Chosen

The bare soles of Cade's feet crossed hot sand like burning coals in a heathen ritual. An albino more ghostly than human, he wore his katana sheathed across the back of a robe whiter than snow.

Flashing spurs drew him.

"Damned birds. Think they could wait a few hours." Sylvester Hammersmith swallowed what spit he had left in his mouth and squinted at the man who had appeared from a sudden ripple of light—or maybe just a mirage. "Them injuns do it proper. Stake you to an anthill and pour sweet molasses all over. Not the Christians. They got no sense of fairness." He kicked at another buzzard that dropped to the scorched earth too close to his liking.

Cade halted like a dry gust of wind, the hem of his robe shifting forward as if intending to continue onward.

"Don't you even think about taking my snakeskins, Mister. I ain't gonna meet the Good Lord without my boots on!"

"You cannot take them with you," Cade said. 

My story "Sins of the Father" has been accepted for publication by the fine folks at Bards and Sages Quarterly, and it will be included in their July issue. This was my Write1Sub1 from week #45 in 2011, and after surviving 12 rejections, I'm glad to say it's found a great place to call home.

Whenever I get good news like this, I post it on my Facebook page, but I didn't expect B&S editor Julie Ann Dawson to comment: "Their loss, my gain."

I often wonder if editors feel differently about an acquisition once they learn how many times it's been passed over; but the truth is, they probably don't care. One editor's opinion (or a dozen, or a couple dozen) is not indicative of every other one on the planet. What doesn't "work" for an editor or agent may very well be a "good fit" for another.

It's up to us to find the ones who get it, who find value in it, and who want to share it with the world.

"Never give up, never surrender!" - Galaxy Quest
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