Susan Forest

Yes, I think the universe conspired to ensure that I would NEVER want to go back on my decision to retire from the day job. So, as much as I enjoyed it, leaving it behind feels very much like Heaven, right now. I revised a flash fiction this week and am getting it critted right now for submission to an anthology next week, and have just come up with an idea for a short story, which is a good thing, because I have a deadline for a short story workshop coming up in 3 weeks. Also, I was asked to judge the Robin Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest again this year, so got a start on reading stories for that. Then, there is the novella revision and submission, and the novel to have done by the end of summer . . . September? Lots to do!

Okay, this one is non-fiction, and not speculative, but I still feel good about it — and I’ll still get paid! A friend who edits for Legacy Magazine said they were looking for essays about the province in Canada where I live — Alberta. At first, I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it because I don’t really write non-fiction. But there IS a place that means a lot to me because it reminds me of my father, who passed away five years ago. So it actually wasn’t hard to write the piece.

I wrote the essay Thursday and submitted a proposal. Based on my past sales, the publisher asked to see the piece so I did one final revision, had it beta-ed, and sent it in — still the same day. The next morning (Friday) I got a call from the publisher, buying it! Boy, was that fast! But she said the piece fit well with the intent of the column, and it will likely come out in October! Yay!

So, Friday, I finished my agent query letter and showed it to my daughter, Heather, who is an incredible writer in her own right. She made a funny face, typed furiously and hit “send” on her email. I walked across the room, opened my email and read her version. To die for. (How does she DO that?!!)

Of course it contained a few blanks, so I tweaked it a little, then sent both versions to five friends who make up the current membership of the Kensington Writers’ Group. Went away for Thanksgiving and came back two days later to 5 crits and lots of supportive comments. Wow! Quick turn around!

So, along with my sister (she’s not a writer, but she reads fantasy) — who pointed out where I needed to really connected plot-dots for someone unfamiliar with the book — I got some great ways to pare back the wordage to the elements that really needed to be included. In addition, I got advice to make the whole letter more professional and more “punchy.” Thanks guys!

So, with their support — and the irreplaceable support of Rob Sawyer — the letter is in the mail. Wish me luck!

Perusing my favorites today, a friend passed on the following link:

I have friends who don’t write, who are invariably amused when I brag, “I got an excellent rejection letter!” People who don’t write don’t realize, I think, how hard we work for a personalized rejection, and what it can mean: the editor actually read the submission and liked it enough to take their time to be encouraging. In this competitive business, that is really awesome. And, as in my first sale to Asimov’s, an initial rejection can lead to a sale.

So, I’ve been yakking about science fiction writing, and didn’t mention that I belong to more than one writers’ group. Kensington Writers Group is a non-genre group that is quite small, but highly successful, and includes not only writers of genre, novels and short stories, but YA, non-fiction and poetry as well. As much as I value my connection to IFWA and the expertise they possess in SF, I have learned a lot about writing by working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.

One member of my group, Jan Markley, has just received a very positive rejection from a Canadian publisher for her YA novel, “Dead Frogs on the Porch.” The editor wrote her almost a page of critique, praising the novel on a number of levels and suggesting Jan look at just a little tension-tightening (and who can’t benefit from that?). She’s doing re-writes for another submission and we’re all on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what happens (okay, we may be on the edge of our seats for a few months)!! Jan’s novel is funny, gripping, unique, and has great characters with distinctive voices. I would not be surprised if she doesn’t wind up with a sale on her hands.

Susan

I have a sweet little horror story called, “Director’s Cut.” I thought Brutarian might be the market for this one, so I sent it off last week. Wish me luck!