Rejection 207

Guess I'll go and eat some worms.

The Emerson Review has now rejected the second submission I sent them, after they asked me to send something.  I guess the stuff I’m sending them isn’t as ‘oil slick glow stick,” or whatever, as the things of mine they read in other magazines.

Really, it’s that no one seems to like my poetry.  Gar.  Ima write a poem bout how sad this makes me.

Franny the Bookstore Cat

Check it.  Literago has a new columnist and she’s a bookstore cat.  No word on who’s hiding their own identity/ job security behind this friendly feline. Wink.

Residency Rejection

A makeover might be in order, no?

I’m getting a little concerned that I might not line up a residency for the next year, and I really think they help me focus and get work done.  Ucross has rejected me.  Perhaps, if this is the case, I will drive to a different city and squat in an abandoned building for a couple weeks next fall.  Basically the same thing, right?

Rejection 206

I love me some diagrams, you know.

Or perhaps these are rejections 206 through 210, as I received a rejection for each poem.  I wonder if this makes it easier for Bateau to accept and reject or if it’s more work and the readers scowl at the process.

Front Porch Issue 12

Gah.   Apparently, at some moment in time, Front Porch posted their new issue without telling me.

Anyways, I have now read that issue and can only say the nicest things about new fiction from Sara Reish Desmond and Mickey Hess, and new poetry from  Mike Smith, Kim Groninga,  Dan Pinkerton and me, nonfiction from Kerry Muir. And those are just some highlights.  Jeez.  So much to find here.

Sorry for the delay.

Rejection 205

This is good, but it's not what I ordered.

The Emerson Review says that I clearly know what I’m doing, but asked to see something a bit more straightforward.

I liked this rejection.  It feels like they said, “This was weird, and we trust you it’s good, but we don’t like it.  Send us something we’ll like.”

Will do, Doug Paul Case.

Rejection 204

I like this one.

Am I failing better?  Who knows?

I am indeed failing again though.  Failbetter dun’t want my poems.

They’re such good ones! For real.  I’ve been sending out this batch for almost a year.  I think they’re the best ones.  I feel the same about a story that’s been in rotation since June.  This is interesting.  The things I like best, no one else likes. I’m not really frustrated.  I’m a little surprised, but really I’m just curious.

Hrm.

Rejection? Encouragement? I don’t know. But it helped me a lot.

Know who’s the best?  Ellen Parker at Frigg.

Rejection Post Withdrawal and a Check-In

I'm over the check-in. I'm all about the e-ticket.

The Pinch doesn’t want a story I already told them they can’t have.

The Emerson Review sent me a note saying the submission I made a month ago would be read in the next few weeks. To which I say what I always say to those notes: spend your time reading submissions, not telling me you’re gonna read my submission.  I’m kinda grown-up.  I’ve waited over a year for a response.  This is nothin.

Chicago’s New Literary Community Panel Discussion

Today, Wednesday, November 11th at 4:30 PM, a bunch of people from Chicago who write are going to rehash the things we talk about all the time, but this time in front of people.

Join F newsmagazine and the School of the Art Institute’s MFA Writing Dept for round table discussion about Chicago’s burgeoning new literary community, featuring novelist Kyle Beachy, playwright Chris Bower, blogger Jac Jemc, Associate editor of the Journal of Ordinary Thought and Assistant Director of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance Mairead Case, Quickies!founder Lindsay Hunter and Featherproof Books founder Zach Dodson, and moderated by MFAW Department head Sara Levine. The School of the Art Institute Chicago, The Sullivan Gallery, 33 S.State, 7th Floor, November 11 from 4:30-6pm FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC