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Yes, and No

There are weeks, as a writer, many weeks in fact, when I don’t submit anything for publication.  I have a backlog of stories, and even of novels, but putting yourself out for possible rejection never comes easily.  On the uplift from an acceptance, my ebullience leads me to submit others.

This has been a week of Yes and No.  I was pleased to hear on Wednesday that The Fable Online has accepted my story, “As Nature Directs,” for publication.  The acceptance note kept me happy, even through work.

Thursday Liminal Stories turned down my effort entitled “Fire Everlasting.”  The editors said that the writing was good but the fit was not.  That’s something I can understand.  I really should be better about matching content and container.  It’s a growth area.

Having editors say the writing is good always provides a boost.  It was one of the readers’ comments on “As Nature Directs” that stayed with me.  The reader noted that the story was creepy, and, I quote “Poe-like.”  I barely held back my tears of joy.



As my regular readers likely know, Edgar Allan Poe is one of my life-long heroes.  One of my high school term papers was on Poe, and I grew up reading his stories and basking in wonder.  The world may have moved away from Poe, but my world revolved around him.  To be compared to him was highest praise.

As I customarily do, I’ll write a little bit about my inspirations for the stories once they appear in publication.  My flush of adrenaline was so great that I sent out several more stories for consideration.  With The Fable Online, I will have had seventeen published stories.


Not quite reaching for the stars, I suppose, but as a poor boy who grew up as a self-taught writer I consider this limited success encouraging.  Not even a day passed between the rejection of “Fire Everlasting” and its submission to another journal.
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