10 Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.
From here, via Caren. I wonder if anyone who’s not trying to write would find anything of interest in this collection of shop talk. You tell me.
I can’t remember if I’ve been numbering these things in terms of the number of times I’ve submitted, or the number of different stories that I’ve submitted. I think I’ll go with the latter, since that’s a more meaningful metric.
Anyway, I’ve been trying to find a good market for “Mutter” which is one of my [...]
This has always seemed utterly obvious to me — as it would, I expect, to anybody who’s ever lived in a city where the public transportation options didn’t suck — but it’s nice when people who actually know stuff say it:
There are three main mechanisms through which high-speed rail can help expand the economy, according [...]
Electric Boogaloo.
I got it. Five hundred thousand dollars, bitches.
Well, okay. Twenty-one thousand dollars. Even so.
is here. I look forward to a bit of leisure to read some of these. Thanks to Seth Roberts, who is getting increasingly deranged, but still worth listening to with one ear.
Just finished my first new post-contest story. One a day for almost two months and now this is an accomplishment; funny. Goes to show that streaks, competition, are about the most powerful things ever.
Feels good to finish something, though. I missed it.
I think the Clarkesworld rejection has already spoiled me; all the other markets are estimated at a month or more before they get back to you. I’m waiting to hear from Theresa before I send Twenty Ten out again. Since turnaround times from here on out are so long I’ve got to be strategic. The [...]
Just keeping ya’ll up to date. This one went to McSweeney’s, which is somehow even less likely to go through than the one to Clarkesworld. But I don’t care. The piece is perfect for them, and it’s good enough. And when it gets rejected, I’ll send it to someone else.
Did I mention 2010 was gonna [...]
This morning, for what is essentially the first time ever, I submitted a story. To Clarkesworld magazine, which has published some pretty compelling work in the past. Spar, by Kij Johnson, I liked particularly. [Mom: don't read it.]
The rejection rate is crazy high, and even though I feel my story is very strong it will [...]
for repeatedly quoting shit from this series of essays. But I read a couple of them every day, for a break, and I keep being struck by them. So here’s another:
For instance, the other day I recalled a famous passage from Adam Smith that I wanted to cite: something about an earthquake in China. I [...]