Good news!!!

Finally! Things are looking up again. First of all I will jump straight to the good news. I submitted those two short stories I completed at the start of the year (yes I know I said I would send them off back in February, but I didn’t, so sue me). Anyway, one of them - Route 246, got accepted by Dead House Grin, an e-magazine that specialises in horror.

I did a little research before I submitted my stories and in the process I discovered a fantastic site called Duotrope.com. This website lists every magazine and gives such details as: how long the magazine has been in circulation, what their response times are like and if they pay etc. It also had a fantastic tracking tool for tracking your submissions and prevents you from sending simultaneous submissions as well.

As a result of using this website I avoided sending my story to any old Tom, Dick and Harry. Within days of submitting I got this kind email from the Dead House Grin editor Larry (you see what I did there, rhyming Harry vaguely with Larry – maybe poetry is my true calling, sorry I am stalling),

Dear Rob,
'
'This is Larry from Death Head Grin. Thank you for the submissions, I liked them both, but due to space I can only accept one. If it would work well for you, and if it has not been accepted elsewhere, I would like to use "Route 246" in the September issue.


Thanks


'Larry Green

How cool is that? My first ever acceptance! May many more continue but at least – if all goes well, I will be able to say I had something published. It will also get my name out there.

In terms of the editing, I am back up to the point I was before I lost all my changes. This has been a massive challenge mentally but I can gladly say I have overcome it. The energy is back and I am raring to go. Roll on the rest of the book I say, my deadline is the start of the World Cup.

I have also been doing a load of critiques over at critters. My ratio had dropped down to 38%, which meant I had to review 15 critiques before I could have anything of my own reviewed. I have been feverishly working on these and have now got my ratio back up to the required level.

Why have I done this all of a sudden? Well I will tell you, if you hang on. As the editing is progressing, I am getting increasingly nervous about showing it to the four people I have singled out to read the book. What if they hate it?

To ease my fears I just want the option of a stranger’s opinion on the first couple of chapters. These are the chapters that I think are weakest and the folks over at critters can be brutally honest, which is what I need. I might, just might, pass the chapters their way.

Mood: Optimistic.