Rejections 347 and 348

You know what? I'd never submitted a story to The New Yorker. In June, I did, and yesterday I got a rejection. It said the manuscript wasn't right for them "in spite of its evident merit," and I feel like that's a higher tier of rejection than the standard, so I AM 1000% HAPPY ABOUT THAT. I finally submitted work to their slush pile and it wasn't totally buried. I honestly thought it had been rejected without a response because it had been over the 3-month time limit they state on the website, but I loved getting that official rejection. Especially because I remember being a college sophomore who was ENAMORED with a senior who was so discouraged because he'd sent his story to The New Yorker and they'd rejected it, and I THINK I GAVE HIM SYMPATHY. What. That dude kissed me when he had a girlfriend and was "teaching himself Arabic," though I never saw a single piece of evidence of it and still I followed him around like a puppy dog. 

Perspective. High-five to my 19-year-old self for sticking with writing and ditching bad news. 

The same story - this is the long one that will probably be impossible to place - was also rejected by the Southern Humanities Review. Two in one day! I feel triumphant? No joke.

Rejections 345 and 346

Happy Halloween. 

The Georgia review rejected the story I sent them. 

Hayden's Ferry Review encouraged me to send more work. 

Fraud syndrome is running rampant this week. The semester is eating me alive. 

Rejection 344

AGNI didn't want the story I sent them, but it's a long beast of a thing, so I know it'll be hard to place.

Rejections 342 and 343

The Idaho Review and Black Warrior Review do not want the stories I sent them and Bob Dylan has a Nobel Prize in Literature.

Rejections 340 and 341, an Acceptance and a BOOK COVER!

I love it so much. 

This week I got no's from Subtropics and Copper Nickel. The Subtropics note is a little oddly worded, in my opinion, saying that my story "isn't going to be a go" for them, but that informality made me think it was a personal note? It's probably not, but if that's their strategy, it worked!

However! I did get a note from Paul Lisicky (!!!) at StoryQuarterly that they were accepting my story, "Half Dollar," for publication in January/February. StoryQuarterly has such a rich history and I love its Illinois roots, and to receive a note from Paul Lisicky: all of this was pretty dreamy. I'm so happy someone liked what I think of as my take on a Shirley Jackson story. 

Finally, I can share my cover for The Grip of It, out in August 2017 from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Such a dream. I couldn't be happier with the cover and am so grateful to Alex Merto for the stellar design. 

Rejection 339

Nothing a Solo Cup can't fix. 

I submitted a story to Ploughshares Solos because the story is long and they are open to that, but they politely declined.

Rejections 335, 336, 337, & 338

Whoo! It's September and school is in session and journal readers are hard at work reading those summer submissions. 

I've received four in the last week! Three were encouraging: A Public Space, The Laurel Review and Tupelo Quarterly. One seems like more a flat-out rejection from Mid-American Review. 

Do I like kind encouragement more than acceptance? Possibly. 

Poetry Book Rejection

Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight. 

Noemi declined my poetry collection, and, with that, I believe I am hanging up my poetry hat for a while. I read through the collection again when the rejection came and had to admit the work seems weaker the longer I hold it in my hands. Maybe at some point I'll go back through a revise, but, for now, I have prose interests that feel more pressing. Goodbye, sweet poetry hopes. I never quite figured you out. 

Residency Rejection and Waitlist

Today I found my name engraved in plastic on my office door at Lake Forest and it made me very happy. 

In the last of my residency applications, I was rejected by Djerassi and waitlisted for a return trip to Ragdale. I'm a little disappointed, but then I remind myself of all of the great luck I've had, and I think the one residency I have lined up for June of next year, at the Rensing Center, is more than enough what with book tour for travel and whatnot. 

Thankful.

Rejection 334

Nothin in between.

n+1 had sent an encouraging note last time around, and this time it seems more form. Admittedly, the story I sent them was a bit long for any journal, so I understand. I don't know where these long stories are coming from. I used to struggle to break a thousand words and now they're passing the 10k mark. So strange, but trying to stay open and learn even if it means the work doesn't find a home easily.