Welcome to my Tuesday night pity party

So anyway, folks, I'm going to keep this one short tonight, because, honestly, I've been putting a little too much time, energy, and thought into it so far today and I'm ready to put it to bed. (Not to mention I've been going through a great writing jag the last few weeks, and I want to keep up the momentum.) 

But the way I figure it, old Bloody Knucks can carry the last of the weight before I move on.

And what, you may ask, is this idiot rambling on about?

Rejection.

It's part of life, I know this, I get this. . .it's especially true in the writing life. Sometimes you just work your ass off on a story or a chapter, whatever, and you think it's the greatest piece of writing you've ever put to paper. In fact, it's better than anything that anyone has ever put to paper. (Okay, maybe that's going a little too far.) But, anyway, you know the story you put down is just the utter shit With a Capital S!  So you do your re-write, and it's still just as solid. . .in fact you like it even more, and then you send it out into the world. Maybe to a print mag you read and enjoy on a regular basis, or a zine you read with even greater regularity.

And then you wait. . . 

And wait. . .

And finally you get back an e-mail or a SASE with the big let down. 

Form rejection letter.

But this, of course, doesn't deter you. Yeah, you're let down, you're a little pissed, but you believe in your Capital S story, so you send it out again.

And wait, thinking this is going to be it, this next editor will see the genius of your story and will rush to publish your polished little gem.

And then, e-mail saying thanks but, no.

So, you research further into the markets, find another place to send it . . . and same freaking cycle.

This is what I've been going through the past few months with a little horror/noir story I wrote back in the middle of December, and I'll be the first one to admit that I really like this piece. I had a blast writing and then re-writing, the whole deal, but apparently, I'm the only one who does. 3 separate zines have kicked the story back to me and I'm really not understanding the reason why?

So, as I sat at my desk at work today, staring dead eyed at the newest rejection letter for my horror/noir piece of solid gold, I remembered a little challenge Elaine Ash 

offered up on her blog at the end of February where she would basically take a story that had yet been published or turned down and give it a going over with thee old editorial brush. When I read about it courtesy of Patti Abbott's

blog, I thought to myself, hey, what a cool idea that is! I even went so far as to post a link on Bloody Knucks and commented on it on Elaine's blog, thinking how cool it would be to hand something over to her, but not really having anything for it at the moment. . .that is until today.

Anyway, Elaine wrote me back asking what I had to give her, and I sent her along the story. . .I guess we'll see what she has to say.

Whew! Well, I feel better now, on with the show, folks, and thanks for listening.

PS

I'll keep you posted on what Elaine has to say.