In these rapid, restless shadows,

Once I walked at eventide,

When a gentle, silent maiden,

Walked in beauty at my side.

She alone there walked beside me

All in beauty, like a bride.

--From "The Village Street" by Edgar Allan Poe

In contrast to Poe's romantic stroll in the poem, I've had good results this week. I hurried to get a short story submitted for consideration in Raconteur Press' Vice Noir Anthology, and yesterday I signed the contract to have "A Soldier's Bargain" published in the Goblin Souk Anthology. I had worried that I might have missed the mark with "A Soldier's Bargain" but am happy it was selected. I hadn't anticipated writing the Vice Noir story, "Hell's Vestibule," but my wife told me to do it, and my Skirmish Team all liked it even better than the other noir tales I've had published. Hopefully the editor will feel the same. The Goblin Souk Anthology publishes near the end of this month.

Here's a screenshot of the beginning of the first story I published Raconteur Press:

I'm currently writing a short story for the Sword and Sorcery Anthology, with the tale set in my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire universe.

My reading has been all over the place recently, so I haven't finished anything yet, though I've got four or five I'm working on.

I'm wondering about a giveaway. Should I give away an anthology, or one of my novels?

Is there any interest in another short fiction contest? If so, what should be the topic or required component?

Music: Here's a link to an old blog post. The post itself is nothing special but it contains a video by a learned musician peeling back the layers of a musical masterpiece to identify the elements that make it so spectacular.

Fun Fact:

In 1537, King Charles V of Spain granted De Soto the rights to the conquest of Florida and made him Governor of Cuba. He would be the Marques of all lands he conquered. De Soto was beginning to see his dream fulfilled. De Soto was a superb horseman and said to be one of the best lances in the New World. The Reconquest of Spain and the Conquest of Latin America had shaped and prepared him to lead the Florida expedition. He had spent his entire adult life in the New World. Although perhaps less savage and vindictive than the Pizarros, his ambition and greed were comparable.

He filled his expedition with men from the New World as well as adventurers from Spain, many of whom were bound by ties of kinship or locality.

In Cuba, De Soto met his partner Ponce De Leon. De Leon attempted to avoid the meeting because he had liquidated much of their assets in Peru and he was making his way to Spain with them. He had a fortune onboard his ship and had no apparent desire to reveal that to De Soto. When De Soto discovered that De Leon was staying on his ship and not coming ashore in Cuba, he became suspicious. De Leon then had all the treasure except the silver removed from the ship and taken to a friend's house, where he could retrieve it later without De Soto's knowledge. Unfortunately for De Leon, De Soto's men saw the treasure chests come ashore. When they rushed the treasure, the servants dropped the chests and fled. De Soto seized the treasure and forced De Leon to reaffirm their lifetime partnership and to agree to go to Florida with him. However, when De Soto sailed for Florida, De Leon remained in Cuba, claiming he was waiting for better weather. He then filed a suit against De Soto and set sail for Spain.

--Condensed from chapter two of Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun.

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