Rejection

As in, my first! I should be sad, but I'm not. Back story, since I haven't been writing much on the blog lately:

Cedar Fort books recently had a Christmas writing contest. I had several ideas for a book and/or short story, but it was right over the period of time that we moved. (Did I mention that we moved? We moved. From small town, back country, Southern Utah to big city Las Vegas. It's been a bit of an adjustment getting used to.) Any way. I was packing, moving, unpacking, getting settled, etc. during the time that I would have been writing the longer story, so I went with the short.

It was a pretty fine piece of work, I think. Based loosely on a personal experience. And lovely. (Also, very short. Only 1200 words or so.)

I submitted it. And waited. And waited. This morning, I got the response. "Unfortunately, you were not chosen as the winner at this time."

It's a rejection, from an actual publisher. I stepped out onto the cliff and hit send. And even though I ultimately wasn't chosen as the winner, it feels good. I mean, there could only be one person who won and I have no idea how many people submitted in the category I tried.

The really nice thing is that they included a note at the end to say they would love to see any full-length manuscripts I might have. (It could be a form letter, but still.)

So that's the news. I am moving slow steps forward in writing. Submitting a short story to an actual publisher is a huge deal, even if it got a pass this time. I just have to work some more and polish some more and do something new.

Until next time, how's your writing going?