THE STORY BEHIND A STORY: Travels with Going Where the Wind Blows

More than a decade ago there was a wonderful on-line publication called Hardluck Stories published by Dave Zeltserman. I’d had one story published there already, and when he called for stories with a Western Noir theme, I decided to try my hand at one.

I had written maybe three noir stories, and no Western stories, so I took some time to decide on how I could write something that was different, but also publishable. I knew there were a lot of prostitutes back then. I thought that probably not a lot of other women were writing for this call for stories, and that if a male writer had a prostitute in his story, she probably was not the main character. I picked San Francisco as the setting because it’s a great city with a wonderful history and would be easy to research if I needed to.

After that, I’m not sure how I came up with the story—I never am. I did decide that something had to happen right away, so I chose to have the man Rita Mae arrived with in San Francisco get murdered and all their money lost. Once I began to write, the story just came to me, as it usually does, and I had fun with the characters, the setting, the details (I even researched a cocktail that Rita Mae drank), and of course, the plot.

Dave really liked the story, and so it was published in Hardluck Stories.

But there was more. Dave had been in contact with Ed Gorman, and Ed agreed to put an anthology together with the stories from that Hardluck issue plus ask for more submissions from some very popular writers he knew. And he got them. Here’s where to find a whole list of who was published in the anthology, On Dangerous Ground (unfortunately now out of print). Isn’t that a great cover?

http://www.cemeterydance.com/pae/CDP/PROD/gorman07

But there’s more! Now, twelve years later, I was Googling around and put my name into search, plus the word “review.” And that’s when I found a wonderful review at Spinetingler, which I knew nothing about. So, I checked my contract with the anthology’s publisher, Cemetery Dance, and found that I have ebook rights. Of course, I immediately thought of the folks at Untreed Reads who have published all my Artie Crimes stories, and I sent it off to them. And they decided to publish the story as a stand-alone ebook. So, now it’s available again, and since On Dangerous Ground is out of print, I am, of course, ecstatic.

You can find “Going Where the Wind Blows” at just about any bookseller on-line you can think of, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, the Apple Store (iTunes), etc. But you can get it directly from the publisher in all formats much easier.

https://www.untreedreads.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=919

I hope the story behind the story interested you. You just never know where the wind, or a spark for a story, will take you.

READ KINDLE E-BOOKS ON MOST ANY DEVICE

I want to remind everyone that you can read Kindle ebooks on most any device. Go here to find out how:

http://amzn.to/Y2HRz3

Many people are reading short stories on their phones, for example. Others can download Kindle published stories to their tablets, PCs and laptops.

Remember, I have a collection of short stories available in Kindle format. Three previously published short stories in one “ebook.”

Notice the mile marker with the number 1 on it? Soon, there will be a second volume, and the marker will change to a 2. Like magic. The first collection has some of my lighter-side mystery stories The second volume will have three darker-side, previously-published stories. Something for everyone is my motto.

Also, I have on offer four stand-alone Artie Crime stories published by Untreed Reads. These stories come in any type of format you need for your device if you buy them from the Untreed Reads store. Or you can go direct to the source–B&N for the Nook, iTunes for Apple devices and of course, Amazon for the Kindle. Easy to do by going to the tab at the top of this page and clicking on Short Fiction. The covers are all there, and if you click on any one of them, you will end up on a page just for that story with buying option buttons. And a description of the story, even some reviews if a particular story got any—most did!

It’s a new world out there for those of us who love to read. Of course, you can also download Amazon full novels and other books to any device.  I still enjoy reading books printed on paper, but I also love my Kindle and my iPod (used while waiting somewhere and kept in my purse—smaller than taking my Kindle DX with me). All can be used at different times, in different places, and in different light.

If you’ve never downloaded the Kindle app you would need for a Kindle book on your favorite device, I hope you will try it out. If you do,  let me know how you like it. I love to hear from you.