Mary Soon Lee's Mailbox Blues for 2000-2002
This page contains Mary Soon Lee's
mailbox mutterings from 2000 to 2002. For more recent news see
the latest Mailbox Blues.
25 December 2002: Happy Christmas and New Year!
A very happy Christmas and New Year to anyone reading this :-)
I plan to spend the next 8 days having fun with Andrew and William,
so I don't expect to update this page again until January 2003....
20 December 2002: Asimov's
Poetry rejection from Asimov's.
18 December 2002: Chronicle + 3SF :-)
My collection Ebb Tides and Other Tales
has been reviewed by Don D'Ammassa in Chronicle, December 2002.
Happily, he enjoyed the collection! I also received payment for my
story in the first issue of 3SF, and I received a rejection
from Spectrum SF.
16 December 2002: MarsDust
I received the contracts for last month's sale to MarsDust :-)
And I also received a mainstream poetry rejection from Beloit
Poetry Journal.
13 December 2002: American Poetry Review
A mainstream poetry rejection from the American Poetry Review.
4 December 2002: Mythic Delirium :-)
An acceptance of my poem "Flame War" arrived from Mythic
Delirium today, my first sale to them :-) I also received
an email rejection of a poem from Strange Horizons.
29 November 2002: Ploughshares
Mainstream poetry rejection from Ploughshares.
26 November 2002: Alchemy
A rejection from Alchemy today, following a week of
silence on the mail-front....
19 November 2002: MarsDust and Mobius :-)
Two bits of good news: today I received an acceptance of my
short-short "Growing Pains" from MarsDust, and yesterday
I received copies of Mobius, containing my poems
"Soliloquy of a Nanotech Souffle" and "Rush Hour" :-)
16 November 2002: 3SF :-)
I have now received my contributor copies of 3SF, having
received my subscription copy two weeks earlier :-) Less
happily, I received an 82-day rejection from Talebones.
(Later) 12 November 2002: Fictionwise :-)
In today's snail-mail, my 3rd quarter 2002 royalties from
Fictionwise :-)
12 November 2002: Third Alternative :-)
I received an email acceptance of my short story "Immigrants"
from The Third Alternative :-) Happiness :-)
11 November 2002: SFRevu :-)
My collection Ebb Tides and Other Tales
is
reviewed by E.J. McClure in the October 2002 issue of SFRevu :-) McClure writes: "Lee has
clearly mastered the art of the short story. Some of these tales are
only a few pages long, but all have a crystal-clear central concept,
robust characters, effortlessly natural dialogue, and a clever twist
or hook at the end. So go ahead; open Pandora's box! Me, I'm looking
for her earlier anthology, Winter Shadows and Other Tales, and eagerly
awaiting her next collection."
7 November 2002: Axe Factory Review
Mainstream poetry rejection from Axe Factory Review.
2 November 2002: 3SF + Waxing & Waning :-)
After the bad mail day, a much happier one: I received my copies
of 3SF, issue #1 containing my short story "Making Fields,"
and of Waxing and Waning, Volume 2, issue #1, containing
a reprint of my short story "The Mother."
1 November 2002: Asimov's, 5 AM, Indiana Review
Not a good mail day, alas, with an SF rejection from Asimov's,
and mainstream poetry rejections from 5 AM and Indiana
Review.
31 October 2002: Beloit Poetry Journal
A 13-day mainstream poetry rejection from Beloit Poetry Journal.
And now it's time to go Trick-or-Treating with William :-)
30 October 2002: Space and Time
A 25-day rejection from Space and Time.
26 October 2002: 3SF + car :-)
I received the contracts from 3SF for my story "Making Fields."
The story has just been published in their first issue, though copies
haven't yet made it to the USA.... In non-writing news, we bought a
new car today, a Passat GL Wagon -- a considerable upgrade from our
1996 Dodge Neon. We decided to get a wagon after some friends had a
recent car-crash (and after double-checking that the Neon doesn't have
good crash-test ratings). N.B. Happily our friends were not seriously
injured!
25 October 2002: Scifi.com
A 52-day rejection from Scifi.com, my first story response
in 8 days, a comparatively long silence for me.
24 October 2002: Shocklines.com
"Ebb Tides and Other Tales" can now be ordered online from
Shocklines.com, in addition to Amazon.com
(where it was already available).
21 October 2002: S&S royalties :-)
I received more royalties from my story in Sword & Sorceress 18;
it's not a large sum of money, but still very welcome :-)
20 October 2002: Asimov's Review :-)
I was surprised but delighted to learn that Paul Di Filippo has
reviewed my collection "Winter Shadows and Other Tales" in the
December 2002 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction.
17 October 2002: F&SF + Axe Factory Review
A 8-day story rejection from F&SF and a 13-day mainstream
poetry rejection from Axe Factory Review.
15 October 2002: Mobius :-)
Acceptance of 2 poems for the Thanksgiving 2002 issue of Mobius:
The Poetry Magazine -- I am very happy about this :-)
14 October 2002: Dreams & Nightmares
A fast, friendly poetry rejection from Dreams and Nightmares.
9 October 2002: Space & Time
A 32-day poetry rejection from Space and Time.
8 October 2002: Descant
A 229-day rejection from Descant.
7 October 2002: The Leading Edge
A first for me: I received a rejection saying from The Leading
Edge saying they would love to see the story published, but don't
think they'd "be allowed to publish a story with these sexual
overtones." (I note that the story didn't have graphic sex scenes.)
5 October 2002: Best of the Rest 3 :-)
My story "Homecoming" has been reprinted in Best of the Rest
3, edited by Brian Youmans :-) This story first appeared in Winter Shadows and Other Tales.
4 October 2002: American Poetry Review, Beloit Poetry Journal
Rejections from both of the above for mainstream poems, but the latter
included a note saying one of the poems was "good" (underlined), which
made me happy.
3 October 2002: Strange Horizons, MSP
Today I received a short story rejection from Strange Horizons,
and a friendly poetry rejection from The Magazine of Speculative
Poetry.
30 September 2002: Silver Web
A 23-day rejection from the Silver Web with a note saying
they are closed to submissions indefinitely.
26 September 2002: Axe Factory Review
A friendly and helpful 6-day mainstream poetry rejection from
Axe Factory Review.
23 September 2002: Asimov's
A 73-day poetry rejection from Asimov's.... In reading-news, I
finished re-reading "The Two Towers" (excellent) and am hugely looking
forward to seeing the film version in December.
19 September 2002: Amazon.com :-)
"Ebb Tides and Other Tales" can now be ordered from
Amazon.com :-) :-) Hopefully the cover-art will soon appear
at Amazon as well (I just ftp-ed it to them).... Less happily,
I received mainstream poetry rejections from 5 AM and
Mothering Magazine.
16 September 2002: Three Honorable Mentions :-)
Upon buying a copy of The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror #15,
I was very happy to see that three of my stories received
Honorable Mentions :-) The stories are "City of Mercy,"
"The Fall of the Kingdom," and "The Winter of the Rats," and
they are all included in Winter Shadows
and Other Tales.
12 September 2002: F&SF
A friendly 7-day rejection from F&SF, plus a 76-day mainstream
poetry rejection from Indiana Review.... In non-writing news,
William has now been to three mornings of preschool this term, and
seems to be doing well. (He is still reluctant to let me leave the
class room, but is fine afterwards -- though on the second day
he complained about the yogurt flavor!)
6 September 2002: 3SF
I received the proofs of my forthcoming story in 3SF today;
I'm very looking forward to appearing in the magazine -- it's
always particularly nice to be in a first issue :-) In other news,
I received a very quick 6-day poetry rejection from Mythic
Delirium.
4 September 2002: On Spec
A 160-day rejection arrived yesterday from On Spec. In
non-writing news, today is William's first day back at preschool -- he
is there as I type this. He will now be going to preschool for nine
hours a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings). Needless to
say, I am hoping he makes a smooth adjustment back to school.
31 August 2002: Harper's
A 70-day rejection from Harper's - this is the first time
I've tried this non-genre market.
30 August 2002: TOTU
A friendly 118-day poetry rejection from Tales of the Unanticipated.
23 August 2002: Scifi.com
A friendly 43-day rejection from Scifi.com.
20 August 2002: Analog
Returning from a very enjoyable mini-vacation in Toronto, I found
one friendly rejection from Analog.
13 August 2002: Aurealis
A 38-day rejection from Aurealis.
10 August 2002: Fictionwise royalties
I received my 2nd-quarter 2002 royalties from Fictionwise;
also, yesterday I received a rejection from Beloit Poetry
Journal (a mainstream poetry market).
8 August 2002: "Ebb Tides and Other Tales"
I have now scanned in the cover for Ebb
Tides and Other Tales; the beautiful artwork is an illustration
of "Ebb Tide" by A.B. Word :-)
31 July 2002: "Ebb Tides and Other Tales" :-) :-)
Ebb Tides and Other Tales has just
been published by Dark Regions Press :-) :-) I received my
copies on Monday, and am very happy! This is a science
fiction collection, a companion volume to my fantasy collection,
Winter Shadows and Other Tales. The
collection contains 4 original stories and 16 reprints, including
two stories that appeared in volumes of Year's Best SF,
stories that were finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
and the British Science Fiction Association award, and tales
from Amazing Stories, F&SF, Interzone, and
Spectrum SF.
In other news, Fictionwise have reprinted another story of mine
("Crew-Dog"), and I see that my story "Rewind" is currently #5 on
their best-seller list.... Also, I had a lot of fun at Confluence
this past weekend.
25 July 2002: Analog payment :-)
Today, I received the check from my recent sale to Analog :-)
I also noticed that my story "Insight" is now up to #10 at Fictionwise,
and my story "Rewind" is at #17 there (both stories appeared on
Fictionwise in the last week or two). Lastly, I got a friendly
rejection from The Magazine of Speculative Poetry.
24 July 2002: Alpha workshop + Fictionwise
Checking the Fictionwise site again, I see that my story "Insight"
is now up to #11 on their best-seller list.... In other news, today I
got to eat lunch with the Alpha workshop, which is a
week-long speculative workshop for young writers. It was a nice,
relaxed occasion, and William (who accompanied me) particularly
enjoyed sharing his Wikki-sticks with Amy, one of the workshop
participants :-)
21 July 2002: Ebb Tide and Other Tales :-)
Joe Morey of Dark Regions Press emailed me to say that my second
collection, Ebb Tide and Other Tales,
should be out in early August -- just a couple more weeks to wait :-)
19 July 2002: Nova SF, Fictionwise :-)
Since I last updated this page, I have received contributor copies of
the Italian publications Nova SF #30 and #33, containing
translations of my stories "Silent in the Cities" and "Ebb Tide."
These reprints date back to 1997 and 1998, and I had tried several
times before to get contributor copies -- after five years, I had just
about given up hope!
10 July 2002: F&SF rejection
A rejection from F&SF....
9 July 2002: Honorable Mention + Rhysling Anthology :-)
No responses for a few days, but I received my copy of the 2002
Rhysling Anthology containing my poem "Insignificant Others"
(first published in 2001: A Science Fiction Poetry Anthology),
and I learned that my story "Crew-Dog" from Spectrum SF
received an Honorable Mention in Gardner Dozois's latest Year's
Best Science Fiction.... I also received proofs for my forthcoming
stories in Fictionwise and The Best of the Rest 3.
5 July 2002: Double rejection
Rejections today from both Future Orbits and Absolute
Magnitude; I have also written another couple of poems,
bringing me up to 14 new poems in the past three weeks....
1 July 2002: Asimov's rejection
A 34-day rejection from Asimov's, plus I have written another
couple of poems since my last entry here.
27 June 2002: Confluence schedule + royalties :-)
It's been a good day so far: I received two checks from Dark Regions
Press, the advance for my second collection ("Ebb Tide and Other
Tales") and royalties for the first collection ("Winter Shadows and
Other Tales"). Plus I received my schedule for Confluence.
I am particularly pleased to see that I will be on a panel with Paul
Melko, a former Worldwright. Lastly I completed another poem, my
tenth in the past couple of weeks. This brings my tally of poems up
from 20 to 30. For the curious, my Confluence schedule is:-
- 6:00pm Friday, "The State of the Art: SF, Fantasy, and Horror Short
Fiction" (moderated by David Hartwell)
- 8:00pm Friday, "Dulling the Edge: Are How-To Books and Workshopping
Reducing SF to Formula?" (moderated by Ginjer Buchanan)
- 11:00am Saturday, Reading
- 10:00am Sunday, "Manuscripts, Agents, and Publishers (Oh, My): The
Business End of Writing" (moderated by John R. Douglas)
20 June 2002: Analog sale :-) :-)
I have sold a story to Analog for the first time, and I am very
pleased indeed by the news! The story is titled "Coming-of-Age." I
had accumulated 22 rejections from Analog before making this
sale.... In other news, I had a friendly rejection from Strange
Horizons, and I have written half-a-dozen poems since my last post
here (half of them mainstream poems).
10 June 2002: Magazine of Speculative Poetry :-)
The Magazine of Speculative Poetry accepted my poem
"The Travelers" :-) This is my third acceptance from them :-)
No other story-related mail for a week....
3 June 2002: Realms of Fantasy
In today's mail, a rejection from Realms of Fantasy.
Later on 28 May 2002: Pirate Writings :-)
The US Mail service delivered a second batch of mail that had been
held while we were on vacation. This included an unexpected request
to reprint my story "One Small Step" in the Best of Pirate
Writings, Volume II. The letter appears to have first been sent in
February to my previous address, so there's a risk that my reply won't
arrive in time (I have already emailed the editor, Ed McFadden).... I
also received rejections from F&SF and Scifi.com, plus
royalties for my story in Sword and Sorceress 18.
28 May 2002: Cover art by AB Word :-)
I have just received a jpeg of AB Word's beautiful illustration
for the cover of my forthcoming collection, "Ebb Tide and Other
Tales." (Click here to see the picture.)
27 May 2002: Star*Line :-)
Returning from a most enjoyable two weeks on Cape Hatteras, I
found that Star*Line had accepted my poem "Backwards" :-)
I also had poetry rejections from Atlantic Monthly and
Asimov's, plus a story rejection from Playboy.
8 May 2002: 3SF :-)
Happiness: I sold my short story "Making Fields" to
3SF Magazine :-)
3 May 2002: "Ebb Tide and Other Tales" :-)
Good news: I received email from Joe Morey of Dark Regions Press,
and he expects my second collection, Ebb
Tide and Other Tales, to be published in June :-) :-)
Less happily, I received rejections from Cicada and Strange
Horizons.
2 May 2002: Magazine of Speculative Poetry :-)
The Magazine of Speculative Poetry accepted my poem
"Experiment Eighty-Two" :-) This will be my second appearance
in their magazine.... I also received quarterly royalties
from Fictionwise.
25 April 2002: Fictionwise
I've just finished getting another 5 stories ready for Fictionwise,
and will send the contracts back to them tomorrow. The 5 new stories
include a personal favorite of mine, "Crew-Dog," first published in
Spectrum SF, and they should appear at Fictionwise later this
year. ("Crew-Dog" won't be there until June at the earliest, as my
contract with Spectrum SF gave them 6 months exclusivity.)
It's been interesting watching how the 17 stories I already have at
Fictionwise have been doing. Despite being almost my lowest-rated
story, "The God on the Glass Cross" has sold almost twice as many
copies as any of my other tales. This is puzzling to say the least!
I wonder if it is because that story is my only one classified as
horror -- is horror just selling better?
23 April 2002: William turns three :-)
William turned three years old yesterday, and we marked the occasion
by letting him eat chocolate for the first time. To no one's surprise,
he liked it very much, hopping up and down while he ate it and asking
when he would be allowed to have more :-) In writing-related news,
during the past week I received two rejections, one from Future
Orbits and the other from Spectrum SF.
15 April 2002: Best of the Rest + Fictionwise
In the last week, I have received the contract and check for my
forthcoming story "Homecoming" in Best of the Rest 3, plus a
request from Fictionwise for more of my stories :-) Less happily, I
received poetry rejections from Asimov's and The Magazine of
Speculative Poetry.
8 April 2002: Update
Three responses since my last update here: a story rejection from
Playboy (the first time I've tried them in nearly 2 years),
and poetry rejections from Talebones and Crab Orchard
Review.
27 March 2002: F&SF rejection
A 7-day rejection from F&SF.
23 March 2002: Analog rejection
A 30-day rejection from Analog.
20 March 2002: Interzone publication :-)
I received contributor copies of Interzone #176, February 2002,
containing my story "New World" :-) This is my seventh publication
in Interzone :-)
18 March 2002: Ouch
After a quiet start to the month, with just one rejection up
to today, I received 3 rejections (from On Spec,
F&SF, and Scifi.com).
14 March 2002: Signing :-)
This evening I did my first ever signing in a bookshop, at the Borders
in Monroeville, near Pittsburgh. Happily many of my friends turned
up, so I was not left all alone and forlorn as I had dreaded. As a
result it was a happy event for me :-) William played around in the
bookshop, partly looked after by Andrew and partly by our friend Chris
Atkeson. (William's face lit up when he saw Chris arriving.) And now
to bed....
10 March 2002: Bookshop event
Well, I have made my first ever appearance as an author at a bookshop:
I was one of the speakers for Amazing Woman's Day at the Borders bookshop
in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. It was a friendly event, and I think
I got a gentle introduction to such things. On Thursday I will be
doing my first signing at a bookshop -- at 7:30 p.m. at the Borders in
Monroeville -- having only signed once before at a convention....
8 March 2002: "Ebb Tide and Other Tales"
Today I received the contracts for my second collection, "Ebb Tide and
Other Tales," which is tentatively scheduled for publication in
April/May 2002 :-) And I also received a very nice review of "Winter Shadows and Other Tales" from Shoshana
Kaminsky :-)
4 March 2002: Kinships publication :-)
I received my contributor copy of Kinships, containing
my short story "Common Courtesy." Less happily, yesterday I
received an email rejection from the anthology Imagination
Fully Dilated.
24 February 2002: Dreams and Nightmares
A fast and friendly rejection from Dreams and Nightmares.
19 February 2002: Best of the Rest + Rhysling :-)
My story "Homecoming," one of the four previously-unpublished
stories in "Winter Shadows and Other Tales," has been selected
for the Best of the Rest 3: The Best Unknown SF and Fantasy of
2001. :-) And my poem "Insignificant Others" (from
2001: A Science Fiction Poetry Anthology) has been
nominated for a Rhysling Award :-)
16 February 2002: SF Site review + interview
Trent Walters's interview
with me and his review
of "Winter Shadows and Other Tales" are both now up at
SF Site :-)
7 February 2002: Holt Language Arts
A first for me: I sold reprint rights to an extract from my short
story "The Day Before They Came" to be included in a school textbook
that is part of the Holt Language Arts series. David
Pringle of Interzone, where the story first appeared,
forwarded the request to me in January, and I have just signed the
contract :-)
6 February 2002: Fictionwise royalties
I received my quarterly Fictionwise royalties :-)
5 February 2002: Locus review
I now have my copy of the February Locus and so got to read
Jennifer A. Hall's review of "Winter Shadows and Other Tales" :-) In
other news, a 72-day rejection came from Asimov's.
31 January 2002: Interviews and reviews
"Winter Shadows and Other Tales" has now been reviewed by Jay Lake for
Tangent Online, and by Locus (though my subscription copy
hasn't yet arrived (gnashing of teeth). A review by Trent
Walters will also soon be appearing at
SF Site, as well as an interview by him.
Lastly, it looks as though I will be interviewed by Bernadette Mihalic as
part of the Amazing Woman's Day event at Borders
bookstore in the North Hills (Pittsburgh) on Saturday March 9.
25 January 2002: Ebb Tide and Other Tales
I have created a web-page for my forthcoming science fiction
collection, Ebb Tide and Other Tales,
and I am also feeling very virtuous for finally getting around
to revising a story and a poem that have been awaiting rewrites
for far too long....
23 January 2002: Don D'Ammassa review in SF Chronicle
My mailbox has been quiet, but, with Don D'Ammassa's kind permission,
his review of "Winter Shadows and Other Tales" (from SF Chronicle) is
now on my website.
16 January 2002: Jim Lee review in Scavenger's Newsletter
With Jim Lee's kind permission, the curious may now read his
review of "Winter Shadows and Other Tales,"
which was published in Scavenger's Newsletter #215....
15 January 2002: Interzone acceptance :-)
Interzone accepted my short story "New World," much to my
delight; this will be my seventh story to appear in their magazine.
At the same time, they rejected another story of mine.... Also, a few
days ago Joe Morey of Dark Regions Press selected the
twentieth--and final--story for my forthcoming science fiction
collection, "Ebb Tide and Other Tales" :-)
8 January 2002: Scavenger's review + book signing :-)
Jim Lee reviewed "Winter Shadows and Other Tales" in the January 2002
issue of Scavenger's Newsletter in his column, "The Skeptic
Tank." The following is a brief extract from his review: "... fiction
at once fantastic and utterly believable--written with conviction and
a steady, subtle hand.... Lee's best work is absolutely true in the
deepest emotional sense and so many of these strike me as Lee at her
best that it's impossible to pick a single favorite--or even 3 or 4."
What a happy moment -- to read my first review of the book and
discover it's favorable! :-)
Book signing update: this will take place at Borders in
Monroeville on Thursday March 14 at 7:30 p.m.
2 January 2002: Borders Book Signing :-) :-) :-)
I will be doing a book signing of Winter
Shadows and Other Tales at a Pittsburgh-area Borders one
Thursday evening in March :-) :-) :-) I will be sure to
announce which store and which Thursday here as soon as I
know, in case anyone reading this lives close enough to attend :-)
Also, my first rejection of 2002 came after 84 days from New York
Stories.
1 January 2002: 2001 statistics
Here are my 2001 statistics in the easiest form for me to generate,
which lumps stories and poems together, but separates each book into
its constituent stories....
It was a good writing year for me, with the highlight being the
publication of my first book :-)
28 December 2001: Tales of the Unanticipated
A detailed and friendly rejection from Tales of the Unanticipated.
26 December 2001: "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"
I saw this movie on December 22nd, but haven't had a chance to update
this page until then. So - with no spoilers! - here goes: If you liked
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, or if you like epic fantasy,
or if you enjoy a diversity of movies, then hurry to the box office now!
19 December 2001: Dark Regions Press + Pittsburgh City Paper :-)
Two pieces of news today: firstly, Dark Regions Press, the publisher of my
recent fantasy collection Winter Shadows and
Other Tales, has accepted a companion volume of science fiction
stories, tentative publication date, summer 2002 :-) :-) :-) And secondly,
I am mentioned in an article about "The Lord of the Rings" in this
week's Pittsburgh
City Paper - the article is written by fellow Worldwright,
Ken Chiacchia.
17 December 2001: Kinships
Today I received payment for my story "Common Courtesy," forthcoming
in Kinships.
16 December 2001: Amazon.com :-)
Yay! My collection "Winter Shadows and Other Tales" can now be
ordered from
Amazon.com :-)
15 December 2001: Keith Allen Daniels
I received my contributor's copy of 2001: A Science Fiction
Poetry Anthology today. Very sadly, the book was accompanied
by a letter from Toni Luna Daniels saying that her husband,
Keith Allen Daniels, the editor and publisher of this anthology,
is terminally ill with cancer. Keith Alien Daniels founded
Anamnesis Press in 1990; he is a poet and a supporter of
speculative poetry.
12 December 2001: Future Orbits :-)
I am a few days late reporting this, but my story "The Strangers"
has been published in Future Orbits #2 :-)
6 December 2001: Selling books :-)
A new first for me: for the first time I sold a copy of a book
of mine directly to someone. Indeed to two someones on the same
evening :-) (At a La Leche League meeting as it happens -- yes,
William is still a very ardent nurser at age 2 1/2 years old.)
29 November 2001: Asimov's
A 55-day rejection of a poem by Asimov's.
28 November 2001: Spectrum SF :-)
I received my contributor copies of Spectrum SF #7 containing
my short story "Crew-Dog" :-)
16 November 2001: Scifi.com
A lengthy, thoughtful, and friendly rewrite request from Scifi.com.
14 November 2001: Hayakawa SF
Back in July, I discovered to my surprise that the Japanese
magazine Hayakawa SF had published a story of mine. After
exchanging several letters with the publishers, I learned that they
had in fact published two stories of mine ("Ebb Tide" and "The
Day Before They Came.") Happily, today I received payment for
both stories :-)
I note as an added curiosity that one of the stories, "The Day
Before They Came," has now earned me a little over 26 cents per
word, which is considerably more than most of my stories have
made. This is thanks to the original payment from Interzone,
plus payments for reprinting it in The Year's Best SF #4,
in the Polish magazine Nowa Fantastyka, and now also in
Hayakawa SF. It really is true that reprint rights can
bring in some handy additional income -- at least once in a while!
13 November 2001: Spectrum SF
I received payment today from Spectrum SF for my forthcoming
story "Crew-Dog" :-)
9 November 2001: Contents + Dark Regions
My Winter Shadows and Other Tales page now
includes a contents section with a brief comment on each story (brief
because I created much of it while William was sitting on my lap!)
I've also put a picture of the cover -- in addition to the cover art
-- onto the page... In other news, I had a friendly poetry rejection from
Dark Regions Magazine.
6 November 2001: Cover art
The cover art for my collection, a beautiful pastel painting by
AB Word, can now be seen at my newly-created Winter
Shadows and Other Tales web-page :-)
5 November 2001: Fictionwise royalties
I received another royalty check from Fictionwise :-)
4 November 2001: First book! :-) :-)
My first book, Winter Shadows and Other
Tales, has just been published by Dark Regions Press :-)
:-) :-) It contains twenty fantasy stories, including four new stories
:-) I am happy! In case anyone would like to buy a copy, here is the
information about mail-ordering it direct from the publisher:-
Title: "Winter Shadows & Other Tales"
ISBN: 1-888993-23-5
Joe Morey
Dark Regions Press
P.O. Box 1558
Brentwood CA 94513
Send a check for $13.95 payable to Dark Regions Press (includes $2 shipping charge)
3 November 2001: F&SF rejection
A 12-day rejection from F&SF.
29 October 2001: Future Orbits payment :-)
I received payment from Future Orbits today -- they appear
to be very efficient as well as friendly :-)
25 October 2001: Asimov's rejection
A 78-day rejection from Asimov's. Also, I signed a slightly
amended version of the Future Orbits contract :-)
17 October 2001: Future Orbits and Fantastic Stories :-)
A doubly good mail-day: I received an acceptance of my story
"The Strangers" from Future Orbits, and an acceptance of
poem "If They Come" from Fantastic Stories :-) I am
querying Future Orbits about some details in their
contract, but am very optimistic that all will turn out well!
10 October 2001: Bones of the World :-)
I received my contributor copies of the 4th SFF Net anthology,
Bones of the World, edited by Bruce Holland Rogers,
ISBN 0-9669698-4-7. This contains my short story "Clever
People." According to my records, this is my 62nd story to
be published (not counting reprints). The anthology also
contains stories by Jeryr Oltion, Ray Vukcevich, M. Shayne Bell,
Darrell Schweitzer, James Van Pelt, and many others.
9 October 2001: The Paris Review
A 5-month rejection from The Paris Review...
4 October 2001: Royalties
I received a royalty check for my story in Sword & Sorceress 18 :-)
I also received a rejection from Strange Horizons. To my amazement,
this is my first rejection since August 17. I have had one acceptance
since then, but it's still been a very quiet seven weeks at the mailbox.
26 September 2001: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Today I received $50 payment from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
for my poem "Trees," which they published a month ago. The poem is
so short that this comes to over a dollar a word!
25 September 2001: Dark Regions Press :-)
Joe Morey of Dark Regions emailed me to say that "Winter
Shadows & Other Tales" -- my first book! -- will be out by the
end of November :-) :-) The collection will contain 20 stories,
mostly fantasy, but a couple on the science fiction side of the
borderline, including 4 stories that have never been published
before. I am very excited about this!
14 September 2001
My heart goes out to all those were injured, or who have lost
someone they loved, or who witnessed the events of September 11.
The whole tragedy is deeply disturbing in many ways, and I hope
it won't lead to us hurting any more innocent people. I am troubled
to hear of anti-Muslim discrimination, and it casts a shadow over
the heroic and wholly admirable efforts of all the rescue workers.
In story-news, I had a 163-day rejection from On Spec
at the start of the week.
5 September 2001: Brief Worldcon report
A very brief post-Worldcon report, mainly to say that I had fun
and my program items went fine. I met several other NAW-beings,
mostly (alas) just for a brief time, but I did get to attend
Christy Hardin Smith's reading (nice job, Christy!), and to chat
to Vera Nazarian twice. I particularly enjoyed the five readings
that I attended, and was also exceedingly pleased to meet Paul
Melko again. (Paul is a good friend and former Worldwright.)
And now it is all over :-(
29 August 2001: Worldcon
My Worldcon schedule is:
Fri,10.00-Works of Le Guin
Fri,15.00-Reading: Lee
Sat,12.00-Autographing
Sun,15.00-You Need Good Sentences
I plan to have a bowl of Smarties (the British equivalent of M&Ms) on
offer at the autograph session, so please drop by to eat candy and
chat -- no need to bring anything to sign!
25 August 2001: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-)
My poem "Trees" is indeed in today's issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-)
23 August 2001: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-)
I received a phone message saying that my poem "Trees" will be in
this Saturday's edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-) This
is my second sale to them, and my 6th poetry acceptance :-) In
other recent news, I had rejections from Talebones and
Speculon.
9 August 2001: Spectrum SF :-)
I received my contributor's copies of Spectrum SF #6, containing
my story "Luna Classifieds" :-) I also learned that my story
"PauseTime" from Spectrum SF #4 gained an Honorable Mention
in Gardner Dozois's Year's Best Science Fiction #18 :-)
6 August 2001: Hayakawa, Kinships, Space & Time :-)
I heard back from Hayakawa S-F -- in a very friendly letter
they apologized for printing "The Day Before They Came" without
obtaining permission, and also told me that another story of mine,
"Ebb Tide," appeared in the October 1999 issue. They have already
sent a copy of both issues, and offered me $200 for each story,
which I am happy with.... I also had an acceptance from Kinships
for my story "Common Courtesy," and an acceptance from Space & Time
for my poem "To the Whales" :-) :-) And I got a rejection from
Glimmer Train, which, remarkably, is my first rejection since
late June. I am expecting the flood gates to open now....
30 July 2001: Fictionwise royalties
I received my first royalty check from
Fictionwise -- it was only for a small amount, but it was still good
to receive it. Two of my stories, "The God on the Glass Cross"
and "Courtly Love," have now earned back their advance of 3 cents per
word. It's fascinating to me that "The God on the Glass Cross" is
the story of mine that has sold most copies (about 350) and yet has
one of my lowest reader-ratings. My personal favorite among the
stories, "Cause and Consequence," has had about 220 readers.
25 July 2001: Hayakawa SF
I have discovered the curious fact that my story "The Day Before
They Came" has been reprinted in the March 2001 issue of the
major Japanese magazine, Hayakawa SF. While I am pleased
to have appeared in this venue, I am also puzzled as I never
submitted the story to them. I am not yet sure whether someone
else pretended to be me and submitted the story, or whether the
magazine knowingly published it without permission. Odd anyhow...
23 July 2001: Realms of Fantasy and Spectrum SF :-) :-)
It's been a good few days: firstly I had fun at Confluence, where,
among many other pleasures, I
got to meet fellow-NAW-person Tobias Buckell;
secondly I returned home to find my contributor copies of the
October Realms of Fantasy, containing my story "Patterns";
thirdly, today I received e-mail from Paul Fraser accepting
my story "Crew-Dog" for Spectrum SF -- this last makes
me particularly happy, as the story is a personal favorite of
mine. So I am in a good mood! :-)
16 July 2001: Millenium Philcon
How could I have forgotten to mention that I received my schedule
for the Millenium Philcon? I am on two panels, one about the works
of Ursula K. Le Guin (hurray!) at 10 A.M. on Friday, and one
titled "If You Have a Good Idea, You Need Good Sentences" at
3 P.M. on Sunday. This will be my first time on a panel anywhere
but the local Pittsburgh convention, Confluence, which is much
less intimidating because it is a) far smaller, and b) I know
many of the people there.
If that weren't enough to make me nervous (which I am),
I am also scheduled for a reading on Friday at 3 P.M. GULP!
I have never given a reading anywhere before. Jumping into the
experience for the first time at Worldcon is daunting to say the
least. And I also have an autographing session at noon on Saturday,
at which I anticipate very few people.... Although I am nervous about
all this, I am delighted to be on the Le Guin panel: she is my
favorite science fiction author.
16 July 2001: Spectrum SF, Bones of the World
It's been a quiet couple of weeks for me at the mailbox, which
is a relief because I have zero child-care help at the moment
for William. And although William continues to be a delight,
he is a very time-consuming companion! But I did receive the
galleys for my forthcoming story in "Bones of the World,"
plus payment for my forthcoming story in Spectrum SF.
No rejections yet in July (just typing that dooms me to at
least 2 rejections this week...)
1 July 2001: Realms of Fantasy
Checking my P.O. Box today, I found the payment for my forthcoming
story in Realms of Fantasy :-) Alas, I also recently received a
rejection from Pif Magazine.
26 June 2001: Talebones publication
I received my contributor's copy of Talebones #21 containing
my poem "Silicon Bird" :-) This is my third poem to be published,
and my third appearance in Talebones.
25 June 2001: The New Yorker rejection
My first story-related mail in 12 days: a rejection from The
New Yorker.
13 June 2001: Elysian Fiction publication
My story "More Than Magic" is now available in the first issue of
Elysian Fiction :-)
I also received a very friendly rewrite request from Strange
Horizons.
7 June 2001: Realms of Fantasy proofs
Today I received the page proofs for my story "Patterns," scheduled
for the October 2001 issue of Realms of Fantasy :-)
6 June 2001: Pedestal rejection
An 82-day rejection from The Pedestal...
5 June 2001: TOTU publication and more
Since my last post: I've received my contributor's copy of Tales
of the Unanticipated #22, containing my short-short "On the
Irritating..."; I've received contracts and payment for my recent
sale to Elysian Fiction; I received a rejection from
Analog. And I read the best short story that I've read
for a year or more: "Bones of the Earth" by Ursula K. Le Guin,
one of the five stories in her new collection "Tales from
Earthsea." Movingly and beautifully written.
24 May 2001: Mail catch-up
Alas, I've received three rejections in the past week: a 28-day
nope from Sci-Fi.com, a 59-day nope from Fantastic,
and a 65-day nope from Absolute Magnitude...
18 May 2001: S&S royalties
I received another royalty check for my story "The Hollow Dancer,"
which was published in Sword & Sorceress 14 in 1997. My
calculations show that I'm now up to a pay rate of 15 cents per word
for the story :-)
17 May 2001: Rhysling anthology
Today I received my copy of The 2001 Rhysling Anthology,
containing my poem "Every Other Day of the Year." I feel very
honored that my poem is in the anthology.
15 May 2001: Elysian Fiction acceptance
Today I received an acceptance from Elysian Fiction of my
story "More Than Magic" :-)
10 May 2001: Talebones payment
Today I received payment and the page proof for my poem "Silicon Bird"
from Talebones....
9 May 2001: On Spec rejection
A 5 and a 1/2 month rejection from On Spec....
3 May 2001: SFF Net payment
I received my check from SFF Net for my story "Clever People,"
forthcoming in The Bones of the World :-) Also a 50-day
rejection from Pif Magazine.
29 April 2001: Fictionwise
Checking the statistics for my stories available online from
Fictionwise, I see that "The God on the Glass Cross" has earned out
its advance, my first story to do so :-) It's had 285 readers to date.
My short-short "Courtly Love" is also close to earning out, but the
other stories still have quite a way to go....
24 April 2001: Spectrum SF contract
I received the contract for my recent sale to Spectrum SF
today. Less happily, I have also received a rejection from
Analog and one from Speculon since my last update.
20 April 2001: NAW publications page and Sword and Sorceress
I received my contributor's copy of Sword and Sorceress XVIII
containing my short story "The Fall of the Kingdom." My pleasure in
this publication is blunted by the death last year, as she was finishing the
selection of stories for the anthology, of Marion Zimmer
Bradley.
In other news, those interested in learning what stories are currently
available by me and other NAW members can browse the new NAW publications page.
12 April 2001: Spectrum SF acceptance :-)
This is a good week! I just sold my story "Luna Classifieds" to
Spectrum SF; this is my second sale to this UK magazine :-)
10 April 2001: Realms of Fantasy acceptance :-) :-)
Yay! Oh, happiness! My story "Patterns" has been accepted by
Realms of Fantasy and will probably appear in the
October issue :-) :-) :-) I am so pleased :-)
I also received a very encouraging
rejection from Sci-fi.com and a re-rewrite request from
Spectrum SF.
2 April 2001: Magazine of Speculative Poetry publication :-)
My poem "Fall Clearance" is in The Magazine of Speculative
Poetry, volume 5 #1, Spring 2001 :-) This is the first
poem that I sold, but the second to appear in print :-)
29 March 2001: Third Alternative rejection
A friendly email rejection from The Third Alternative.
27 March 2001: Bones of the World contract
In today's mail, the contracts from Bones of the World.
26 March 2001: Strange Horizons rejection
A friendly email rejection from Strange Horizons.
20 March 2001: "The Bones of the World" acceptance :-)
Bruce Holland Rogers emailed me accepting my short-short,
"Clever People," for the fourth SFF Net anthology, The
Bones of the World :-) This will be my third appearance
in an SFF Net anthology (I had stories in volumes 1 and 3).
19 March 2001: Spectrum SF
Received in today's email, a rewrite request from Spectrum
SF -- I very much hope I can rewrite the story to their
satisfaction. Also in the mail, a rejection from Asimov's.
8 March 2001: Mail roundup
I don't think I've had any story responses in the past week,
but I received contributor copies of On Spec, containing
my story "To the Maxi-Blender 3000, Serial Number 1-498-86,"
and I also received contributor copies of Kinships #1,
containing my story "Birthdays" :-)
1 March 2001: Mail roundup
It's been a fairly quiet couple of weeks at my mailbox, but I
did receive contracts for my earlier sale of a poem to
Talebones, and also received a rejection from
Spectrum SF.
16 February 2001: Anamnesis double acceptance
My poems "Every Other Day of the Year" (reprint) and "Insignifiant
Others" were accepted for Anamnesis's 2001: A Science Fiction
Poetry Anthology.
8 February 2001: Space & Time publication
Since my last mail update, I've received copies of Space & Time #93,
containing my short story "Insight." This is my second story to appear
in Space & Time.... I've also accumulated three more rejections,
from Analog, F&SF, and On Spec.
25 January 2001
The day after my last mailbox entry, I flew to London because my
mother had had a brain haemorrhage. Mummy died on 1st January 2001.
I miss her very much.
On the writing front, I received six rejections during my absence,
was paid for my forthcoming story in Kinships, and received
contributor's copies of Spectrum SF #4 (which contains
my story "PauseTime.")
9 December 2000: Dark Regions + Kinships :-) :-)
I received the contract and advance for my forthcoming fantasy
collection, "Winter Shadows & Other Tales," from Dark Regions
Press :-) I also sold my short story "Birthdays" to Kinships :-)
5 December 2000: TOTU :-)
Quick mail update: I sold a short-short (very short!) to Tales of
the Unanticipated for issue #22, and received $50 payment for my
recent poem in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-) I also had a
poetry rejection from Asimov's.
27 November 2000: Talebones and Spectrum SF :-) :-)
Since my last mail update, I have sold a poem titled "Silicon
Bird" to Talebones and received payment from Spectrum
SF for my story "PauseTime" :-) I've also had one rejection
(from Analog).
11 November 2000: Dark Regions and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-) :-)
Tomorrow will be the one-month anniversary of our move and
house-purchase, so the time has come to bring this page up to date.
Since I last posted a detailed report, Dark Regions have
confirmed that they would indeed like to publish a collection of my
fantasy stories, and have selected the stories to include :-) I sold
my poem "Every Other Day of the Year" to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
and it was published in today's edition -- this is my first poem to
see print and my first appearance in a newspaper :-) I also received
payment from Electric Wine for my forthcoming story there....
On the rejection front, I had friendly rejections from DNA,
The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, and Tales of the
Unanticipated, and I heard back from Redbook who are
no longer accepting unsolicited fiction, and also heard back
from the Avon anthology, which will not be published after all.
27 October 2000: Still here
... but only getting occasional access to email, etc. (We moved
a couple of weeks ago, and don't yet have a good Internet connection
from our house.) I will update this page properly when I get a
chance...
10 October 2000: TransVersions rejection
A 299-day rejection from TransVersions....
5 October 2000: Spectrum SF acceptance :-)
An e-mail acceptance of my short story "PauseTime" from the
British publication Spectrum SF :-) :-)
2 October 2000: Asimov's rejections
Two rejections from Asimov's today (one for a short
story, one for poetry).
30 September 2000: Terra Incognita publication :-)
Today I received contributor's copies of Terra Incognita #5,
containing my short story "Rewind," as well as work by two friends,
Timons Esaias and Paul Melko :-) :-)
29 September 2000: Sci-fi.com rejection
A 53-day rejection from Sci-fi.com.
28 September 2000: TTA rejection
My first (and very friendly) rejection from The Third
Alternative.
25 September 2000: On Spec payment :-)
I received payment today from On Spec for my forthcoming
story, "To the Maxi-Blender 3000, Serial Number 1-498-86" :-)
23 September 2000: Age of Wonders publication :-)
I received my contributor's copy of The Age of Wonders
(the third SFF Net anthology, edited by Jeffry Dwight) containing
my story "Murder Absolute" :-)
22 September 2000: Analog rejection
A 45-day rejection from Analog.
20 September 2000: Dark Regions collection :-) :-) :-)
Dark Regions would like to publish a collection of my fantasy
stories, probably appearing in about a year's time as a trade
paperback :-) :-) :-) I am exceedingly happy about this!
7 September 2000: On Spec acceptance :-)
I am very happy to report that my story "To the Maxi-Blender
3000, Serial Number 1-498-86" sold to On Spec :-) :-)
This is my third short sale to On Spec.
5 September 2000: Star*Line rejection
My first-ever rejection from Star*Line.
2 September 2000: Fictionwise #10 :-)
My story "Monstrosity" is currently #10 in the highest rated
stories list at Fictionwise :-)
30 August 2000: Returning...
After two weeks in England, I returned to find two rejections
(from Playboy and Talebones).
13 August 2000: Spectrum SF rejection
An e-mail rejection from Spectrum SF.
7 August 2000: Spectrum SF rejection
And one today from Spectrum SF.
5 August 2000: Asimov's rejections
Two rejections today from Asimov's.
3 August 2000: Space and Time payment
In today's mail: a check from Space & Time :-) plus
a rejection from DNA.
31 July 2000: Two rejections
... from The Urbanite and Darkling Plain...
28 July 2000: F&SF rejection
A rejection from F&SF, but my story "Interior Landscape"
is now the 12th highest rated story at Fictionwise -- at least for
this minute!
23 July 2000: Fictionwise story #14
Well, it probably won't last more than a few hours, but as I type this
my story "Interior Landscape" is the 14th highest-rated story at the
Fictionwise site :-)
21 July 2000: Playboy rejection
After a quiet week, a rejection from Playboy, my
fifth from them.
13 July 2000: Age of Wonders proofs
I received my page proofs for The Age of Wonders anthology,
and there were only three tiny glitches. The anthology is due
out in September :-)
12 July 2000: Visionair publication :-)
Another good mail-day: I received payment plus my contributor's copy of
Visionair #4, containing the Dutch translation of my story
"Universal Grammar" :-) Also in the mail, a rejection from F&SF.
11 July 2000: Magazine of Speculative Poetry acceptance :-)
Today is a good mail-day -- I received my first ever poetry acceptance
from The Magazine of Speculative Poetry for a poem called "Fall
Clearance." I only recently started writing speculative fiction
poetry, and this was the second batch of poems I'd submitted :-) (I sent
three poems each time, so two were rejected today.)
8 July 2000: Three rejections
Three more rejections in the past couple of days from Spectrum
SF, Black Gate, and Pulp Audience.
6 July 2000: Talebones rejection
A 26-day rejection from Talebones....
5 July 2000: Mail catch-up
We were away in San Francisco for a week, and I expected to find
several responses when I came home, but there was just one: a
rejection from Glimmer Train. The form letter notes that
they now receive about 30,000 submissions a year!
24 June 2000: S&S royalties :-)
Today I received royalties for my short story "The Hollow Dancer"
from Sword & Sorceress XIV -- this story has now earned
more from royalties than it did from the original advance.... I
also received my first ever poetry rejection (from Asimov's).
14 June 2000: Double rejection
Two rejections today, one from Analog and one from
Scifi.com.
9 June 2000: Talebones rejection
A friendly 118-day rejection from Talebones.
8 June 2000: F&SF rejection
A fast and friendly rejection from F&SF.
7 June 2000: Year's Best SF #5 :-)
David Hartwell's "Year's Best SF #5" is now out, containing
my story "Lifework," first published in Interzone #144, June 1999
:-) :-)
5 June 2000: Adventures of S&S payment
In the mail today, a check from Adventures of Sword & Sorcery
for May's sale, plus, alas, a rejection from Pulp Audience.
2 June 2000: Fictionwise - 17 sales :-) :-) :-)
This has been in the works for some time, but I can now announce that
I have sold reprint rights to 17 of my stories to Fictionwise. The
Fictionwise site includes stories by such writers as Mike
Resnick, Nancy Kress, Robert Silverberg, and Damon Knight. The editor
has been uniformly friendly and professional throughout, and it has
been a pleasure to do business with them :-) :-) :-)
Less happily, I also received a rejection from Best New Horror.
30 May 2000: Adhoc rejection
In today's email, a rejection from Adhoc.
24 May 2000: Dark Regions payment
Today I received payment from Dark Regions for my story
"Dragonslayer" in issue #14 :-)
21 May 2000: Electric Wine acceptance :-)
Electric Wine accepted reprint rights to my story "Assembly Line"
(first published in Interzone) :-)
12 May 2000: F&SF rejection
And a 6-day rejection from F&SF...
11 May 2000: F&SF rejection
A 59-day rejection from F&SF.
5 May 2000: Triple rejection :-(
Ouch! Three rejections in one day:-
1) In response to a query, I received a friendly note from Invisible
Cities saying that they enjoyed my story, but are not currently
accepting any submissions.
2) A 6-day rejection from F&SF.
3) A 62-day rejection from DNA.
4 May 2000: Year's Best payment, Adventures of S&S acceptance :-) :-)
An excellent mail-day! I received payment and signed contracts for my
story "Lifework," forthcoming in the Year's Best SF #5 (edited
by David Hartwell) -- this story first appeared in Interzone.
And I also received a letter and contracts from Adventures of Sword
& Sorcery accepting my story "Fairest."
2 May 2000: Electric Wine publication :-)
My story "Conversation Pieces" has been reprinted by
Electric Wine in
their current issue (May/June 2000) :-)
1 May 2000: Pulp Eternity un-acceptance :-(
A sad letter from Steve Algieri of Pulp Eternity: he
will not be publishing the cat issue after all, and so he is
returning the rights to my story "Spell Night."
25 April 2000: Electric Wine payment :-)
Today I received a check from Electric Wine for my
forthcoming story in their May/June issue :-)
20 April 2000: Sci-fi.com rejection
A 17-day rejection from Sci-fi.com.
19 April 2000: Dark Regions publication :-)
I received contributor copies of Dark Regions #14,
containing my story "Dragonslayer" :-)
17 April 2000: Playboy rejection
A rejection from Playboy; this is only the fourth time I've
submitted to this market.
7 April 2000: Space & Time acceptance :-)
My story "Insight" has been accepted for issue #93 of Space & Time :-)
This will be my second story in this long-running magazine. Less happily,
I had a 174-day rejection from Realities Escape, and a 36-day
rejection from Analog.
4 April 2000: SFF Net payment :-)
More money :-) My check from SFF Net for my forthcoming
story in "The Age of Wonders" anthology arrived today :-)
3 April 2000: Contracts, payment :-)
Today I received contracts (for earlier sales) from both
Terra Incognita and Electric Wine, together
with a check from Terra Incognita. I also forgot
to report that I recently received the contracts from
The Age of Wonders :-)
1 April 2000: Ah ha!
Just as I suspected, I challenged the Mail Gods and they responded:
a 49-day rejection from Asimov's arrived today.
31 March 2000: quiet...
It's been very quiet on the mailbox front, but by posting this
announcement, I am sure I am guaranteeing a busier April....
15 March 2000: On Spec contributor copies
Belated but welcome, I received my contributor copies of On Spec,
Winter 1999, containing my story "No-Name in the Long Winter."
14 March 2000: Spectrum SF rejection
A friendly and speedy rejection from Spectrum SF.
3 March 2000: TOTU rejection
A 185-day rejection from Tales of the Unanticipated.
1 March 2000: Scifi.com rejection
A friendly 33-day rejection from Scifi.com.
29 February 2000: SFF Net acceptance :-)
A happy close to the leap-day: an e-mail acceptance from Jeffry
Dwight; my story "Murder Absolute" will be in the third SFF Net
anthology, The Age of Wonders :-) :-) This is a nice
way to end nearly three weeks of mail silence.
Since my last update here, I have finished another story
and two poems - and William is walking!!!
9 February 2000: Still here...
I still exist, and the mail still comes, but I have been using
all my spare time to finish a story. (With William, there is
much less spare time than there used to be!) I have had three
rejections since my last entry, from Tales of the Unanticipated,
Altair, and F&SF.... In non-writing news, William
is just beginning to walk! :-)
21 January 2000: Double payment :-)
Things seem to be coming in twos at the moment, and today brought
two checks for my recent sales to Sword & Sorceress :-) :-)
Also in the mail, a postcard from The Fractal announcing
that they have folded.
20 January 2000: Double rejection
Another two rejections today, one after 80 days from Asimov's,
the other after 36 days from Weird Tales.
18 January 2000: Double rejection
Two friendly rejections today, one from Tales of the
Unanticipated and one from The Age of Wonders.
10 January 2000: Double S&S acceptance :-)
Wading through the piles of mail that accumulated while I was
on holiday, I discovered that my story "The Fall of the
Kingdom" has been accepted for Sword & Sorceress 18
and my story "Shen's Daughter" has been accepted for
Sword & Sorceress 20 - I am delighted, though
Marion Zimmer Bradley's death renders these two sales
bittersweet.... I also learned that my story "Ebb Tide"
(F&SF, May 1995) has now been reprinted in the
Spanish magazine Gigamesh #21, and I received
a rejection from Asimov's.
1999 Summary
A quick summary of my story-submitting fate in 1999 (this includes
the two S&S acceptances mentioned above, which I estimate arrived
on 29 December 1999):-
- 95 responses to submissions
- 73 rejections
- 22 acceptances, including one at the start of the year
from David Hartwell for the Year's Best SF #4
and one from him at the end of the year for the Year's
Best SF #5; two stories accepted
by Interzone;
and two stories accepted for Sword & Sorceress 18 & 20.
- 10 stories published for the first time, including my first
appearance in Amazing
Stories
For comparison, my career statistics to date are:
- 766 responses
- 680 rejections
- 86 acceptances (in perhaps half-a-dozen of these, the magazine
folded before publishing my story)
- 48 stories published, with quite a few more reprinted;
I have had stories appear in English, Czech, Dutch, German, Italian,
Polish, and Spanish.
All the Mailbox Blues