Tag: You Suck

Random Rejectance: “Storyteller” Magazine

~ James Viscosi ~ 10 Comments

So since last week I posted a rather depressing update on my Blue Roses progress, I figured that this week, I would cheer everyone up by dipping into my vast pile of rejection letters. 😁👍

On this occasion, the Gods of Randomness told me I should look in the “S” folder of my expandable file, which, as you can imagine based on the prevalence of “S” in the English language is one of the more well-populated ones. And what should I find on top in that section but two letters from the Canadian magazine Storyteller, of which one was, as expected, a rejection, but the other was one of those rarer beasts, an acceptance. So in the interest of inducing a little mood whiplash, I scanned them both. First, let’s do the rejection:

Continue reading “Random Rejectance: “Storyteller” Magazine” →

Random Rejection: Indigenous Fiction, “Leech Field”

~ James Viscosi ~ 3 Comments

So this week, the Gods of Randomness told me to reach into my giant collection of rejection letters and pull something out of the section labeled “I”. Well, okay, they originally told me to pull something out of the section labeled “P”, but all the good stuff in the “P” section has already been done already. Could it be I’m running out of rejection letters?! Nah, there just weren’t that many magazines whose name started with “P”.

Continue reading “Random Rejection: Indigenous Fiction, “Leech Field”” →

Random Rejection: Weird Tales, “The Short Route”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I reached into my giant stack of rejection (and a few acceptance) letters, so I figured it was time to totter off to random.org and ask them what letter I should choose. They told me “V”, but I already did the only V in my pile, so I asked them for a different letter and they told me “W”. As it turns out, nearly all my “W” rejections are from Weird Tales, or, as indicated in the scan below, “Worlds of Fantasy and Horror”, which is, uh, not quite as catchy a title as Weird Tales. (The astute reader will not be surprised to learn that this temporary title change involved the legal system.)

Continue reading “Random Rejection: Weird Tales, “The Short Route”” →

Random Rejection: Zoetrope Magazine, “Silkscreen”

~ James Viscosi ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I reached into my giant stack of rejection (and a few acceptance) letters, so I decided it was about time to visit random.org and have it pick me a character to represent the name of the agent, magazine, or publisher who had rejected (or maybe accepted) a submission. When it came back with a Z, I pretty much knew that it was going to have to be a rejection from Francis Ford Coppola’s magazine Zoetrope, as I couldn’t think of any other venue starting with that letter to which I had ever submitted. Although I did find a letter in the “Z” section from one of my cousins, who had read my story “The Short Route” and sent me back a note that it should be expanded into a novel, a movie, or both. (Maybe someday, Susan!) But of course I couldn’t use a letter from a cousin for a Random Rejection, and so, Zoetrope it is!

Continue reading “Random Rejection: Zoetrope Magazine, “Silkscreen”” →

Random Rejection: Innovation

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

So having finished up Queen of the Tearling, which was about as good as the scathing reviews suggested it would be, though it was just like The Hunger Games insofar as the heroine’s name started with a “K”, and it was just like Game of Thrones insofar as … um … oh! There’s a “red” sorceress in it.

Continue reading “Random Rejection: Innovation” →

Do You Have A Partially Completed Manuscript?

~ James Viscosi ~ 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I did a Random Rejection, so this week I thought I would reach into my giant file folder of writing correspondence and pull something out of it. But instead of either a rejection or an acceptance letter, I drew this instead:

Continue reading “Do You Have A Partially Completed Manuscript?” →

Random Acceptance: Mindmares, “Rush Hour”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

Well it’s been a while since I reached into my vast trove of ancient publisher response letters, so I figured it was about time to do so again. And what did I find this time? An acceptance letter from the old ‘zine “Mindmares”, for my old story “Rush Hour”. (See, it’s not ALL rejection letters in there.) Nothing to do with Jackie Chan or Chris Tucker, this is the story of a man who is stuck in traffic, reading the paper, and failing to notice that there’s a Very Bad Thing heading his way. Whoops.

Continue reading “Random Acceptance: Mindmares, “Rush Hour”” →

Evolution

~ James Viscosi ~ 4 Comments

Yes, I’m still here! I’ve been reworking my fantasy novel Shards, AKA “The Big Book”, since mid-December. At this point I should have Part One available within a few months, to be followed (in another ten or twelve months, based on how long it has taken me to rework Part One and on the fact that Part Two is longer).

Why is it taking me so long to finish editing Shards Part One, you ask? Well, I finished Shards quite a while ago (“quite a while” being at least a decade) and when I finally went back to edit it … well, when you go back and read something that you wrote that long ago, what immediately strikes you is that it’s terrible. That’s what happens to me, anyway.

Continue reading “Evolution” →