First Rejection & Snow

Of the year. And it’s fine, it’s part of the process. It’s fine. I read somewhere once that being rejected just means your story has not found a home yet.

What hurts is that in the midst of the s**t show of the last few years, I lost both my physical log and the computer log of where I had submitted which stories.

In the rejection letter they were absolutely both extremely professional and kind. Especially since I had apparently submitted that story to them in 2021.

Sigh.

So many emotions are swirling in me right now. A morass. Not because of the rejection of the story. It will find its home.

And it hit hard because I’m trying to find my footing in my new home. Most of that is working through the mental state that I arrived in. My home is still in disarray, and when I lay in bed and close my eyes I see my old room. My old life.

Friday night & Saturday morning we experienced our first snowfall that stuck. My son still calls California home. Sunday we went to lunch with my niece & her family, and I borrowed a shirt for a wedding next weekend. Wednesday I put my kid on a plane to our old home to visit– and I’m hoping he gets on the plane back 12 days later. I’m hoping he doesn’t get into trouble.

I’m also looking forward to time without him. Time to make a freaking mess of the house so I can put it together the way I want to.

My words are messy, but they are coming out. I’ve got 2 stories I’m working on because well, messy. I wrote a poem.

I talk to my bestie on the phone everyday. She’s still in Cali, and is my backup with the almost adult boy I’m sending out there. I miss her. I have family here but haven’t made friends yet. I also don’t really go anywhere– haven’t even been to the library yet. I do recognize the cashier at the Dollar General, but I’m sure I’m just another face in the day to her.

Well. This has gotten a lot more personal than I thought it would. Hope you don’t mind. My brain doesn’t feel as messy.

Until next time, my lovelies!

Things I Never Thought I’d Say

I got a KU subscription and… I like it. There’s a wide variety and no wait time like with Libby. The app glitches on me all the time, but I’m figuring that out (it puts me back, page wise, in the book so I have to find my place again. It’s workable.)

Yes, I still buy books. Ahhh, don’t tell anyone tho. But it feels good to be able to dip in and see if I like an author or not, a book or not, and return it with no hassle or financial hit. And I am finding that I’m a voracious reader lol.

Second thing… I am severely disappointed in both Net Galley and St Martin’s press. I had emailed Net Galley, asking what their position was on the whole St Martin’s press boycott going on (boycotting reviews on their titles until they address the actions of a marketing employee who has not only said atrocious things, has also picked through ARC copies as to who was approved and who wasn’t). Other people explain it more eloquently over on the Klock App. I read an ARC that comes out in January and is a St Martin’s book… And as of right now I won’t be posting anything on it. And that sucks for the author. For all authors publishing within that company. I know I’m small potatoes. That’s ok. I’ll still abide. It would have been nice to get a response from Netgalley, tho. Any response.

Since starting this, I saw an ad for that company on the Klock app and saw one of the authors was Nora Roberts. It makes me sad, so I found a reader email for her and sent an email. But as I said, I am small and she is huge. But I always thought of her as one who would stand up against that type of hatred. All the comments under that ad on the Klock app had to do with the boycott & the marketing employee.

And Booktok is weird. And I love it. First, no it is not all smut. There are accounts that are dedicated to fantasy, mystery, general fiction, sweet romance, spicy romance, all of it. It’s just that what you interact with you see more of. So if you can’t help yourself and keep commenting on genres you hate… It’s going to keep showing them to you. If you scroll on by, they’ll eventually drop off. You can find like minded people there… Even when you read a wide variety. The search bar is your friend lol.

Booktok also holds authors accountable. One just spiraled so far out of control they lost their publishing deal AFTER cover art had been released. They even had a special edition box edition signed. Gone. All because they tried to harm other authors release ng at the same time as them. I can’t imagine NOT supporting other authors. The ones I’ve met have always been so helpful and kind to a baby author like me.

So is there anything else I never thought I’d say? Well yes

Merry almost Christmas from the Midwest.

So I did the thing…

And it is out now! You can read my short story, Family Dinner, here

Or you can go this way https://iselemagazine.com/2022/12/23/family-dinner-wynelda-ann-deaver/

Isele Magazine was wonderful to work with. A huge thank you to the editors for polishing up my story so it shines!

I do hope you’ll go check them out. The stories for December center on food– and there is so much emotion that goes into it. I highly recommend Emma Raymond’s “Sustenance” (I felt the inappropriate laughter to my bones– it’s wonderful when a story shows you that you are not alone in how you cope). Meanwhile, James C Holland made me simultaneously want a squished Wonderbread sandwich and more of my mom’s friend bread (although my brother made some for Christmas breakfast and Chaz– you da bomb! It tasted like home!)

So. Lots of good reading! They have poetry & essays to.

Happy reading my lovelies!

Doing the thing

The thing where writers get….. Published. I wrote stories, have been learning how to edit my work (which is an act of love even if it feels like you’ve gone to war) and have started actually… Gasp…. Submitting stories.

It’s hard sometimes as a writer. To send out your work, into the ether. Trusting it to people unknown. Sometimes it feels like every rejection is personal. That they are rejecting us, the writer, as a person.

A few things have really helped me with that. One is Rie, and how she just takes a story and sends it back out if it gets rejected. She has done challenges where she submitted every single day for a year. It reminds me of the story in Poets magazine, where the writers colleague had buckets of rejections and 10 acceptances. Everyone was jealous on the 10 acceptances, but they didn’t have the buckets. Rie is a great writer (go find her– Rie Sheridan Rose or Rie Rose) and puts in the work. I haven’t been.

But I’ve started. 4 stories went out. Three were rejected. One found a home. I can’t wait to share that with you, as well as more of the writing journey. It’s past time for me to take control of that part of my life and find a way to share my stories.

And yes, I’ll share the details as soon as I get them .

Kiss of….

I’ve heard people say that traditional publishing is dead. That no one wants to read books any more. And then I come across something that reeks of the normal big guy publishing houses, but is in actuality from a small press that I’ve never heard of.

Kiss of Steel, by Bec McMaster. Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca.

Kiss is a genre mash-up: paranormal romance/steam punk / alt history fun. Yup, it’s a fun book. It was also nice to read a new author in the romance vein that wasn’t, well… A little more than romance.

I admit it. I’m a bit of a prude when it comes to my reading tastes. While I don’t mind sex scenes, they need to be in there for a reason other than to flip the reader’s switches. I think I was 2/3 through the book before the main character’s did anything more than kiss. That’s not to say the romance wasn’t there—but rather that the romance had more going for it than just the act.

I forget the book it was in now, but the very best sex scene I ever read almost didn’t happen. Because the heroine kept hitting the hero in the most… painful places. Not on purpose, but more because she didn’t know how to move her body. Very funny, moved the plot along nicely and in the end was very steamy (as soon as he caught her hands above her head).

What I want to know is this, though. In 2012, 11 of their titles have ended up either on the NYT or the USA Best Seller List (which is not necessarily saying that any of them hit the top ten, stil…). With so many titles of a much smaller list on the bestseller lists, it makes me think this.

They must love books.

There are some publishing houses out there that still love both books and readers. Some will chase the elusive dream of what they think will be the next best seller. Some will chase the books they love and hope the praise will follow. I like the second kind much better.

 

Hopefully, next weekend, I’ll have either a Q&A with Rie Sheridan Rose or a guest post from her. She is one of my favorite fantasy authors, and she has a new story out for Halloween. I also have the one and only title that I’ve read for the spooky season, Death of a Neighborhood Witch, to catch up on this week.

Until then, my lovelies!

Alchemist

The Alchemist of Souls, Anne Lyle. Published by Angry Robot. (Yes, the publisher name is real—ain’t it great?)

 

Buying a new author is always interesting. The last time I went to the store, I picked up two that were not only new to me, but new to publishing. Oddly enough, the publishers were new to me as well. I thought I knew most of the Fantasy publishers but apparently not. One was a total waste of time & money, and due to the rules I will not devote any more time to it here. Unless I inadvertently pick it up again and go on a rant about how new authors should NEVER be paired up with inexperienced editors.

Thankfully, I had a lot more luck with The Alchemist of Souls. Oh lord almighty, did I have more luck with this one. Set in the latter years of Queen Elizabeth the first’s reign, it is an alternate history/reality that pulls you in gradually. It didn’t pull me in by the neck from the get go, but it started out solid and only got better.

Better.

YAY!

Mal has a lot of problems. He has a twin in Bedlam, whom he can’t protect. A best friend he can’t trust. A job he doesn’t want, until he does. And way more going on over his head than he can get a handle on quickly. Set among theatres, the infamous Tower, and court, this novel takes you places. The details in the theatre and mannerisms among the troupe were riveting. As a girl with a Master’s Degree in English and more than a few semesters spent with Shakespeare, I hate it when people take on this particular era then get it wrong.

But when they get it right, as does Lyle, it is so lovely. Those details were so good, in fact, that the fantasy element (Skraylings, magic), were completely believable within the story. That takes true talent.

Now on to the publisher! Yes, I know, it is rarely advisable to take on a publisher based on one book. However! I finished Alchemist while in a doctor’s waiting room and read the back jacket copy (don’t ask why I didn’t do it to begin with, it’ll make your head hurt). Love the little sign up on top of it. Then, while flipping through the book, came across a surprise quote on the back inside cover of the book. Oh! And the ad for the other books? I love their tag line “wake eat read sleep repeat.”

They get it.

Now I just got to figure out how to get my hands on more of the same from them!

Sweet reading, my lovelies!