I wrote this short story a few years ago, when living in Bangkok, and presented it to my writing group, KEYBANGERS BANGKOK. As usual, their input proved invaluable. I reworked it and showed it to the Tampa Writers Alliance, who liked it and persuaded me that it really fell within the historical fiction genre. Up until then, to the extent I gave it thought, the story was about young men coming of age, set in the period of my own youth. The date, though never precisely stated, is easily identifiable as 1963, There are significant references to the Spanish Civil War and the McCarthy era, so I guess it does qualify as historical fiction. The Tampa discussion prompted me to post a piece on WHAT MAKES WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION. (And may induce me to write more in this genre.) There aren’t a whole lot of magazines specializing in historical fiction, but I was fortunate to have my story published in one of the, The Magazine of History and Fiction, Issue # 4.
Please note that any formatting awkwardness should be attributed to my posting deficiencies.
Hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Click here to read “A Shot in the Ass”, by Stephen Shaiken,(c) 2019
Photos courtesy of (left to right): JFK & Cuban Missile Crisis map, Gettyimages.com; Spanish Civil War map, www.2bc.ed
If you enjoyed reading the story, you might also enjoy my novel, Bangkok Shadows.
If you enjoyed reading this short story, you might also enjoy my novel, Bangkok Shadows. If you like noir thrillers set in exotic locales, this book is for you!