The Resurrection of a Short Story- Dien Bien Phu, 1954

This morning, one of my short stories was published in the nifty online litmag “Twist in Time Magazine.” It’s a short piece of historical fiction set in Vietnam before the French left. You can read “Dien Bien Phu, 1954” by clicking on the link and visiting their very lovely website.

This story means a lot to me. First of all, one of my goals was to be published this year by an American magazine. The Count of the Sahara? The Book Folks are based in London. Dodging the Rain is a lovely litmag and I’m a fan: Galway, Ireland. Storgy? There’s a big old bromance going on with Ross, Tomek and the team over there but they’re in London. On one hand it doesn’t matter–the internet is a big place and as a Canadian living in the US writing a short story about a French soldier in Vietnam, does where it is published really matter? Still, it bugged me. Now that’s handled. Blessing on the homes and camels of Tianna, Renee, Adrienne, and their team.

There’s a second reason I’m excited, and it is that this story nearly didn’t see the light of day at all.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while might recognize the title. It was originally submitted–and accepted– as my last contribution to the annual anthology of the Naperville Writers Group. I even put it up on my website but eventually pulled it off because, through a bizarre combination of things, it never got published. The editor literally forgot to add it to the final version of the book. (At least that’s the story I choose to believe.)

This turned out to be something of a blessing. While I was disappointed, I could now submit what I thought was a pretty darned good story and find a larger audience.

You can read more of my short stories on my site here. This is a solid addition to the collection.

Of course, to be cynical, the idea of getting my short stories published is to draw attention to the novels. If you like the short pieces you read for free, consider buying a copy of The Count of the Sahara or the Lucca le Pou stories: Acre’s Bastard and Acre’s Orphans.