Musing Aloud

I was pointed to an awesome site today.  Ever wonder if that rejection letter you received from Editor X is a form reject or not?  In most cases, it's fairly easy to tell, but some Editors send out such nice letters, I've sometimes felt it was a personal reply, only to learn later that it wasn't.  So wonder no more, the Rejection Wiki is for you!  There's navigation links on the left so you can upload your own if you so desire.  I found out that my Asimov's rejection was a form, but the "higher tier" one, which makes me feel better. 

Curse you, Jack!  I had an awesome yoga workout today, and was overcome halfway through by a longing for a milkshake from Jack in the Box.  So I was going to HAVE to have a greasy taco and french fries to go with it, right?  At the signal, I almost talked myself into going left and going on home for a healthy yogurt and granola bar lunch, but I decided ice cream was more what I needed to indulge myself with, so I went straight.  But the drive through lane was full -- FULL, I tell you! -- and I wasn't desperate enough to get in line.  Dammit.  Grief goes better with ice cream, you know.  Last night we went to Baskin Robbins for $1 scoop night, and it really did soothe.  So, I came on home and consoled myself with a Frito Boat lunch.  There may have been one or two
each of these. 




But it was a poor comparison to a strawberry milkshake with whipped cream topping.  *sigh*

Am doing much better today, although the house seems awful empty.  But at least I know poor Crooked Cat isn't hurting anymore, because in hindsight I see now how truly awful and pathetic he was at the end.  Thank you all for listening. 

A 51 day personal rejection from Neo-Opsis.  But I really like this part of the note:  "The story took too long to pull me, though once I did get into it I loved it."  So, perhaps an "almost" here.  Story of my life. 

Try, try again.

I had 10 stories out at market, which was the most ever for me.  They all went out about the same time, which of course has resulted in rejection after rejection the last few days.  Today I opened my inbox to see a reply for my story "A Safe Place".  I opened it figuring it was a rejection.  It was.  From Interzone.  This following on the notice from yesterday that "Shasta on Seriova" had won an Honorable Mention in WotF , which while nice, was still a rejection, albeit a personal one.

I coped the rejection from Interzone and pasted it into a file.  Went back to my inbox and saw an email from Lorelei Signal regarding my submission there, "Willful Steel."  I steeled myself, knowing it was another rejection and stumbled over the word "acceptance."  WHAT????  Wheeeeeee!!!!

So this story is scheduled for the July issue. 

I love "Willful Steel."  Glad it's finally found a home!

Three rejections in the last couple weeks:

Clarkesworld for Urban Renewal on 10/19
Rage of the Behemoth for Listening to the Wind on 11/2
F&SF for Safe Place on 11/5/08

Clarkesworld was a form reject. Rage was a personal reject that stung a little, he didn't care about the character or her thoughts. F&SF was a form/personal I guess -- apparently I write well, but the story didn't grab her interest.

I compensated with lots of chocolate.

I still have 3 stories out there, plus a pending sale that I'm still not announcing until there's a contract in hand. 1 story is at Baen's, passed upwards and going on 4 months now, another at Coyote Wild, and a short flash at Necrotic Tissue. Besides the three returned that need to go out, I have another three stories finished that need to be subbed/revised/subbed/whatever, that I haven't been able to get to. Oh, and another four stories from Flash Challenges at Liberty Hall that I should see if I can work into some kind of shape for subbing. There is not enough time in the month, let alone each day, for all of this.