Rejection and Submission

I know I always seem to mixing the bad with the good. Today I received an email about "Bella's Battle." It was rejected for the Skulls and Crossbones anthology. Here is what was said:

Greetings, Ms. Reich--
Many thanks for submitting your story, "Bella's Battle" for consideration in this anthology. Unfortunately, we have decided not to include this piece in this volume. We received over 70 submissions, and as pleased as we were about that, we nevertheless had to make difficult choices. In addition to focusing on women pirates as either main characters or focus of the story, we were aiming for a wide range of pirating, in various settings and interpretations of piracy, and we were unable to include all the stories we wish we could have.
Although we found the premise of "Bella's Battle" intriguing, we would have liked to see more emphasis on Isabella's decision to becomea pirate. Certainly, a sibling at sea can be a powerful motivator, but she hadn't seen Juan Pedro in awhile and more background into the relationship the two of them had before he was "lost at sea" would have strengthened that element of your story. That said, we hope thatyou will consider us as a possible venue for your work should we be granted an opportunity to do another anthology of pirate stories.
Many thanks again and good luck to you with future endeavors, authorial and otherwise.
Best wishes,
Andi Marquette and R. G. Emanuelle
--
Mindancer Press can be found here:
http://bedazzledink.com/?page_id=35

I do believe that the story needed more information to fully work, but I was working with a 7,000 word limit, and the story was very close to it. They were very kind though, and I definitely would keep them in mind for the future, if they were to do another pirating anthology down the line. As for "Bella's Battle," I would actually like to expand it when I have time and add all they mentioned. I could easily see the story branching out into 20,000-30,000 words, so sometime down the line, I'll have to go back to it and continue writing.

In other news, I submitted "Hounded" today to The Beast Within 2: The Beast Unleashed anthology. They have a two-three week response time, so I should know something about the story fairly soon. I really do hope it has a chance and it is what they are looking for.

I also should hear back from the All About Eve anthology in the next couple of days. If I don't hear back from them by October 1, then I'll have to email them and see what is going on.

I did hear back from Wild Child Publishing about "Once Upon a December Nightmare." It was just an email to inform me that the submissions editor now has my story, and it'll take another six-eight weeks before I hear back on it. *sighs*

In other writing news, I plan to submit a story to Mertales. My lovely author friend, Aubrie, told me about it, and she recently had her story accepted to it. I hope to find time this week to write the story that is currently titled "Neptune's Treasure."

I must admit that it is sometimes a little frustrating to get all these rejections. They aren't rejecting my writing skills though. None of them had said that I'm a terrible writer or that I should never submit again or anything like that. I just haven't found the right audience for my stories yet. I'm not going to give up, but it is frustrating at times to have a perfectly good story but to hear that it isn't just quite right for them. Oh, well. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the things I have out there now. *crosses fingers*

"Hounded"

I finished writing "Hounded" today. It is a mystery/were-creature short story that I have written for the anthology The Beast Within 2: Beast Unleashed. Here is what it is about:

Toby Hound is not only a private investigator, but he is also a were-hound. When the lovely and mysterious Catherine "Cat" Reynolds comes to his office, Toby is intrigued. The woman is certain her sister is missing, and Toby believes that she may be on to something when he discovers that four other women are also missing from the area in the past three months. His investigation takes him to a bar called the Wolf's Den that is run by a werewolf. Amanda "Kitten" Reynolds scent is there, and Toby knows that he is on the right trail. When Cat comes into the picture and screws up the investigation by being taken herself, Toby must race against time and the full moon to find Cat and Kitten before it is too late.

"Hounded" is 4,741 words long, which is good, since the anthology is calling for stories from 2,000-5,000 words. "Hounded" is now with my critique buddies, so when I hear back from them and make changes, then I'll be ready to submit it.

In other news, I didn't get anything else accomplished today. I do plan to work on Moonlight Murders this week, if I get a chance.