Gerald C. Matics -- Author

My Yahoo! account for some reason throws a lot of random stuff into the Spam folder. When it comes to Viagra ads, notices of fictitious lottery winnings, or come-ons from Russian women dying for a husband, I say Spam folder, do your thing.

But often things I have more than a passing interest in land in there, and I have to rescue them before they pass into oblivion forever more.  Case in point: an e-mail from the editor of Dappled Things telling me she was happy to let me know they want to publish "Dirty Little Coward."

Take a minute and click on the link to check out Dappled Things' website.  I'll wait.

(Sigh)

Back? Okay, tell me if you noticed anything unusual about it, at least in terms of the two stories I've already had published. If you noticed it's not a horror magazine, you're right! Did you notice it's maybe the farthest thing on the planet from a horror magazine?

Bingo, it's a Catholic magazine! (Hey, does that count as a pun?)

It's simply another example of how surreal my life is at times that I went from a pair of horror magazines to a Catholic literary journal. I don't think I would even have written that twist, but as the saying goes, truth often really is stranger than fiction.

Anyway, I've had some back-and-forth with the editor, who has some very insightful feedback on how to make the story even better.  This woman is wicked smart, and in fact, based on our e-mail exchanges, I'm not sure I'm smart enuff to be in her magazine.  But I'll not bemoan my good fortune; I'm thrilled about the whole thing.

Incidentally, Dappled Things is both a print and an online magazine, so there's a medium for every taste. No word yet on a publication date, but it should be sometime around Easter. I'll pass it along a firm date when I get notification of it.

That is, if it doesn't land in my Spam folder.