Last we heard from the folks making The Dead Kid movie, filming had wrapped, and they’re now in post-production phase. I recently got my TDK t-shirt and signed anthology from Gillian King (co-screenwriter and author of the short story). Thanks to the crew for putting together these awesome gifts for those who supported the project on Indiegogo.

Somewhat coincidentally, I recently discovered that the short story “The Dead Kid” had earned a Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize 2010 series. I’m unfortunately embarrassed to admit I didn’t have a copy of that year’s anthology, but I have tracked Pushcart rankings over the years thanks to Clifford Garstang’s excellent Literary Magazine Rankings. I noticed that his scoring system gave Carve an extra point after 2010, so I contacted him and discovered the news about King’s Special Mention. (Our other point is thanks to Tim Horvath’s 2006 “The Understory”, which Bill Henderson selected as the grand prize winner of the 2006 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest.)

A belated congratulations to Gillian King for a Pushcart Prize Special Mention.On a more personal note, this is exciting because sending off the nominations often felt like mailing them to a black hole (as I’m sure writers sometimes feel about their own submissions to publications). Notifications for Pushcart are only sent to those accepted for publication, so every year it’s a waiting game and I couldn’t help but wonder, were the stories lost in the mail? does he actually read them?

I feel fortunate to know my questions are answered — and that King’s story got deserving recognition. We recently sent off our 2012 Pushcart fiction nominations, so we’ll be eagerly awaiting those results in the spring. We’re also eagerly awaiting the premiere of The Dead Kid movie, coming spring 2013.