Ego board

[chrispenycate]

You know what? I don't have any rejection slips, and three pieces available to the public, one of which was actually paid! When I actually consider I'm good enough to submit something, I'll be hard pressed to maintain this average.

Because I'm not, not yet; and I'd like to be ready before starting the (to me) painful process of trying to sell something. I'm lousy at it at the best of times; far better to enter the fray with something in which I have confidence.

And it's not worth slapping me for self-denigration, ladies. I am working on improving myself, and I will get there, you'll see.

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by chrispenycate

You know what? I don't have any rejection slips, and three pieces available to the public, one of which was actually paid! When I actually consider I'm good enough to submit something, I'll be hard pressed to maintain this average.

Because I'm not, not yet; and I'd like to be ready before starting the (to me) painful process of trying to sell something. I'm lousy at it at the best of times; far better to enter the fray with something in which I have confidence.

And it's not worth slapping me for self-denigration, ladies. I am working on improving myself, and I will get there, you'll see.

Chris, you are definitely good enough to start submitting stuff. If you think you're not, I dread to think what you think of my stuff!!

[chrispenycate]

Originally Posted by Mouse

Chris, you are definitely good enough to start submitting stuff. If you think you're not, I dread to think what you think of my stuff!!

I'm not though, you know. I've only been writing as such for a bit over three years, and it's still stilted and over complex.

I'm thinking of trying to polish up and submit my Hansel and Gretel http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum...ort-short.html for your fairytale contact, but at 2,2k it's short (they'd like 5k) and it's already appeared here, even if nobody's read it.

I don't want to pad it; much better to introduce more ideas (which philosophy at critters got me a resounding "You're trying to squash too much into too little space.")

Or else I'll go on with my little spacemaid; Hans Andersen in orbit.

[Mouse]

They say they'll consider stories at 2.5k. You could query them? They're the people I queried my long piece (13k words, when they said max of 10k) and they said send it, and now I'm on the short list. Always worth a go!

And I had a story in my blog, which got accepted, so I deleted it from the blog.

[J Riff]

Just got one back from Clarkesworld - 'each month we receive hundreds of submissions, and we can publish 12 stories a year.'
Where is the Mouse-blog?

[Mouse]

It was on my blog here but tis gone now! I do have a (dull) blog here though.

And yes, Clarkesworld. They're pretty huge so you'd have to be super fantastic to get in there! I tried and got a no. Can't remember the exact response though.

[Boneman]

I read your blog... actually, Mouse, you came equal first in the 75 word writing competition, not second. I know, 'cos i was there...

[Mouse]

Aw thanks. (I was second though! )

[Boneman]

No. Equal first. Then, and only then, a tie-breaker...

[Mouse]

...where I came second.

[Boneman]

Exactly! You came equal first in the writing challenge, and second in the tiebreaker, not the writing challenge...

[Mouse]

Shush! You won. *la la la la la*

[J Riff]

I dug out my frog story and it was sketchy so I rewrit and muahah.
Mouse is that twisted fairy tale anthology still open?

[J Riff]

Nevermind I found it... tis open.. but 2500-10,000 wds. is a bit strange because most fairy tales were short.
This one is only around 1000 wds. so I will save if for a grainy day.

[Mouse]

1000 is usually classed as flash fiction. You could try sending it to Everyday Weirdness?


edit: Ooooh... back on topic, I've just seen something else that has made me smile. I'm in The Horror Zine's anthologies. And they've just had another review come in for the first one. My story is Delete Contact?

Also worthy of mention are Debra Young’s very polished story “Ghost of Roses,” E.J Tett’s witty, but terrifying, “Delete Contact?” Anna Taborska’s lucid tale “Halloween Lights,” Christina Hoag’s inverted psychological horror “My Mother’s Knives” (a la Stephen King’s Misery [1987]), Kyle Hemming’s creepy “The Man with the Crocodile Eyes,” and Terry Grimwood’s cynically delightful and bizarre “What the Dead Are For.” Some of the remaining stories are a bit rougher around the edges: some with a little less merit than the next—some having technically sound writing but with little else in terms of plotline.

Witty, but terrifying.