Rejections and kudos all in the same month

March certainly held true to the saying that it comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb, at least for my writing. The month started with a big disappointment, specifically that I got a rejection notice from my publisher about my latest novel submission. It was a real blow after what I thought would be a slam-dunk of a submission. It was (as objectively assessed as it can be) my best written novel to date. The manuscript had gone to a professional editor that resulted in substantial improvements to the story structure. I was a known quantity at my publisher. However, since it is a unique small press with (intentionally) high turnover, the new crop of acquisitions editors did not find my high fantasy novel compelling enough to pick up. The door isn’t shut forever, there’s another open submission window in February 2027, but for this manuscript I’m going to look elsewhere.

So, I mentally prepared myself and got back into the query trenches. I began looking for reputable small presses that accept unagented submissions for fantasy novels. After doing several weeks of research and vetting, I had the list down to only about a half dozen small presses. There are so many vanity and hybrid publishers just looking to take your money, and they are getting better at hiding that fact, so it took a while to figure out who was legit and who was not. I’ve got three queries out right now, but it won’t be until early summer that I get responses (or mark them as CNR).

To take the sting out of being rejected and feel like I was doing something more productive than waiting for another press to look at my query, I decided to start early in outlining the concluding book to Thorne’s story. As I’ve mentioned on a few author interview podcasts, this is the part of the writing process that I like the best. Starting with a handful of ideas and then continually asking “What if?” I get to see where a bunch of different paths go. I’m very close to having my v0 outline complete, but I think it will be at least another week or so before I am in a good place and call it done and start drafting in earnest. I had intentions of doing all this in early summer, but have no problems with cutting my writing break short.

The month ended with an unexpected recommendation for the short story I wrote as part of the Shapers of World volume V anthology. Tangent Online, a popular fanzine for SFF short fiction put out their 2025 year in review suggested reading, and my short story Magic That Cannot Be Undone, was given a one-star endorsement. While that does not sound good at first, the scale was from 0-3 stars, with 0 stars being recommended stories and 3 stars being the highest grade. I’m very happy with making the second rank, but to be honest any acknowledgement would have been great. I know that writers are not supposed seek external validation, but it still feels nice when you get it, especially when it is unexpected.

Since I’m starting to write the next book earlier that I thought, it means that video game playing is going to get dialed way back. I’m only about halfway done with Legend of Dragoon on the PS1, and I took a detour and took a detour to also play Resident Evil 3 (also PS1). I’m having a good time with both, but they will get shelved very soon as my writing activity ramps up.

Thanks for stopping by.