Waiting

Seventeen of my short stories are sitting out there somewhere, either in editors’ inboxes or slush piles. A couple of my novel-length manuscripts (one full, one partial) are in the possession of two different literary agencies. Sadly, these people have no idea that I sit in front of my computer every day, just waiting for their responses to trickle in!

Not really. I’m usually good at starting a new story in the interim while I wait for those fateful letters to arrive. But as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I keep getting these lukewarm “maybe” responses that have a bad habit of setting me up for disappointment.

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Allegory, and NewMyths recently informed me that my submissions have passed the first round of readings. That’s great news. But if I allow it to raise my expectations too high, a final rejection letter will smash me to smithereens when it arrives in a month or two.

“Expect the worst. Hope for the best.” Whoever first said that was a very wise sage, but probably also a pessimist. The glass must have been three-quarters-empty for him! But I find that having a similar mindset toward rejection is the best way to handle it. I need to just take it in stride and not allow it to affect my writing process negatively.

So I’ll wait, and I’ll try not to imagine what it would be like to have my stories published in these three elusive magazines. (Update: my story at Andromeda Spaceways has passed another round of readings!) Instead, assuming they will reject my work, I should start planning where to submit it next.

In the meantime, please visit Paragraph Planet for my 75-word micro-fiction piece “If Only” (June 20th).