So far this year, I have had two acceptances: “The Black Room” with Eerie River Publishing and “The Flood” with Hellbound Books. Release dates pending. Believe it or not, I consider that a satisfactory number.

Will there be a third? Quite possibly. But that depends on many factors, from writing and submitting consistently, to finding the right markets –– and not making embarrassing errors.

I just received a rejection letter from a prominent editor of a prominent magazine. Immediately, I noticed that it was not a form letter, which is usually a good thing. A great thing, actually.

My heart began preparing space for a welcome dose of scribbler pride and joy. An acceptance? A rejection with helpful tips, suggestions, and compliments?

This editor had given me a personal rejection before, so…

Nope. This was none of those things.

This editor was informing me that I had addressed them using the former editor’s name (yikes), and that I should have known better because this current editor has rejected me before (yyikes), and that it’s unwise to address an editor incorrectly (YIKES).

Oh, and that they were passing on my story.

Of course.

I had offended an editor, and I had to form a plan how to address it.

Did they read my entire cover letter? Did they even read my story? Probably not, and I wouldn’t have blamed them. Because I had gotten a couple letters from this editor, and I was aware of them.

Had you asked me about the two editors before this event, I might have said that both editors worked for the magazine together, or that publications and editors sometimes run together because submitting gets crazy and hazy.

But in this case, I had relied on my faulty memory of the previous editor and committed a gaffe that was altogether honest, rude, and costly.

Editors don’t care much about how hard the process is, because they know how hard it is, and they expect writers to know too, and to maintain focus despite it.

My reaction upon reading the letter? Shock. Shame. Embarrassment. I had left loose ends when submitting and failed to consider the business and its associates I had hopes of working with. I was guilty.

But, I also felt affronted. This editor seemed miffed, maybe even pissed off, over my honest, human mistake. They had been with this mag less than a year, after all.

Formulating a constructive response in a situation like this can be challenging. You may accept your blunder and the other person’s honest reaction to it.

But you may also feel indignant yourself, because life gets topsy-turvy and information overload is real. And maybe you read somewhere that editors often don’t read cover letters (WRONG).

But when it comes to advancing in any industry, it’s best to own your mistakes and accept other people’s human reactions to them.

Could the editor have responded differently? Maybe. But think of all the topsy-turvy, hazy, crazy shit they deal with daily.

Mountains of bad stories assaulting their eyes. Heaps of good stories they are forced to pass on for one reason or another. Many of them have their own writing to focus on too. I might have gotten pretty pissed off myself.

So, to all authors submitting out there, stay focused. Research your markets and make sure you’re properly addressing the human beings on the other end who are working their asses off just like you.

It could be the difference between a yes and a big, fat, embarrassing NO.

As submission misses pile up, I am thrilled to announce that my story “The Black Room” will debut in the next It Calls anthology from Eerie River Publishing…It Calls from the Doors. To be released in a few months.

Like the Sea and Sky and Forest, this one revolves around something we all know: doors. But unlike those other real-world features, which are grand and intimidating, doors are small and ordinary.

They are not scary in and of themselves; it’s what’s behind them that’s scary, or behind you when those doors won’t open. Doors shut when we desperately need them open. They open when we’d do anything to keep them shut.

They lure us away from the safe and easy path. They trap us. They save us from the thing on the other side, but not from our own minds.

My hope is that this next anthology, aside from scaring us, will give us a better idea what dark, terrible, vile, and magical things might be waiting beyond the doors of our normal, banal experience.

Either way, I’m stoked to be a part of this anthology. For it, I offer my own humble suggestion for what may lurk “out there” or “in here” (far beyond the “door” of our breastbones and deep within our thin skulls).

And I hope it can further us along in our effort to accept that we don’t know shit about reality, that the world is chaotic and scary and full of endless mystery, and that’s okay.

Stories are doors that offer us a thrilling way out of our personal experience, some reprieve from the “real” scares of life. But when those stories are experienced with the door to our real lives still open, they can help us confront our hard realities with more ease and wonder.

We can’t know everything, can’t control everything, can’t do everything, can’t have everything. Can’t BE everything. Nor can we know what’s behind every door. But we can loosen our hearts a little and see where life takes us, what it opens to us.

With so many doors out there, the discovery never has to end. Anything is possible. Life never gets boring. The magic and mystery never dims or fades.

The doors are all around. Some may be closed. Some may be locked. Some may be open wide. Others may present only a thin interstice of enticing light or forbidding black.

But all of them contain things to discover. And that makes life worth living.

It Calls from the Doors now available on Amazon.

The word ‘Rejection’ used to sound and feel so severe to me. It was a lurking beast, waiting for its chance to devour me. Now it’s more like a COVID vaccine, minus the aches, chills, and fever you may get the day after. Just a little pressure, a little sting. Move on more fortified.

My goal for this year is 100, or at least close to that number.

There’s some article out there detailing why it’s important to “pursue” rejection in industries where it’s inevitable, as there is one arguing against that approach, but the truth is that higher rejection rates are simply a corollary of higher submission rates (more writing!).

More rejection equals higher chances of acceptance.

I’m at 27 rejections this year, so I’m more or less on track. There are too many established and aspiring writers out there to follow, but I do follow quite a few. Based on my experience, most writers don’t openly talk about their rejections.

Sure, they say “it happens,” and “it’s hard,” but there’s always an air of distance between them and the “beast,” as if their experience of rejection were a past trait they outgrew, or an ailment they got over.

Do many writers post their rejection numbers? I don’t know, but they should.

Rejection is not like close-call, explosive diarrhea, or pretending you’re Jason Statham in front of the mirror when no one is around; it’s nothing to hide.

Why not make yourself and other creatives feel better about rejection by talking about it more?

With that said, IT CALLS FROM THE SEA from Eerie River Publishing is releasing in a couple weeks and will feature one of my stories.

Super stoked about this one. The cover evokes adventure, romance, discovery––and terror––beautifully. And I’m sure the stories do too.

Anyway, let’s keep writing and working and doing our thing the best we can. It’ll pay off, if only by making us feel more here, more alive.

My story “The Sea Reaches Up” will be part of the latest anthology from Eerie River Publishing. It’s an eerie blend of submerged sci-fi and supernatural horror. Gorgeous cover design by Francois Vaillancourt. Can’t wait to sink into this book.

Welcome to my author site. Should have made one long, long ago…or maybe I should have gotten more serious about writing/publishing long, long ago.

Or maybe procrastination paved the way, and now I’m just putting foot to pavement.

Regardless, here I am, and here you are. I will try to remain diligent and update it as much as possible with writing and publishing developments, and possibly a weird thought or two.

The website still has a way to go, but we will try to make it as tacky and tasteless as possible.

As for writing, I’ve got several short stories either under consideration or being prepared for submission.

I’m about 20k words into my latest novel––a sci-fi/horror adventure. My first novel is still patiently waiting to find a home.

We shall see what 2021 has in store for us. Happy reading and writing and living, folks.