Well, with the deadline for the anthologies I’m working on with Henchman Press being tomorrow, I’ll be starting in on story selection and sending out editorial notes for the stories I have. And I do have quite a few stories to work through.
On the up side, I’ll be on a work trip this week, so I’m on my own in the evenings. I should be able to get some significant progress on the story selection piece. On the down side, we don’t know how much work we’ll have to do on the day job. Hopefully, things will go well and the project will run smoothly.
So if you’ve submitted, you can expect to hear something soon. If you’re behind schedule, email me at keith@keithhedger.com and let me know what’s going on.
Wish me luck on getting these stories read. One of the coolest parts of this process is getting to see all these stories first, before anyone else does!
Hopefully, I’ll be able to post some great updates over the next few weeks!
I finished the rough draft of ‘Corporals’ the other day, and thought you all might enjoy a snippet of the story. In this story, Burn and Bad Karma are recruited into Rangers due to some issues that come up with Karma’s past.
Enjoy!
“Training under an identity we’re building for you. Makes it more complicated for politicians. Tossing people with no numbers under tank treads is easy. Soldiers and Department team members get ugly for them fast,” the sergeant major explained.
“We haven’t been a country long enough for politicians to be voted out,” Burn faced the soldier.
“Three politicians had tragic accidents,” the general noted, “And the investigations came up to purely accidental causes. Clearly.”
“Wasn’t me,” Bad Karma said.
“It wasn’t,” the sergeant major smiled, her cheeks rising as she spoke, “We checked.”
“What, exactly, are you trying to say?” Burn’s fingers pressed against the table, turning white.
“That it appears that trying to use the Ranger Department for political advantage can be detrimental to one’s health. Many veterans of the war are outspoken about using individuals as trading chips. The Department, of course, is absolutely loyal to the elected leaders of our nation and our constitution,” the sergeant major said.
Silence settled across the room. Burn noted the buzz of the white noise generator and that her comm systems were showing no signal.
“It appears we can trust you. So, why HALO jumping?”
“It’s the nearest start date we have for any training,” the general shrugged, “And I doubt you two would do well in Ranger School.”
“Why’s that?” Bad Karma asked.
“Ranger School lasts for three months. Freefall school is three weeks, and you don’t have to go in knowing military tactics,” the sergeant major noted, “First, you don’t want to be out of the loop in the dropped numbers world for three months. Second, you don’t need to go through the usual military training program. We just need you in a school to have your new core IDs solid. Third, the training will be useful to you and to us, as it opens some options when situations needing your skills come up.”
For those who don’t know me, or only know me from my fiction, I thought I’d introduce myself and let you know a bit more about me and my life, both in writing and outside of it.
First, I’ve been married for almost three decades to a wonderful woman named Terri, who puts up with my writing, day job, fitness and workouts and shares my love of adventure, enjoying food and finding new things. I’ve also got a daughter and three amazing grandkids who live near enough to us that we get to share a lot of fun, life and good time together.
Many years ago, after being largely sedentary after I got out of the Army, I was going through a bit of a mental mess, and that let to me getting back into fitness. At the time, it was specifically running and over time, the farther the better. It got to the point that I’ve completed 54 marathons and ultramarathons, the longest being a 100 mile race (The Long Haul 100 Miler). This led into me getting coaching and fitness training certifications which I use for my own fitness as well as helping and coaching others for their fitness. Unfortunately, I’ve got a messed up knee, so really long runs are largely off the table, but biking, swimming, lifting and other exercise forms are still in my wheel house!
As part of moving back to Iowa, I intended to get back into hunting and fishing, since I hadn’t done much of that when we lived in Georgia and didn’t make time. Now, if I’m not at a family event, a fiction event or working on a project, I’m likely to be in one of the local public hunting areas, or somewhere around Lake Red Rock hoping to catch a fish or two.
I’m also a beer and whiskey guy, which, like most things in my life has lead to me seeking out local breweries wherever I go, and learning about cocktail making techniques. I’ve now got a beer fridge with a nice variety of different beers, and I’ve put together a nice bar station to make cocktails of many varieties. Check out the recipe for the first cocktail I’ve created, the Iowa Twilight (Thanks to Green Frog Distillery for the excellent corn whiskey. I bought the glass ware from Ranger Up.)
Iowa Twilight
0.5 oz Pom juice
0.5 oz orange juice
teaspoon of simple syrup
splash of grenadine syrup
two dashes of orange bitters
2 oz of corn whiskey (4 year barrel aged Green Frog Corn Whiskey works very well)
I’m at it again. I’m doing edits and story selection for two anthologies with Henchman Press!
Tales of The E4 Mafia 2
We’re looking for more stories about those corporals, specials, lance corporals and petty officers!
Give us your best speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and urban fantasy) stories about those experience young soldiers, marines and sailors getting tough tasks handled, dodging overbearing leadership, show how and when to ignore their unit’s stodgy processes, and skirting the regulations and rules with the grace of a ballet dancer. A ballet dancer who happens to have access to a ridiculous amount of equipment and weaponry!
Please send your submissions to keith@keithhedger.com with a subject line of “Tales of the E4 Mafia 2”. Submissions are due by 31 March 2025. Please format your story in Times New Roman in 12 point font, and should be between 4000 and 12,000 words total.
Butterbars! Large and (Not So) In Charge
No one starts a job or career knowing everything. Junior officers, whether they’re 2nd Lieutenants or Ensigns, in any military bring some nuance to their position. They have education and are provided with training, taught to lead and make decisions in tough situation. What they don’t have is experience at their job, an understanding of how their unit operates, or the personalities and capabilities of their people. Combined with directives to make decisions, give orders and direct efforts, this can lead to, err, interesting results, to say the least.
What we’re looking are speculative fiction tales centered around these most junior officers and the situations they create or impact. We expect to see absurd outcomes, courses of action that are other than optimal, or humor as these leaders’ directives and orders create chaos, their troops adjust to avoid negative consequences, and somehow they still get the job done!
Please send your submissions to keith@keithhedger.com with a subject line of “Butter Bars!”. Submissions are due by 31 March 2025. Please format your story in Times New Roman in 12 point font, and should be between 4000 and 12,000 words total.
So, if you write military fiction, speculative fiction, or any brand of fantasy or science fiction, send me a story!
I’ve done a lot of cool things in my life. I’ve written stories and published books before. But Tales of the E4 Mafia is different. It was my concept and idea.
So thanks to Leo Champion and Henchman Press for backing this anthology. Thanks to the authors who submitted stories (I got to read a lot of cool stories for this), and thanks to the authors included Dan Kemp Author, Andrew Heymann, Barb Caffrey, Gaige Mosher, Scott Reichek – Author, Josh Hill, Chris Sommerkorn, Michael LaVoice, Charles R. Scott, Gail Sanders and the late Ray Daley.
I learned so much in the process of getting Tales from idea to a printed book delivered to my home. From working with authors, to developing my editing process and learning more about my craft by reading the stories these authors generously submitted. Several authors are first time published in this book, so I had the privilege of sharing that ‘first book’ experience with them.
I appreciate everyone who’s supported myself and the authors in this book, those that have shared our many posts about Tales, and let their friends and communities know about this book. We’re all grateful for your reviews and shares, and comments that have been made to us about our stories.
It’s finally out! Henchman Press has released Tales of the E4 Mafia!
This isn’t just a big deal because I have a story in the anthology, although Mob Rules is a cool story. Tales is a big deal, because it was my idea, and I did the editing and story selection for this. Well, except for Mob Rules. The publisher accepted my story and provided edits for it. Thanks, Leo!
That means you get to read 11 great stories from a variety of authors from all over the place. Here’s the story list:
Better to Beg Forgiveness by Scott Riechek
Short Supply by Michael LaVoice
Burping the Worm by Andrew Heymann
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise by Charles R. Scott
Mob Rules by Keith Hedger (yes, that’s me)
Into the Night by Barb Caffrey and Gail Sanders
Forever Young by Dan Kemp
Missing Man Formation by Ray Daley
Hardcore by Joshua Hill
Helmet by Chris Sommercorn
The Mafia is Eternal by Gaige Mosher
So, along with getting to read a bunch of cool stories, I learned a lot about the other side of writing. That space between writers and published fiction and the work, effort, and tasks that are required to get an anthology from idea to out in the world, available for people to read. I had to vet stories, make suggestions to authors who have churned their guts out to write a great story, coordinate contracts between the authors and the publisher, act as the information conduit between all parties, and become more than a bit of a project manager. In short, I learned a lot, and it’s my hope that you’ll take a change on us and this crazy thing we created.
If you’re into military science fiction, military fiction, science fiction and have a sense of humor, give Tales of the E4 Mafia a shot. It’s all tales from the soldier’s view, getting things done and solving problems in the way that only experienced enlisted soldiers can.
And if you enjoy the stories, please give us a review!
Keith Hedger's Home for Fiction 