I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Sunday Night Rejection and Submission

Ms. Jaime Lee Moyer over at sends word they're not going to take "A History of Lightning." The rejection email was completely personal with her direct reason why she wasn't going to take it for publication. One of the major things she felt was wrong is the spec part of the story took to long to get to and there should have been more weirdness up front. Fair cop. And that was mostly intentional. I put all the clues in the front and tried to give the reader an feeling or normalcy. After all, the POV is intensely normal and grounded, but finds himself thrust into the weird. And much of what she comments about are things I tried doing with the story. It didn't work for her. Again, fair cop. She's the editor and she needs to purchase and publish stories that appeal to her readers. But personal rejection letter, it's obvious she read the whole story and gave it some good consideration. I put that in the win category.

So, before I let the story molder on the hard drive for another three weeks, I sent it off before going to bed. Back then John Joseph Adams announced his Way of the Wizard Anthology I thought that this story could work for that. Jedd is definitely a different kind of wizard. It was a hard choice between a few markets, some others which have closer deadlines. The final choice was I think the story would work for his antho, I've dealt with him before (and I believe he likes my stories), and his payment scheme was better. I also know him to be quick. So if he doesn't like it or doesn't feel it'll fit into his antho, I'll probably hear back before some of the other markets close.

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