Rejection 152

I wish I had a snake hat.

I got a nice little form letter from the kind people at Birkensnake.

Stegner Rejection

It's not like I'm surprised that Stanford doesn't want to pay me to write there for 2 years.  I wasn't going to apply because the deadline snuck up on me and I figured it was pretty much the slimmest chance that ever was anyway, but then they extended the deadline, and I'm a sucker for interpreting coincidences like that as some powerful work of fate.

Here's what does bother me a little: I got an email rejection.  How much money did I send them as an application fee? $50 I think.  Send me a little souvenir piece of paper of my youthful folly.  Then I can put it into the Ruth Bader Ginsburg folder where I keep all of my other rejections, including last year's Stegner rejection which at least featured a photocopy of Eavan Boland's signature.

Rejection 151

Harp & Altar has rejected another batch of my poems with a form rejection.

At the feet of Joanna Newsom and Abraham, the respective gods of the harp and altar, I place my humility.

Residency Rejection

"Repetitious things I've done one million times," - If you know what song that line is from, I will mail you a dollar. No cheating.

Know what?  Of course, I'd love to go to Yaddo, but really I just like saying "Yaddo" aloud and I imagine if I got to go there I would get to say it a lot more.

Duh, Red Rover Red Rover Yaddo doesn't want to bring little old me over.

Today, in the bookstore, Audrey Niffenegger stopped in to shop and she is the nicest and she told us Yaddo invited her over for part of the summer and how she was just going to read the whole time.

I haven't written a book that sold millions of copies like her, though, so then when I saw the letter in my mailbox turning me down last night, I didn't feel so bad.  Except that I would have no reason to say "Yaddo" aloud in sentences instead of repeating it under my breath.

"...yaddoyaddoyaddoyaddoyaddoyaddoyaddoyaddoyaddo..."

55's at Fiction at Work

Fiction at Work has published the 55-worders from October's Quickies Fundraiser. Check out work from Steve Tartaglione, Christ Bower, Lex Sonne, Colt Foutz, Lauren Pretnar, Nicolette Bond, Ben Tanzer, Zach Dodson, Amy Guth, Spencer Dew, Melanie Datz, Mary Hamilton and myself.

Check it.

Review Up at Crystal Gavel

My experiences with the Godinger Crystal Gavel are carefully chronicled at Amazon. This project his hilarious and amazing.  I think my contribution might possible be a weak link, but that is the beauty of the Amazon Review.  No rejections. (Unless you are really profane?)

Rejection 150

Here's a nice round number for you: 150. I think I deserve a beer or something.

The Laurel Review sent me a little piece of paper folded around my cover letter.  It's a Dear Author note with no signature.  Yet the final sentence says, "we are interested in seeing more of your work."  Mixed signals, no?

I was thinking that if this blog had a theme album, it would be "Good News for People Who Love Bad News."  Get it?

Rejection 149

You know it.

Juked sent me a note saying the story I'd sent wasn't quite what they were looking for right now, but that I should send more work.

Apparently, John said my name came up a bunch at AWP, which is pretty cool to hear, but hard to imagine.  I wish I was not the shy-est and had gone up to him after the online presence panel and told him how awesome I thought it was that he mispronounced his own name and then corrected himself.  Sounds like something I would do. 

Nonetheless, this wins Rejection of the Week.

Rejection 148

Failbetter sent me a rejection for a story I'm not quite sure what to do with, so why did I think they would know what to do with it?

Residency Rejection

Jentel decided not to invite me to go to Wyoming and write, sadly.  I thought it sounded pretty ideal to go out into the Wyoming wilderness and put some pen to paper.  Apparently though, since people aren't working right now, they're all applying for writing residencies.  Boo.  I'd heard this was a really good one.

They did at least say that my work was rated 'quite favorably,' so there is hope.