Well, hot diggety damn!
Apr. 28th, 2005 03:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ann_leckieSo the mail comes today. And there's a SASE there, clearly a rejection letter from someone. I've got a few things out right now, but I could tell when I picked it up that it was from F&SF--the outline inside the envelope was the right size.
You know what it's like to get a rejection letter. On the one hand, you wait and wait for them. On the other hand, when you get them it's like a slug to the gut. Your story sucks! You suck! Why did you ever even think you should try writing to begin with? And then you get out the mailing supplies and print up a new copy and send the ms off to the next place on the list. Right? So knowing all this, I open up the envelope.
I've only ever gotten one kind of rejection from F&SF. JJA very politely tells me my story didn't grab him, best of luck. My goal, my wildest writing hope, has been to get something other than "didn't grab me" from the Slushgod. So I open the envelope, unfold the paper, and glance quickly down for a confirmation of my terrible suspicion. It won't have grabbed him. Except...what do I see?
"I find this sort of contemporary metaphysical story hard to do--Jonathan Carroll is one of the few writers I can think of who regularly does it well. I thought your story was executed well, but the basic concept for it didn't really grab me, alas."
I read no further. It was a didn't grab me--but it wasn't the form letter! I put it down, because really I can't endure too long an exposure to a rejection letter, and went to work on a paying project that's due tonight. After about fifteen minutes I felt ready to look at it again. And that's when I saw the signature.
It's from Gordon! Hot damn!!! I made it all the way to Gordon's desk!!! This is..this is several steps past my hopeless hope, my impossible dream of getting a "didn't hold my interest" from JJA!!! This is wonderful!
But it's a rejection! It sucks!
Oh, Mithras, I'm so confused!!!
You know what it's like to get a rejection letter. On the one hand, you wait and wait for them. On the other hand, when you get them it's like a slug to the gut. Your story sucks! You suck! Why did you ever even think you should try writing to begin with? And then you get out the mailing supplies and print up a new copy and send the ms off to the next place on the list. Right? So knowing all this, I open up the envelope.
I've only ever gotten one kind of rejection from F&SF. JJA very politely tells me my story didn't grab him, best of luck. My goal, my wildest writing hope, has been to get something other than "didn't grab me" from the Slushgod. So I open the envelope, unfold the paper, and glance quickly down for a confirmation of my terrible suspicion. It won't have grabbed him. Except...what do I see?
"I find this sort of contemporary metaphysical story hard to do--Jonathan Carroll is one of the few writers I can think of who regularly does it well. I thought your story was executed well, but the basic concept for it didn't really grab me, alas."
I read no further. It was a didn't grab me--but it wasn't the form letter! I put it down, because really I can't endure too long an exposure to a rejection letter, and went to work on a paying project that's due tonight. After about fifteen minutes I felt ready to look at it again. And that's when I saw the signature.
It's from Gordon! Hot damn!!! I made it all the way to Gordon's desk!!! This is..this is several steps past my hopeless hope, my impossible dream of getting a "didn't hold my interest" from JJA!!! This is wonderful!
But it's a rejection! It sucks!
Oh, Mithras, I'm so confused!!!
