‘Touch the Dead’ sells to On Spec Magazine

Just signed and sent the contract to On Spec. This is the sale that I mentioned a couple weeks ago on Twitter and is my third to On Spec.

I am super excited for a variety of reasons. As most readers know I’m a huge fan of On Spec and was eagerly waiting their response to this story. A couple years ago they saw a previous version of this story but declined. I took their feedback and the advice of my readers and rewrote the story.

‘Touch the Dead’ I think has been drastically improved by this feedback and I’m very happy with it.

Some History

This was actually the third time this particular story had been sent to On Spec. In 1997 I submitted the very first draft (and it was rejected). It was a very different tale but the core characters and situation were the same. I waited ten years before I rewrote it. The reason I went back to this story is because it is actually the prequel to one of my novels (not the novel I’ve finished writing but the one I’m currently at work on). I’ve worked on this novel (fleshing out the world, toying with plot ideas and attempting various drafts) for fifteen years, so you could say that these characters are firmly lodged in my head. And they want the novel finished!

I am quite motivated to oblige them now that the story has found the right home.

I’ll let you know which issue ‘Touch the Dead’ appears in and when.

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