New Story in the Can

I just completed a draft of a story I'm calling "Whatever God Blesses Us With." I'd previously called it "Our Kids" and put an excerpt up here. It's the one about the woman who gives birth to home electronic equipment.

It passed its first big test when I read it to my wife, and she responded with excitement. It's actually really nice to have a wife who only gets excited when she really likes a story, and will tell you just how she feels when she does not.

It ended up coming in at around 2,500 words, which I'm pretty happy with, though I originally thought it might crack 1,000.

Along the way, Dave Clapper steered me towards a similar story from Ellen Meister that was simultaneously thrilling and depressing to read. Thrilling, because it's a great story. And depressing because it's a great story. It's called "Womb-O-Matic" and you should definitely read it.

"Whatever God Blesses us With" definitely covers similar ground, but in the end I'm more excited about that than anything. I only hope that when it's all said and done it makes a contribution to this burgeoning new genre of women-birthing-this-they-shouldn't fiction.