Last June, while my wife and girls were out of town, I wrote a story for the Writers of the Future contest in a two-week frenzy and sent it off without any beta readers. The contest draws 10,000+ entries quarterly, so competition is fierce—I'd never placed before, despite repeated attempts.
That story earned an honorable mention, my second of three so far. Nice encouragement along the writer's journey.
After uniform rejections from Clarkesworld and Asimov's, the story sat in my trunk for months. Earlier this year, I spotted an open call that seemed perfect for it. I trimmed 1,500 words and submitted.
The editor liked it and asked to include it in their upcoming anthology. I agreed.
Publishing moves at treacle pace, and things can happen, so I smiled, waited, and sat on the news. Until now—because the book is up for Kindle preorder on Amazon, which means I can finally say…
Thank you for the laugh, Gen X’rs.
Mistcreek Tales releases as a Kindle exclusive on August 4th! If you've ever wondered what happens when a magical sapling gets delivered to the wrong address, pick it up and check out Elda Plants the Slice Maple. Available for preorder now!