel length one, one day).
The other story is in progress. I am revisiting a character from a story that was published by Flying Island Press. The character, Charlie, is an apprentice wizard. Charlie has a few faults: impatience and laziness being chief among them. I have a couple short stories in mind for Charlie, but I am writing one specifically to meet the anthology’s topic (each story must prominently feature the number 13). I’ve got a great story in mind that I’m having some fun writing.
Are their more short stories on the horizon? I hope so. I am gearing up for some more long fiction, but I think I will be able to squeeze a couple (somewhere) next year. Would love to be invited to write more for people.
Short stories are my favorite thing to do as a writer and to read. A well written short story is like a an amuse bouche.
I enjoy them too. They used to take me as long to write as a novel. Fortunately, I’ve gotten faster writing them (over the years). I’m hoping to follow in the footsteps of others (like you) and put a collection out in the near future.