Like many writers, I started out writing short fiction as part of a creative writing class. It was brutal. I wanted to write fantasy, and quickly found that 5,000 words is almost never enough room to build a compelling world, create a magic system, and tell a good story. Even so, over the course of several years I wrote and workshopped several stories. For my 7th short story, I decided to try my hand at science fiction instead.
SF is probably what I should be writing, given that my day job is in genetics research. So I wrote this little story about two researchers in a dusty virology lab who stumble on the universal cure for cancer. It was a tight story, according to my writing group, and I enjoyed writing something with a little bit of hard science in it. I was even more fortunate to stumble across Third Flatiron Publishing, a company in Colorado that puts out quarterly anthologies.
They had a submissions call open for their Spring 2015 anthology, themed “The Time It Happened.”
World-altering events, in other words. My story seemed like a perfect fit, though I tried not to dwell on this. We often think our stories are perfect for this editor or that magazine, only to be disappointed. This time, fortunately, it was meant to be. Juliana Rew of Third Flatiron Publishing liked my story, and accepted it for the anthology.
The Time It Happened will release in Kindle format and print-on-demand paperback on March 1. Here’s the full lineup for the anthology:
- False Footfall by Martin Clark
- Lincoln’s Watch by Atar Hadari
- Going Viral by Dan Koboldt
- Stilled Life by Ellen Denton
- Kin Carriers by Jason Lairamore
- What Was Lost by Larry C. Kay
- Armada of Snow by Richard Mark Ankers
- Puppy Love by Thomas Canfield
- Good to the Last Drop by Wendy Nikel
- With Gilded Wings by Evan Henry
- Net War I by Elliotte Rusty Harold
- A Rock in the Air by Neil James Hudson
- Blargnoff Industries New Employee Handbook Human Edition by Dana Schellings
- The Zzzombie Apocalypse by Mark Hill
- Xenofabulous by Amanda C. Davis
Going Viral on Audio
It gets better! My story is one of three that will be available in audio format (podcast) as well. I have no details yet, other than to say that I’m very excited about this.
So you can read it on your Kindle, and then order it in print, and even have someone read it to you. And yes, I expect you to do all of these things. Third Flatiron Publishing is a small press, and I hope you’ll support their efforts to put out these wonderful themed anthologies.
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Excited for the audio version!
This is so great Dan! Can’t wait to read it! 🙂