Acceptance

I had a story long-listed for the 2015 Short Fiction Award last month. The short list has, unfortunately, erased proof of my heroism as I didn’t make it to the final six, but I’m so happy to have been chosen from the initial round of more than 650 entries. Baby steps. Frankly, getting any kind of result from this year’s output is fine. I feel safe in chalking it up as a win.

Motivation isn’t a problem for me at the moment. Getting stuff done feels light. The need to strengthen some basic skills has been nagging for a while, so I’ve committed to some long-term college training, and I’m working on another short story, potentially the last of the year, to sub to various lit mags later this month. I’ve started preliminary work on my next novel (the reason for holding back on too much more short fiction in 2015), and I may finally have a lead on a professional mentor. Nothing’s certain yet, but I’m crossing everything. This could be amazing for me.

I’m also involved in another writing project I can’t talk about right now, but, from a personal perspective at least, it has the potential to be hugely exciting. More on that soon.

Everything’s up! It’s brilliant how even the slightest element of acceptance can buoy a writer, and equally unbrilliant how endless rejection can flatten one. The solution’s simple: write more. Write more write more write more. The more you write, the better your chances of success. Have to run. Writing.