Dewclaw!

You have to see this prettiness to believe it.

In Denver I had the pleasure of meeting the Evelyn Hampton at a Dewclaw reading she put together.  I also got my hands on the new issue, and it's really top-notch.  I was so surprised and delighted by all of the work at the reading and in this little fella.

If you buy a copy here, you can read all of these people: Alison Bundy, Heather Christle, Claire Donato,Tyler Dorholt,Brandon Gorrell, Sheila Heti, Dorothea Lasky, Dylan Nice, Sam Pink, Ilan Shraer, Jen Tynes,

and ME.

I think this was maybe the reading at AWP in which I really wanted to be everyone else in the room, even though I was unfamiliar with most of those people's work.  AND I was hungover.  BUT I still enjoyed it the most.

Remarkable, no?

Too Little Too Late

This week I got an acceptance from The Portland Review for a story I'd withdrawn several months ago.

I also received two emails from a publishing company asking me to interview a third time for a similar job to one they'd turned me down for a couple months ago.  I've since taken another job at a different company, and am quite happy there, so I declined.

Allow me to introduce myself: I am the one that got away.

Rejection 219

Dislocate would prefer not to publish that weird, convolute Victorian story of mine that no one wants.

New excerpt of a long poem up at Double Shiny

New work from Kyle Hemmings, Neila Mezynski, Brian Oliu, Miles Ross, Matthew Savoca, Laura Ellen Scott, Chris Taylor and myself up at Double Shiny.

New Poem up at H_NGM_N

The 10th issue of H_NGM_N is live with new poetry from the likes of Brent Armendinger, Stephanie Berger, David Saffo, myself, and a slew of others.  Get thee to the gallows!

JMWW Anthology IV Available!

The 2009 anthology of the best of their online issues is available for order here. Work from Roxane Gay, Paula Bomer, Meg Pokrass, Heather Fowler, Justin Hamm, Kyle Hemmings, myself and many others!

Review of Shya Scanlon's Latest up at Tarpaulin Sky

Check out my review of Shya Scanlon's In this alone impulse, up at Tarpaulin Sky's blog. Please and thank you.

Rejection 218

Daniel McDermott at Bananafish rejected the second story I sent him and penned this letter to you to explain his decision.  I'm tickled: Dear Rejection Collection Readers,

I think this Rejection Collection proves that even the most talented writers will be rejected far more than they are accepted.  Rejection is part of professional writing and merely represents a specific editor's opinion.  It doesn't mean your work is inferior.  (Although, critique and feedback, especially from a qualified professional, can be an invaluable part of the learning process.)  If you believe in the strength of your work, perhaps you did not submit to the right editor or publication.  Or perhaps you just caught the editor on a bad day (it happens) or right after he/she found a horsefly scampering through their green tea latte (it happened).  Here is a satirical example of our frustration: http://themurkyfringe.com/2010/02/submission-guidelines-revised/ I am a writer first and an editor second.  As much as I despise the gut-churning sensation of having my work rejected, it is far less atrocious and migraine-inducing than the act of crafting and sending a rejection letter to a talented, deserving writer.

In regards to Rejections #215... Yes, I contacted Jac Jemc personally and asked her to contribute, because she's witty and awesome and talented like that.  And, she is correct; if we have a minimum word length we should say so, which we've done in our Submission Guidelines: "Submissions should be no less than 500 words..."  Jac is also correct in saying that if a story doesn't float our boat we should just say so - we always do and always will.  Jac's submission was exquisite, but simply too short.

The current requested (re)submission, "The Dreaded Miscellany," is also exquisitely written.  It's creative, poetic, and filled with relatable emotion.  However, it is being rejected because I felt an abundance of passive voice and extenuating vocabulary distracted from the story's tempo and muddled its clarity.  I'd also like to see a few less modifiers and more objective description.  I attempted a thorough edit of the piece, but, in the end, I felt my changes were infringing on Jac's personal style a bit too much.

I would love to see more of Jac Jemc's work.  I still think she is a wonderful writer, and sometimes it takes a few tries to make a fitting writer/editor connection.  And if Jac were here, in this dank, Harvard Square coffee shop with me, I'd buy her a fly-less latte and discuss the many fascinating aspects of her literary greatness.

Regards,

~ Daniel McDermott

Editor - bananafishmagazine.com

Rejection 217

About a year ago, I did an interview, and I think I told Ben Tanzer that Ninth Letter was one place that I wanted to have work some day and it felt like it was possible.  Still nothing.  I do continue admiring them, but I am also exponentially less anxious about getting work into certain places. Ninth Letter just rejected another story of mine.

I am ready to admit it: I was obsessed for a while there with getting a ton of work out there.  I feel I have calmed down a bit.  I don't have an aneurysm if I can't check my email every hour.  I am taking more time for writing and less for submitting.  I started a new job that involves more writing and don't feel it is adversely effecting my own writing time, though trying to work a day and a half at the bookstore, in addition to the new full-time job, is taxing my free-time too much right now.  I've been sewing more and reading a bit unsteadily for my tastes.  I stopped bending over backwards to get to every reading, and allowing myself to stay home to write or cook if that's what I felt like.  At first I got nervous that I was getting lazy, and then I realized that this is a more sustainable pace for me.  This is just an update.   I'm always comforted when someone outlines their practice for me, even if it's nothing like my own, because it's become clear that people work in different ways.  Mine seems to be an ever-morphing schedule.  Hope you are all well.  If you want to tell me about your current writing life in the comments below, I'd love to listen.

Rejection 216

Lovely and kind Cynthia at Prick of the Spindle asked to see a long poem series thingy I was working on that's getting rejected a bunch.  Unfortunately, it doesn't have a home at her magazine, either, but she did ask to see more of my fiction.  I happily obliged.