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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Anthology Adventure

And so the results of the anthology are here. Well they were actually here about two weeks ago but I've been lazy and haven't posted. But I will first bring you through the journey that ended with one little e-mail.

I, after much deliberation and hair loss sent in my submission. (seriously I spent an hour trying to figure out what to type in the body of the e-mail. Why is that part the most confusing?) And then the waiting....the waiting...more waiting...

I was surprised I had not yet recieved a rejection. And then another e-mail came in saying that I was going to the second round! Specifically that it wasn't an offer, but they really liked the piece. I was thrilled! Published? Me? It seemed closer than ever before! And the timing was great  - with so much other personal bad news, me getting published would be amazing.

That excitement lasted for a little while until me and the other second-rounders got bored and decided to plague the anthology thread with nonsense, random e-mail checks, dragon poetry, prospective names for the anthology, and dragon/elf crossovers, as well as some strange movie references I didn't understand. It was a lot of fun. And lasted a long time lol. (Not that I'm complaining - Considering what most turn-arounds are, Mac was extremely fast, and kind, posting little updates when she could. It was just my first submission so I was hopped up on impatience :D) Finally Mac told us that any e-mail she sends out would be a rejection. So people started to avoid checking their e-mails. And somehow, I scraped by again. After three more weeks, she said we would know the final Table of Contents by the end of the week.

Somehow I forgot about that deadline and ended up rushing to my computer on Saturday Night. And there, in my inbox was a nice, polite, heart-breaking rejection.

My first rejection - I guess I'm a real writer now huh? And as nice as it was...I couldn't help it. I felt crushed. I felt worthless and stupid and horrible. I felt like a failure, and I felt that way for a few days after too. But I picked myself up. The reason it was rejected was because it didn't fit the theme of the anthology - not because it was an awful story right? And since the theme wasn't agreed upon before submission, how could I have possibly known mine wasn't going to fit? So it's not my fault - it's not anyone's fault. It just happens. And as a writer I need to get used to the fact that a rejection doesn't always mean something negative. Sometimes they just happen.

-Jessie

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