An acceptance, and another rejection

Well, what should I post first? The good news or the bad news?

Okay, good news wins. My flash fiction piece “Savages” was accepted at Panoplyzine.

The piece is an excerpt from a longer work, either a novella or a novel (depending on when and how and at what point I lose my steam) titled “Swimming Across Lake Erie.”

473_DSC_0196
Lake Erie, where I grew up. Photo credit: damselflystudio.com

And now, of course, the bad news: Calamaro doesn’t want the poems I submitted but they did spell my name correctly in the rejection letter, so big kudos to them (it seems most people want to call me Cynthia or Cinthia Richie or, worse still the double whammy, Cynthia Richie).

And just to keep things interesting, I submitted to two contests this weekend. One I don’t have a chance in hell. The other, I have the smallest and slightest chance in hell. It keeps things interesting,no? Plus gives me a reason to check my email each morning, you know, that sick fascination of seeing an email from an editor and sitting and sitting there, unsure if I should open it right away and ruin my morning with more rejection or save it for afternoon, when half of the day is gone and there’s less to ruin.

But forget about rejection. I must share this beautiful post from Maureen O’Leary’s blog. You remember Maureen, right? She wrote the YA novel How to Be Manly, which I loved (loved!) and reviewed here.

Anyway, Maureen wrote a wonderful post “I am Not Proud of You” on how pride is the opposite of shame. Read it if you have a chance, okay? It’s well worth the time.

Cheers and happy writing and reading, everyone.

 

13 thoughts on “An acceptance, and another rejection”

  1. Congratulations on the acceptance, Cinthia! What a boost. At least you got them both at the same time instead of far apart, with the rejection first. 🙂 I am about to check my emails to see if there are any responses. Ever hopeful!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. What novel, Mary? It’s languishing in New York. Don’t think the editors like it. They were expecting something light and chick-lit orientated and I sent a sad and more complex book filled with dogs and death and loss and, at the end, redemption but not an easy redemption. Anyway, hope your writing life is going better. But forget writing! It’s summer. Prime hiking and camping and running and getting-out-of-the-house time. Enjoy, okay? Big hugs, and take care.

      Like

    1. Yeah, it’s a victory in a way. Still, the rejections can wear a person down. P.S. I should start using my initials instead of my name. It looks kind of mysterious and writerly, doesn’t it? C.R. Ritchie. As if I’m so important that I can’t bother to write my full name. Anyway, cheers and have a super great week.

      Like

  6. If you get one acceptance for every rejection, that’s better than most of us! The name spelling is bewildering. It’s not like we didn’t spell it correctly on our submission. How hard is it? I expect that people will mispronounce my name, but at least spell it correctly!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Oh, I totally don’t get one acceptance for every rejection. I get waaayyy more rejections, and I mean way more. So every acceptance is a small gift. People rarely mispronounce my name, they just misspell it, lol. Cheers and pets to the dogs.

    Like

    1. Thanks, Kev! Hope you’re also keeping on keepin’ on. Though now that it’s almost summer, everything looks brighter. Or at least today, since the sun is shining. (Probably where you live, the sun shines most days. Here, it’s kind of a big deal.) Cheers and have a great week.

      Like

Leave a comment