The rejection I was (almost) relieved to receive

Only a few minutes ago, I received one of maybe two rejections I have been relieved to receive in my life. I have a story out at six different magazines that would pay at least $100 and up to maybe $330 if they were to accept the story. I have reason to believe at least …

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“The Imp of Inversions” sold

This past week, I finally sold a sweet little piece I wrote a long time ago. I guess it was too sweet for most magazines (though some editors said they liked it before rejecting it—isn't that always the way?), because it garnered forty rejections over a period of two years before finding a home in …

I sold my first (and probably only) Western

Yes! Another sale! I think I might have mentioned once or twice in the course of this blog that I had a productive period around this time two years ago when I finished something like 25 first drafts. Four of those are still in revision. Of those four, three might never make it to a …

Not another novella!

I didn't want to. I didn't mean to. I would take it back if I could. I can't. I wrote another novella. To be precise, I'm still writing it, and I haven't made significant progress in days. (Side note: do you know what my days look like? Granted, yesterday swung toward the unnaturally busy, but …

Still top secret…

Remember my announcement way back at the end of December that I had received a top secret acceptance? It's still there. That's the core of this post, so you can stop reading now. A story of mine, "Psyche Asunder" was purchased at the end of December (and just paid in the last couple of weeks! …

My heroic battle with ChatGPT

It was about a month ago, but I'm telling the story now. Starward Shadows had an open call for an anthology of AI-generated stories to be titled "Beauty in Blood-Drenched Circuits." I decided since I was scared stiff of how AI will affect my job and the only way to conquer fear is to face …

“No Do-Overs” available

I have a new story to announce. Before you say it: yes, it's on Tall Tale TV. As of today, my story "No Do-Overs" is available. "Today?!" you cry. "Why, oh why, did you not warn me sooner? I expected a blog post well ahead of time to prepare my La-Z-Boy, chips, and Cherry Coke! …

I’ve gotten spoiled, and I guess that’s good(?)

It's been two and a half weeks since my last acceptance, and that bothers me. I imagined the recent spate of acceptances heralding an unremitting flood. I was wondering how I would keep up with all of the acceptances—more acceptances than stories I've written! I would be drowning in adulation, money, and blog topics. I …

“There Was No Apple When Mankind Fell” available again

Observant readers of my blog will notice that I mentioned an acceptance for "There Was No Apple When Mankind Fell" two weeks ago and said it would be available the week following, but I didn't mention it the next week. That's because of the acceptance I got a week later. I wanted to crow over …

It’s hailing acceptances

Okay, so it's not hailing acceptances compared to some people I've seen who receive three acceptances in a single day or even two professional acceptances in a day, but for me, it's been a surprising month. I received an acceptance this past Tuesday, a mere seven days after my previous acceptance. This makes my third …