New Historic Short Story

“Hell-Cat laid Low” at Literally Stories

“Hell-Cat Laid Low”

What if Hell-Cat Maggie and Gallus Mag, the two toughest women in the Five Points of historic New York City, ended up in the same story? You might end up with “Hell-Cat Laid Low,” my latest short story — just published by Literally Stories. This tough little story battled it out on the mean streets of submission hell and finally won.

A history of the history…

A diligent reader may point out that they have seen these characters before. Well… not quite.

Scorsese had an amalgam character in the movie “The Gangs of New York,” a blending of Gallus Mag and Hell-Cat Maggie. He based his movie on the book of the same title written by Herbert Ashbury. The subtitle of the book, published in 1927, is: “An Informal History of the Underworld.” Mr. Ashbury’s book is indeed often long on the informal and, unfortunately, often a stranger to fact. Lurid crime sells copy.

Gallus Mag and Hell-Cat Maggie were both historical figures, two distinct women, each from overlapping time periods in the 1800’s of New York City. I admit to squeezing time a bit in order to bring them together, but that’s as far as any mea culpa is going to go.

Read the Story Now!

Literally Stories is a great online literary journal and “Hell-Cat Laid Low” is a free read. Just mash the big “Read Now” button. Huge thanks to the editors of Literally Stories and a major shout-out to my readers. Readers Rock!!

Read Hell-Cat Laid Low

Or, if you’d rather, here is the link to latest issue of Literally Stories:

More Stories headed your way…

And… Stay tuned to the MEF posts and newsletter for updates and publishing announcements. There will be more stories to follow. Or how about a novel to help pass the Time of Corona? Here is a link to my latest book, “Breaking the Bundles.”

Breaking the Bundles

Thanks for being readers. Readers ROCK!!!