An important story for me was accepted by NewMyths.com, “The Warmth of Sun in Winter.” It was the first in which I consciously tried to be positive and vowed not to see someone obliterated. I’ve also found that more positive stories are more marketable. That doesn’t stop me from writing grim, dystopian ones–because I can’t help it–but my goal is to at least alternate between something grim and something a bit brighter, even if “a bit brighter” means only subtly indicating that a story happens have a apocalyptic event.

Meanwhile other stories were rejected and promptly sent elsewhere. I don’t like playing rejectomancy, though, or even publicly tracking submissions because, being very competitive, I then start rooting for the rejects. So they shall go unmentioned. The stories are good, I think. Someone will pick them up sooner or later. My average number of subs per accepted piece is 9.

What keeps me going is that I haven’t mastered even one of these, and I mentioned how competitive I am, right?