The Hammer of Rejection: An Author's Wait

As the nut cracks...

Monday looms like a giant hammer poised to fall and crush my skull into a million screaming bits of inhumanity… Ok, maybe it’s not that bad but you get the picture. *grins*

I’m going to hear about “Ravenscar” (my short story submission) from Dreamspinner Press this week. Contracts are supposed to be sent out on Thursday. I don’t know if that means I’ll hear anything before that or not.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard something today, hence the spiked hammer hanging taut and lethal above my head (uh, yeah, sorry; another exaggeration; notice that the hammer is now spiked? This is how my mind works, people. Lol). I, of course, will let you know when I know. As of this morning’s thinking, I’m saying that I’m looking at a 75% chance of rejection… this will continue to jump as the week wears on, until finally I’ll be contemplating writing an apology letter to Dreamspinner to say sorry for wasting your time on my little piece of crap.

*sighs* Yeah, this is going to be a fun week.

Well, guys, I promised you full disclosure of this writing process. This is it. Kind of embarrassing, isn’t it?

Moving on… “Sicily,” my short story for Carina Press is gaining traction. Briggs and Damiano met each other yesterday and I, smart writer that I am, jotted down their every word. The nuances of their body language, Briggs’ initial “Wow!” feelings and Damiano’s utter gorgeousness I’ll put into flowing verse later… perhaps today, if I’m not meticulously picking squashed brain from my carpet (yeah, sorry again.)

Less than a month until the first book in my “Lion & Steed” series for Ravenous Romance is due. The detailing of Chapter One is going slowly but smoothly. The first chapter is always the excerpt Ravenous and I provide to lure readers into clicking that buy button. It’s got to be strong, so it takes longer to get just right than the rest. My touch of OCD also plays a part here. Once I bully my way through the perfection-crap in the first chapter I’m usually good to go, relatively speaking, for the rest. I’ll keep you updated on this as well.

Now, off I go to mutter “There is no hammer. There is no hammer. There is no hammer…” ad infinitum. It’s going to be a stellar, stellar day, can’t you tell?

*smiles*

Until tonight…

Chloe (“There is no hammer… There is no hammer…)