My favourite writing quotes of the week:
“Don’t get discouraged. After receiving 48 rejections, I finally received my 49th.”
“Don’t use AI to help you write your story; use alcohol and despair like nature intended.”
Still writing. 1000 words per day. But more time spent on editing right now as submission deadlines loom. My 10,000-word Sword & Sorcery story is still 1500 words short with 10 days left. My 5+K short story for Raconteur Press has 14 days to deadline. Both stories have strong bones; neither is flowing quite the way I want.
A bit frustrating, as I’m not sure I can polish them to my usual standard in the time remaining. Every day I spend an hour or so smoothing and polishing and trying to make them shine.
June 1st, 3 new submission opportunities opened: Submitted Misfit Pieces, Backcountry Adventures and Happy Bris-Day in hopes of finding each one of them a home. There’s also a spot opening up June 15th that might be suitable for Fromage & Failure.
This week, Raconteur Press’ The Muse Within Us anthology is out. In it is my story, Half-Baked Curses. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on some copies.
This week’s Substack is one of my favourites. It was my first submission to receive an encouraging rejection letter. Here’s the response it received:
After her mother dies, a teenage girl witnesses her father’s dangerous descent into madness. Very well written creepy story about disposing of the body. The surprise reveal at the end is organic to the harrowing story.
This got a very good score from the reviewers (one of the reviewers said it almost made him vomit), but I’m afraid it didn’t quite make the final cut. I hope you find a home for it!
Since then it has received several generic rejections. If you want a real treat, listen to the audiobook version read by professional voice actor Tim Carlson. His reading brought the story to life and gave me shivers.
Or you can read it free in your own voice on my Substack: https://brainsoupfic.substack.com/p/the-day-mama-died
