M.C. rocks!

I can be forgiven for a little self-promotion, can't I? Fans of Ten Pound Press--there are a few of you out there, right?--know that I have been pimping two sites, blogs really, in previous posts. The first is DZ Allen's Muzzle Flash (more of an e-zine these days, check out http://www.dzallen.blogspot.com/) and the second is Out of the Gutter (http://outoftheguttermagazine.blogspot.com/), which puts out a real-live print magazine. Your Humble Narrator ("there was me, that is, M.C.") has submitted three flash pieces to MF, one in response to a contest. "Paid in Full" was posted there on 15 January, you can find it under my name in the ARCHIVE section. "Arithmetic Lesson" was submitted for the flash contest. It made the Final Four and generated several positive comments but ultimately lost out to a story called "The One That Got Away" by Jacob Kohl. Unfortunately those Final Four stories are no longer posted. I don't know if they will be added to the archive--I hope so, and it seems logical they would be. Finally, "Silent Partner" was submitted for the MF e-zine and it appears we will see it shortly in issue #4 (issue #3 is up now). M.C. is pretty pumped! But the best news is that I received an e-mail last night from the editor of OOTG and they want to use my short story "Tweaker" in issue #2!!!!! I submitted "Tweaker" for the OOTG short story contest and apparently I am a co-winner and both of the top stories will be printed. Currently the OOTG site lists only one winner for the contest (Paul A. Toth's "For All I Know"), but I was told the magazine will print that my story "tied for first place." I could hardly sleep last night I was so excited! I realize OOTG is small press, well, micro-press at this point I imagine, and I'm not getting paid, but still! M.C. is pumped! Did I mention that already? It feels great to be included among some very hard-working and talented people--many of the contributors to both sites are professionals--and I'm honored to have my fiction debut with this bunch. A heartfelt THANKS to the MF and OOTG gang for the contests, the 'zines, and the inspiration. Oh, and of course, CONGRATULATIONS to the contest winners!