Edith/Maddie here, with a thrilling announcement. No, I didn’t (yet) hit the New York Times bestseller list.
But I do have “While the Iron is Hot,” a short crime story, in the latest issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, one of the two premier mystery magazines!
I have loved the phrase Carpe Diem for many years. According to Wikipedia, “Carpe diem is a Latin aphorism , usually translated “seize the day”, taken from book 1 of the Roman poet Horace’s work Odes (23 BC).”
It seems to me that the related aphorism, “Strike while the iron is hot,” has a similar meaning. If you have a chance, take it. Don’t waste opportunities. More pragmatically, once your iron is well-heated, press the wrinkles out of another shirt or brand another steer or straighten your hair’s frizz or curls or do whatever you might use a hot iron for.
So, why did I title my story that way? I wish I kept as careful a track of my process for writing short stories as Sherry Harris does, but I don’t. I know last year sometime I was remembering the way some people reacted at the start of the pandemic lockdown. I had neighbors who set their groceries on the front stoop to air and be wiped down with sanitizer before they brought them in the house. Others let delivered mail sit for three days before touching it. Others washed all produce in bleach, and so on.
Most of us are past that, thank goodness. But what if somebody took an abundance of caution to the point of paranoia? That was the germ of my story. I had great fun going darker than in my novels, playing with the three characters and how the narrator interpreted “seize the day.”
I hope you love it! Several good friends and past guests of the Wickeds also have stories in this issue of the magazine, like Rob Osler and Lori Rader-Day, so be sure you read it cover to cover. I love the springlike-yet-murderous front cover, which ties in with some garden work in my story.
Readers: How often do you pick up a short story collection or magazine?
The Wickeds 
Congratulations, Edith. That’s excellent news. I can imagine how much fun it is for a cozy writer to permit herself to publish something darker than usual.
I fear that I rarely read short stories–there’s no reason for that except that I so much enjoy getting lost in good novels of whatever genre, and short stories don’t seem to provide the same escape. In my teens, I loved O’Henry’s stories, and I appreciate the skill that goes into writing something that creates its own world in so few words. Putting that special snap into a short story requires a lot of talent. I look forward to reading “While the Iron Is Hot.” I will see about getting this issue of the magazine sent to Switzerland!
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Thanks! I hope you love it.
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Sorry I came out as Anonymous. That message was from me, Edith.
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Congratulations on your short story.
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Thank you, Dru.
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Can’t wait to read this story Edith!
I generally only pick up short story collections and/or magazines when an author I already read in regular novel form has a story in said book or magazine.
I pick up regular magazines a bit more often but not as much as I used to “back in the day”.
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Thank you, Jay. We get only the New Yorker these days.
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Congratulations on the publication of “While the Iron is Hot”! Sounds like a fabulous story. And looks like you are among some other great writer’s in this edition.
Do love short stories! Sometimes there’s just not enough time to settle down for a long read and they fit the bill to fulfill that desire to read. I have been at a time where so much was going on, that my mind was pulled in different directions that I just couldn’t read a novel and try to keep the characters and the plot together. That’s when a short story or a collection of them really helps.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
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I agree completely, Kay!
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Congrats on the store sale, Edith. I tend to pick up a short story when I have a small period of time I have to fill – like waiting for the dentist.
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That’s a perfect time for one.
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