"Coffee Date"

written with Laurie Pachter

"Josh Pachter’s crime fiction appears regularly in magazines and anthologies; The Tree of Life, a collection of his Mahboob Chaudri stories, was published by Wildside Press this summer, and Styx, a zombie cop novel on which he collaborated with a Belgian colleague, is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in November. Laurie Pachter is a writer/editor for a government agency in Washington, DC. They met on a Match.com coffee date in 2007. (To the best of their knowledge, none of the other patrons were murdered.)"

As the Post's fiction editor said in her biographical note, Laurie and I met on a Match.com date in 2007. When, eight years later, we finally decided to write a story together, it seemed logical that we'd write one about a couple who, like us, met via an online dating service.

I did most of the plotting on this one, and Laurie did most of the writing, with me providing a final polish. When it was done, we sent it to EQMM, but editor Janet Hutchings passed on it. For some reason, we tried The Saturday Evening Post next, and they loved it and published it in their October 9, 2015, online issue.

Since the story was published online, it was possible for readers to comment on it, and a dozen or so did — several of them asking what happens to Heather and Mark after the end of the story. Laurie and I thought of this as a stand-alone, but perhaps at some point we'll have to write a follow-up.

Meanwhile, you can read "Coffee Date" here.

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