May 7 – 13: “What’s the main difference when writing a short story as opposed to a novel?”

Short stories and anthologies are becoming popular again! This week we’re asking ITW Members Judy Penz Sheluk, Mitch Silver, Barb Goffman, J.H. Bográn and Andrew Bourelle besides the length, what’s the main difference when writing a short story as opposed to a novel? You won’t want to “short” yourself by missing this, so scroll down to the “comments” section and follow along!

Judy Penz Sheluk is the author of two mystery series: The Glass Dolphin Mysteries (THE HANGED MAN’S NOOSE and A HOLE IN ONE) and The Marketville Mysteries (SKELETONS IN THE ATTIC). Her short crime fiction appears is several collections. In addition to ITW, Judy is member of Sisters in Crime, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she serves on the Board of Directors as the Regional Representative for Toronto/Southern Ontario.

Mitch Silver was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island. He attended Yale (B.A. in History) and Harvard Law School (“I lasted three days. I know the law through Wednesday, but after that…”). He was an advertising writer for several of the big New York agencies, living in Paris for a year with his wife, Ellen Highsmith Silver, while he was European Creative Director on the Colgate-Palmolive account. A previously published novelist (In Secret Service —S&S/Touchstone), Mitch and his wife Ellen live in Greenwich, Connecticut and have two children: Sloane is a nurse at Wake Forest Medical Center and Perry is an actor and the drummer for Sky Pony, a band in New York. Mitch also won the American Song Festival Lyric Grand Prize for “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed.” His blood type is O positive.

Barb Goffman loves writing short stories, some funny, others heartfelt. She’s won the Agatha, Macavity, and Silver Falchion awards for her short stories and has been named a finalist twenty times for national crime-writing awards, including the Anthony and Derringer. Her newest story, “Till Murder Do Us Part,” appears in Chesapeake Crimes: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies, and her next story will be in this fall’s Bouchercon anthology. Barb works as a freelance editor and proofreader.

J. H. Bográn, is a bilingual author of novels, short stories, and screenplays. In addition, he contributes columns for several notable publications, including Yale Global, The Big Thrill, and TopShelf Magazine. He works at Habitat for Humanity Honduras, and as a part-time college professor of Writing, Spanish, and English as a foreign language. Follow him on Twitter (@jhbogran).

Andrew Bourelle is the author of Heavy Metal, published in 2017, and coauthor with James Patterson of Texas Ranger, forthcoming in 2018. His short stories are widely published and have been selected twice for inclusion in The Best American Mystery Stories.