A Writer's Guide to Fighting: Footwork

The next installment of the "Writer's Guide to Fighting" series is up on Righting Crime Fiction:

A Writer's Guide to Fighting: Footwork

First Author Interrogation: Susan Furlong, Author of PEACHES AND SCREAM

To read the very first Author Interrogation, which features Author Susan Furlong, go to the new Righting Crime Fiction website here: http://rightingcrimefiction.com/

Many thanks to all who have visited my blog over the past months. I hope y'all will migrate over to the new and improved site and see what we have to offer.

BJ Bourg

New Paying Market to be Associated with Righting Crime Fiction

Flash Bang Mysteries

I am pleased to announce some changes and additions to Righting Crime Fiction. First, I purchased the domain name www.rightingcrimefiction.com and am in the process of building a new home for this blog. It will have three main features, described as follows:

RIGHTING CRIME FICTION BLOG

I will continue to provide monthly posts similar to what has already been provided. The posts on this blog will remain here, and I will gradually copy them to the new blog and will begin directing viewers to the new site when it is live.

AUTHOR INTERROGATIONS

This is where I will interrogate authors who are suspected of writing great crime fiction. You might wonder why I am calling it "interrogations" instead of "interviews". Is it because my questions will be hard-hitting and brutal? Will I try to trip them up and get them to admit to something sinister? Will I use trickery and deceit to elicit a confession of some sort? No, no, and no. Quite simply, I'm calling it "interrogations" because "interviews" has been done to death. And "interrogation" sounds cooler.

In any event, this will be an opportunity for authors to share a little about themselves and a lot about their books, in the hopes that a million people will read the interrogation and rush out and buy a copy or ten.

I have the first author interrogation lined up and it will appear here next week. It will also appear on the new site when it is up and running.

BJ BOURG'S MYSTERY MAG E-ZINE

The third feature of my new website will be a flash fiction e-zine. I will pay $10 a piece for up to ten flash pieces each quarter ranging from 500 to 750 words. I plan to launch in October. The guidelines are below:

Fiction we seek:

• Mystery/suspense of all types (police procedural, private eye, amateur sleuth, cozies, hardboiled, etc.). Basically, if it involves a crime and it is within our guidelines, we would love to consider it.
• We want stories that feature believable characters who speak naturally, realistic situations that bleed conflict, and surprise endings that stay with us long after we reach the final period.
• We welcome new and established authors.

We publish four times per year:

• January / Winter
• April / Spring
• July / Summer
• October / Autumn

Submission periods are limited to the following dates:

• October 1st to October 31st for January Issue
• January 1st to January 31st for April Issue
• April 1st to April 30th for July Issue
• July 1st to July 31st for October Issue

How to submit:

• We accept submissions via e-mail only.
• Send as .rtf or .doc attachment.
• Include brief cover letter in body of e-mail
• We do not accept simultaneous submissions. If you have not received an answer by publication date, feel free to submit your story elsewhere.
• Please submit one story per author at a time.
• E-mail submissions/queries to
• Subject line must read: "Flash submission: [your title]"

Manuscript format:

• Margins: 1" all around
• Font: Times New Roman, 12-pt
• Center title in all caps at top of first page, skip line, insert byline, skip line, and begin story.
• Use single line spacing.
• Skip line between paragraphs and do not indent at the beginning of paragraphs.
• Single-space after periods.
• Use two hyphens instead of the em-dash.
• Use italics to indicate flashbacks and thoughts.
• Use three centered asterisks to indicate scene breaks.
• Please don’t rely solely on spell-check. Proof your work very carefully and send us only your best, as multiple errors may be cause for rejection.
• We reserve the right to edit for grammatical errors and such. However, we will not rewrite stories we receive.

Length:

• Flash fiction ONLY between 500 and 750 words

Pays on publication for first worldwide electronic rights, thirty-day exclusivity, archival rights, and the right to include it in a downloadable edition of the issue in which it appears, to possibly be made available on Amazon. Once the thirty-day exclusivity period has lapsed, you are free to submit your work elsewhere and all rights, other than those specified herein, revert back to you.

Payment:

• $10.00 one-time payment, US, via paper check (mailing address required for payment)
• NOTE: Due to budgetary constraints, we are limited to publishing no more than ten stories per issue.

What we won't print:

• Graphic sex, gratuitous violence or vulgarity. Swear words are okay, as long as they are not used gratuitously.
• Anything that seeks to promote hate or discrimination.

What to include in the cover letter:

• Name
• Byline (exactly as you want it to appear)
• Mailing address
• E-mail address
• Word count
• A brief description of story
• BIO (up to 50 words)
• A note certifying you are the creator of the work, you own the rights, and it has never appeared in any other venue in any form.
• Please let us know if it would be your first published story, because that would be cool.

Response time and method:

• You should receive a decision within four to eight weeks, but it may take longer depending on the amount of submissions.
• Acceptance and rejection notifications will be made via e-mail.
• We will not comment on rejected manuscripts.
• Once you receive a decision on your story, feel free to submit another.
• We reserve the right to reject any story for any reason.

NOTE:  If we reject your story, please understand it simply means it is not the right story for us at that time. It is certainly no reflection on the quality of your story and, by all means, continue submitting your story elsewhere until it finds a home. Above all else, I am a writer and--having had more than my share of rejections--I know how it feels to be rejected. As you might imagine, that will be the worst part of this whole endeavor. I like making people happy, not disappointing them.

Disclaimer:

• Authors are responsible for the content of their stories and BJ Bourg's Mystery Mag E-zine, its editors, creators, and/or affiliates accept no liability whatsoever for misuse of any kind.

BJ Bourg is the author of JAMES 516 (Amber Quill Press, 2014), THE SEVENTH TAKING (Amber Quill Press, 2015), and HOLLOW CRIB (Five Star-Gale-Cengage, 2016).

© 2015 BJ Bourg