Category Archives: Written Work

Rejection – but different?

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I end up here a lot.

I had the opportunity to submit a story that I had published previously. There was going to be a reprint anthology and I had a story that just fit right in. I was pleased with this idea ~ I had already made the money from the first sale (almost enough to buy lunch!) and this was a chance to get another lunch!

I sent it in and I waited. I suppose the wait time wasn’t terrible compared to some things, but it seemed like a long time. Maybe I was just impatient? Perhaps I am used to my rejections arriving faster than that. I waited some more. Then I got this:

Regretfully … We will not be moving forward with publication.

While we have received some great submissions for this collection, we feel that we haven’t received enough to proceed. We prefer to publish a good anthology, rather than a mediocre one, and we hope that you’d rather be published in a good anthology (rather than a mediocre one), as well.

In the past, our re-print anthos have filled very early in the submission process. We can only conclude that our timing must be up for this subject. We’ll revisit dark military science fiction in the future, when there may be more reprints to choose from.

This rejection is not a reflection on the merit of your story. Though, if your story has been held for a long time, it would have likely been selected.

I guess it’s a nicer rejection than normal? It seemed like they held my work for long enough that I should think it would be considered? I’m honestly confused by this one as I haven’t had anything like this before. So, rejection, but different.

Then I thought I should probably look at some of the other things I’ve got hanging around out there. Turns out the other things I’d sent out had been rejected and I’d simply never actually been notified. The contest and the other works were published and I was not part of them. It certainly makes a canceled project sound a lot better.

Then I got an update on a work of mine that was actually accepted for publication. The publication has been delayed and no firm date can be given at this time for when it will actually come out.

What does all this mean? Back to the keys. Keep writing, keep creating stories and keep trying to find the right place that’s looking for my kind of story. I’d say fingers crossed, but it’s really had to type that way…

Flash Prompt – Unstoppable

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Transfiguration (2020) from Universal Everything on Vimeo.

He would not stop.

Most thought it was rage. Some thought it was pure spite and malice.

He was coming. He would not stop.

They tried the physical to no avail. They called in all the wizards they could find. They cast, the chanted, they threw magic. There was fire. There was acid, there was stone. There was anything and everything until pure chaos was the result.

He would not stop.

They cajoled, they pleaded. They wailed and moaned.

He would not stop. He could not stop. It was not rage or spite or malice at all. It was love and it drove him onward.

Psuedo-mood

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One of my favorite authors once said, “I don’t have a muse, I have a mortgage”.

I struggle with this constantly. I really am a mood based writer. It’s terrible because there are times when something springs forth from my forehead as if a Greek god headache has produced something whole and complete. There are other times when I simply can not force myself to sit at the keys and work.

I think that’s a significant part of this. It IS work. There is time and effort and a willingness to give up a piece of yourself to the consumption of others. It is draining to me. I’ve heard of others that are energized by the completion of some piece of their art but when I am finished working on something like this I am spent. Pouring out some of myself onto a page is a challenge, but I really do love to tell a good story.

I’ve got a story that’s been “in production” for a quite a long time now. No, not the 2 novels that I’ve been so called writing for a decade now. A story. I know there’s a seed of a good idea in this story, but it’s just not working.

Today I think I caught a little of the right mood. I listened to a scary story. I know – sounds childish to say it that way, but that’s what it really is. It’s a scary story. There are a large number of other scary stories where I found this one. The particular scary story I found happened to be ‘Take a Walk In The Night, My Love‘. It’s from the podcast Pseudopod as presented by Escape Artists ~ folks who deliver some genuinely excellent content all the time. I mean consistently over years. Go, support them.

I’ve never been good at telling a scary story. I’ve got an excellent handle on the ridiculous. That’s easy, I just have human interaction, mess it up the way I normally do and then write that down. Easy. Scaring somebody? Scaring somebody is a far more challenging concept ~ at least to me.

So here, on a bright, sunny summer afternoon I sit behind the keys and attempt to tell a scary story. I’ll let you know if it turns out to be as scary as I hope.

Written Work

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Programming note: Writing is still hard.

I’ve seen a ton of posts about all the time that some people have on their hands these days. I’ve seen posts, some joking, some serious about how much some people accomplished in the past when under quarantine rules. I’ve seen numerous posts about how one should feel about all this time, your personal level of anxiety and how much work you should get done.

A friend of mine posted an update on how much had been written during this time of not leaving the house… and questioned its value.

Writing is still hard.

Extra time at the keyboard doesn’t change that. Some people might not even get extra time at the keyboard. Some people might not be able to take it. I am extremely lucky to still be working. I am on the same hours / schedule I was before the modern plague hit the world. I still can’t sit here in front of the machine for 12 or more hours at a time. I reserve a great deal of time for work here on my computer – the day job kind.

That is not to say that other projects are still lagging. Quite the contrary actually. I’ve been chipping away at things little by little. The biggest boon to me is the reduction in travel times along with the reduction in number of meetings. There are no places I have to go, no drive time involved in going there. Very few people clamoring for my attention. that has made a certain amount of focus easier for me, so I’m getting more writing done than I have in a while.

That is not to say that it’s good writing. There is a lot of anxiety floating out there and as I have stated in other posts, the panic can and will rub off. I’m hoping that as we adjust to the way things are right now that the new schedule will allow for even more work to get done.

In the end – writing is still hard. IF you’re creative and you’re struggling – that’s OK. If you’ve got scads of free time and you can make a go of it – then you go! Get cracking and make something awesome. If you’re not a maker, be a consumer when you can. Authors, freelancers, small businesses are all going to undergo changes in the coming months. IF you’ve got the time, dig up a new author or a small press and see if you can find something you like.

Hopefully I’ll be able to pull my bits and pieces together and keep forging ahead.