Mary Soon Lee's Mailbox Blues for 2003-2004
This page contains Mary Soon Lee's
2003-2004 mailbox mutterings. For more recent news see
the latest Mailbox Blues.
20 December 2004: Main Street Rag
Today I received an acceptance of my poem "Screwups" from
Main Street Rag
:-) I also spent four hours at the
Children's Museum with William and Lucy :-)
15 December 2004: Ship of Fools
I see it is almost a month since I last updated this page, and,
coincindentally, the same publication -- Ship of Fools --
accepted another poem from me, this one titled "I Will Not."
Meanwhile William has one more day of school before Christmas break
starts, Lucy is now three months old, and I have a stack of poems
waiting for me to get around to mailing them somewhere...
17 November 2004: Ship of Fools
I forgot to mention that Ship of Fools published two of
my poems earlier this month; the titles of the poems were
"To a Raspberry Plant, Deceased" and "After the Party."
8 November 2004: Main Street Rag
Main Street Rag
accepted my poem "Remnants" :-) They have
previously published two other poems of mine.
3 November 2004: Election
Lucy continues to be both enchanting and tiring, and, evidently, I am
doing a poor job of keeping up with this page, but I did want to note
that yesterday I voted in a US Presidential election for my first
time. Lucy and William both accompanied me to our polling station,
which is a wonderful one for children, since it is in a fire station.
8 October 2004: Danish publication
I have been neglecting this page and spending most of my time with
Lucy and William, but I did recently receive a copy of the Danish
fanzine Science Fiction, which contains a translation of my
story "Ebb Tide." This is the first time my fiction has been
translated into Danish :-)
22 September 2004: Lucy Mairead Lee-Moore :-) :-)
Just wanted to announce the birth, 9 days ago on 13 September 2004, of
my daughter Lucy Mairead Lee-Moore :-) The picture shows her being
held by her brother William.
11 September 2004: Mad Poets Review
I received an acceptance letter from Mad Poets Review for my
poem "On Leaving," which first appeared in St. Anthony
Messenger :-)
7 September 2004: mail summary
As well as a couple more poetry rejections, since my last update I
received payment from On Spec for the poem they accepted
last month.
26 August 2004: Ship of Fools :-)
Ship of Fools accepted two of my poems, "After the Party"
and "To a Raspberry Plant, Deceased."
23 August 2004: mail
Assorted poetry rejections continue to trickle in. Meanwhile
the birth of my second child gets ever closer -- she will be born
sometime in the next three weeks!
14 August 2004: Fictionwise
I received a royalty check from Fictionwise, as well
as a poetry rejection from Pennsylvania English.
9 August 2004: Bli Panika, On Spec
Today was a busy mail/e-mail day: I received email saying my
story "The Turtle God" has been reprinted -- in Hebrew! -- in
Bli Panika; I received contracts for my recent poetry
sale to On Spec; and I received 3 poetry rejections.
3 August 2004: MOTA 4
I received one hundred dollars payment for my story "Sarai," which has
just been published in MOTA 4: Integrity :-)
29 July 2004: On Spec, Funny Paper
I am finally catching up on my mail after a (fun) vacation.
In my absence On Spec accepted my science fiction poem,
"Future Poetry," and I received payment from The Funny
Paper for the poem they published earlier in the month,
plus I had several poetry rejections.
15 July 2004: Atlanta Review
A friendly 28-day poetry rejection from Atlanta Review.
9 July 2004: The Funny Paper :-)
I received an acceptance and contributor's copy of The Funny Paper
#74, containing my poem "After Nineteen Years Together" :-) I also
received a poetry rejection from The Kit-Cat Review.
8 July 2004: Ship of Fools :-)
I received a contributor's copy of the Fall 2004 issue of Ship
of Fools containing my poems "Desiderata" and "Ode to a Dishwasher."
This is the third issue of Ship of Fools in which I've appeared :-)
Also in the mail, a poetry rejection from Virginia Quarterly Review.
2 July 2004: Louisville Review and Mid-American Review
After eleven months, I received a poetry rejection from Louisville
Review. In contrast, I received a poetry rejection with an
encouraging and friendly note from Mid-American Review in
just 17 days.
1 July 2004: Year's Best Fantasy #4 :-)
My story "Shen's Daughter" has just been reprinted in The
Year's Best Fantasy #4, edited by David Hartwell and
Kathryn Cramer :-) :-) The anthology also contains stories
by Octavia Butler, Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, Michael Swanwick,
Gene Wolfe, and many others.
29 Jun 2004: Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine :-)
Since my last update, I received a contributor's copy of Futures
Mysterious Anthology Magazine #35, containing four of my science
fiction poems, plus a poetry rejection from The Journal.
25 Jun 2004: America :-)
I received an unexpected email from Paul Mariani of America,
requesting permission to print my poem "Silk Road." I had entered
the poem in the Foley Poetry Contest earlier this year,
and knew that I hadn't won, but apparently they liked the poem
well enough to wish to publish it. I believe this will
be the most I've been paid for one of my poems ($100).... I
also received a story rejection from Third Alternative.
22 Jun 2004: Lilliput Review + Poetry
A very friendly rejection from Lilliput Review came today,
and yesterday I received a rejection from Poetry Magazine,
which I had decided to try again after a year and a half of
not submitting there (it being an ultra-ambitious market).
14 Jun 2004: LIGHT + Spinning Jenny
After a week with no writing-related mail, two poetry rejections: one
from LIGHT after 7 months, and one from Spinning Jenny
after seven weeks. I also finally withdrew a submission that I made
to The Plastic Tower back in March 2003, having queried in
February and not having received a response to my query.
7 Jun 2004: Open Cut :-)
I received contributor's copies of Open Cut, a
broadside put out by Iodine, containing my poem "Children's Classic."
5 Jun 2004: On Spec
A 229-day rejection of a genre short story from On Spec...
4 Jun 2004: Ship of Fools :-)
After a week with no responses, how nice to receive a note from
Ship of Fools accepting two poems: "Desiderata" and "Ode
to a Dishwasher" :-) I also received a 148-day poetry rejection
from Gulf Coast.
28 May 2004: Paper Street
A friendly poetry rejection came from Paper Street.
26 May 2004: Star*Line + PPG :-)
A good mail day: I received payment from the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette for my poem "Our Mother," and an email acceptance
from Star*Line of my poem "Divorce in Faery."
20 May 2004: Fictionwise
I received a small royalty check from Fictionwise, as well
as poetry rejections from Barrow Street, Meridian,
and Magazine of Speculative Poetry.
19 May 2004: Danish fanzine
My story "Ebb Tide" will be reprinted in the Summer issue of a
Danish fanzine, which will be the seventh language that the story
has appeared in :-)
18 May 2004: Third Alternative + turnrow
I had a science fiction story rejected by The Third Alternative
and also a poetry rejection from turnrow.
11 May 2004: Buffalo News
I received a very courteous reply from Buffalo News in response
to a query about a submission sent at the end of October (verdict:
their original reply was probably lost in the mail).
8 May 2004: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
My poem "Our Mother" was reprinted in the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, and I also received rejections from FIELD and
Pavement Saw.
7 May 2004: Choice Cuts reading
I will be one of the readers at the Choice Cuts reading series on
the evening of Friday May 21st :-)
3 May 2004: 5AM, Agni, Cimarron Review
Some days the mail is good; some days, such as today, it is definitely
not: I received poetry rejections from 5AM, Agni, and
Cimarron Review.
30 April 2004: Lake Effect
An 88-day poetry rejection from Lake Effect.
29 April 2004: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette accepted my poem "Our Mother,"
first published in The Funny Paper, for their May 8th issue :-)
This will be my fourth appearance in this newspaper.
26 April 2004: ultrasound + Capper's
I had a prenatal ultrasound today and the baby-to-be looks
healthy :-) I also received my tear-sheet from Capper's, who
published my poem "Climber."
22 April 2004: Year's Best + birthday
Today is William's fifth birthday :-) He seems to be having a
fine day, and is now taking a late nap. It was a busy mail
day, with payment coming from the Year's Best Fantasy #4
for my story "Shen's Daughter," plus prompt and friendly
rejections from Atlanta Review and Boston Review.
19 April 2004: 411 days
A friendly, but glacially-paced, 411-day poetry rejection came
from Kalliope. A few days earlier I received a story
rejection from Analog after a much more moderate wait
of 50 days.
9 April 2004: Ship of Fools
I received my contributor's copy of the Spring 2004 issue of
Ship of Fools, containing my poem "Obsessive" :-) This
is my second poem to appear in this magazine.
7 April 2004: Pregnant
I think it's about time to report here that I am pregnant with
our second child, due date September 19th :-) On the writing
front, I received a nice poetry rejection note from Bogg
today.
29 March 2004: Main Street Rag
I received my contributor's copy of
Main Street Rag,
Spring 2004, containing my poems "After Cleaning Windows" and "Life
Without Makeup" :-) Also in the mail, a poetry rejection
from Iodine Poetry Journal.
27 March 2004: Whiskey Island
A nice poetry rejection came from Whiskey Island Magazine.
22 March 2004: St. Anthony Messenger
A busy mail-day: payment came from St. Anthony Messenger
for the poem they accepted earlier this month, and I also received
rejections from Ploughshares and Tin House.
17 March 2004: American Scholar :-)
I received contributor's copies of American Scholar, Spring
2004, containing my poem "China: Ancient Technology Exhibition" :-) :-)
10 March 2004: Two rejections
I received poetry rejections from The Gettysburg Review
and West Branch.
8 March 2004: Trained Monkey Press :-)
Unexpectedly, I received copies of Trained Monkey Press Broadside
#22, containing my poems "Couple" and "Dating Rules" :-) I had
submitted the poems in December, but hadn't realized they were
going to be published.
6 March 2004: St. Anthony Messenger :-)
A busy mail-day: St. Anthony Messenger accepted my poem
"Naturalization Oath Ceremony: March 21, 2003," and I also
had poetry rejections from Boulevard and One Trick Pony.
4 March 2004: Tales of the Unanticipated :-)
Tales of the Unanticipated have accepted my science
fiction story "Luna Beat" :-)
26 February 2004: Iodine Poetry Journal :-)
I received my contributor's copy of the Spring/Summer 2004 issue
of Iodine Poetry Journal, containing my poem "Signs and
Portents" :-) And I also received a science fiction poetry
rejection from Full Unit Hookup.
23 February 2004: American Scholar :-)
I received the proofs from American Scholar for my poem
"China: Ancient Technology Exhibition," which is scheduled
for their Spring issue :-) I also received a friendly
story rejection from Third Alternative.
22 February 2004: Futurismic
I received a story rejection from Futurismic but my second
submission to them is in their second-read pile, and I also received an
encouraging poetry rejection from New Criterion.
21 February 2004: Year's Best Fantasy #4 :-) :-)
David Hartwell emailed me with an offer to reprint my story
"Shen's Daughter" (from Sword and Sorceress XX) in
the Year's Best Fantasy #4 :-) Needless to say, I
am delighted.
In lesser news, I received a small royalty check from
Fictionwise, plus a poetry rejection from Mid-American
Review, and I finally got around to querying some stories
and poems that have been languishing for up to a year.
18 February 2004: Pif :-)
Two of my poems,
"Guarantees" and
"In Between", have been published by Pif Magazine.
17 February 2004: mail update
I am doing a poor job of keeping this page current, but have
so far received four rejections in February and, more happily,
the signed contract and payment from American Scholar
for my forthcoming poem "China: Ancient Technology Exhibition."
An addendum to the above from today's mail: Ship of Fools
has accepted my poem "Obsessive" :-)
29 January 2004: Cimarron Review
A 237-day poetry rejection from Cimarron Review with no
rejection slip or note of any kind....
26 January 2004: mail update
Despite my failure to update this page recently, rejections continue
to arrive. Over the past 17 days, I have had short stories rejected
by Zoetrope and Arabella, and poems returned by
turnrow, Yale Review, and the Virginia Quarterly,
with response times varying from 82 days (Yale Review) to 175
days (Arabella)....
9 January 2004: Asimov's + Pudding
A 71-day genre poetry rejection from Asimov's, plus a
6-day mainstream poetry rejection from Pudding.
7 January 2004: Lilliput Review
A friendly poetry rejection from Lilliput Review.
2 January 2004: American Scholar
A busy mail-day, in which I received the contract for my recent
poetry sale to American Scholar, as well as rejections
of a fantasy story by Black Gate and of poems by
Pennsylvania English.
1 January 2004: Happy New Year
Happy New Year! Looking back at my records for 2003, I see that I had
38 acceptances, most of them for mainstream poems, including a recent
poetry sale to American Scholar. I also had my first
appearance in Analog with my short story "Coming of Age," my
first appearance in The Third Alternative with my story
"Immigrants," and my third appearance in the Sword and
Sorceress anthology series with my fantasy story "Shen's
Daughter," plus 26 other publications. And I achieved my goal of
writing 200 poems (201 indeed), although some of those poems will
never see the dark of an envelope....
31 December 2003: Space and Time
A 19-day science fiction poetry rejection from Space and Time
closes out the year....
26 December 2003: American Poetry Review
Just as I was thinking there'd be no more replies until 2004,
a 97-day poetry rejection arrived from American Poetry Review....
20 December 2003: Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Pirate Writings :-)
5 publications in one day! I received my contributor's copies of
the Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Autumn 2003, containing
four of my poems, and of The 2nd Coming, The Best of Pirate
Writings Volume 2, containing a reprint of my story "One
Small Step" :-)
19 December 2003: Spider
A 36-day poetry rejection from Spider, my first time trying
this children's magazine.
16 December 2003: Journal
A 75-day poetry rejection came today from Journal, and
yesterday I had a 21-day poetry rejection from Threepenny
Review.
9 December 2003: American Scholar :-)
I am very happy indeed that American Scholar has accepted
a poem of mine titled "China: Ancient Technology Exhibition."
8 December 2003: Ship of Fools :-)
I received my contributor's copy of Ship of Fools, Fall 2003,
containing my poem "On Lying" :-) I also received poetry rejections
from Indiana Review and Cricket.
1 December 2003: Dark Regions :-)
I received a royalty check from Dark Regions today for my
collection
Ebb Tides and Other Tales :-) While not a vast sum, it is my
largest payment so far for 2003.
28 November 2003: Mid-American Review
After a very happy Thanksgiving, today I had an encouraging poetry
rejection from Mid-American Review.
20 November 2003: Crab Orchard, Bogg
In the past couple of days, I received poetry rejections from
Crab Orchard Review and Bogg.
17 November 2003 - later: MOTA 4 :-)
My short story "Sarai" has been accepted for the anthology MOTA 4: Integrity :-)
I also received quarterly royalties from Fictionwise and had a
76-day poetry rejection from Gulf Coast.
17 November 2003: Bli Panika :-)
The editor of Bli Panika, an online Israeli fanzine,
requested permission to translate and reprint my fantasy story "The
Turtle God" :-) I believe this will be the ninth language in which
I've been published.
15 November 2003: Field, Pudding
Two recent poetry rejections to report, one from FIELD
and the other from Pudding Magazine.
11 November 2003: Pif :-)
Two of my poems, "In Between" and "Guarantees," have been accepted
for the next issue of Pif :-)
8 November 2003: Uncle Andy's Digest
Alas, the poetry corner in Uncle Andy's Digest is ceasing, so
three of my poems accepted in September will not, after all, be
appearing there. And in a setback on the non-writing front, our
furnace had to be replaced :-(
3 November 2003: Capper's :-)
Accompanied by three poetry rejections -- including a 150-day
one from North American Review -- I received an acceptance
and a check from Capper's for my poem "Climber" :-)
26 October 2003: Trained Monkey Press
An 89-day poetry rejection from Trained Monkey Press.
24 October 2003: St. Anthony Messenger :-)
I received my contributor's copies of the November issue of
St. Anthony Messenger, a Catholic magazine, containing my poem
"On Leaving" :-) I think this is the highest-circulation publication
I've appeared in, although possibly the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
is higher.
23 October 2003: Pulp
The six poems that appeared in Pulp turn out to have also been put
on their website. (The poems start after the book review.)
In non-writing news, William has had two recent milestones: yesterday
he turned four-and-a-half, and today he had his first filling at a new
and much more child-friendly dentist. His previous dentist spotted
three cavities over a year ago, but this is the first one to be
tackled. William clearly didn't relish the experience, but behaved
well. Afterwards we went to a toy store for him to select a
reward for being good. He passed up boxes of Lego, additions to train
sets, and many cars for a toy broom! Everything, even our bed, has
already been swept :-)
18 October 2003: Argosy
A friendly 71-day rejection of a science fiction story from
Argosy - my first short story reply in over a month!
17 October 2003: Blind Man's Rainbow :-)
I received my contributor's copy of the Autumn 2003 issue of Blind
Man's Rainbow, containing my poems "A Child's Seasons" and "Three"
:-)
16 October 2003: Pulp :-)
Six of my mainstream poems were published today in Pulp, a weekly
Pittsburgh magazine :-) This is the most poems I've had appear at one
time :-)
15 October 2003: One Trick Pony, Antioch Review
In the past couple of days, I've received mainstream poetry
rejections from One Trick Pony and the Antioch
Review.
9 October 2003: Ploughshares
A 68-day poetry rejection from Ploughshares.
8 October 2003: Pulp :-)
One or more of my mainstream poems have been accepted by Pulp,
a Pittsburgh magazine :-) Christopher Dreher emailed me yesterday to
say that he liked the poem I sent at the end of July, but that he runs
more than one poem by a poet at a time. So I emailed him five more
poems today, and he will be running some of them in the next couple of
weeks.
6 October 2003: Mythic Delirium :-)
I received my contributor copy (and payment!) of Mythic Delirium #9,
containing my science fiction poem "Flame War." So far in October,
I have also received poetry rejections from 5AM and The
Greensboro Review.
30 September 2003: The Funny Paper :-)
Today I received prompt payment from The Funny Paper for
the poem they published a week ago. Yesterday I received
poetry rejections from Black Warrior Review and
The Threepenny Review.
24 September 2003: Uncle Andy's Digest :-)
A same-day email reply from Uncle Andy's Digest accepting
three mainstream poems :-) To balance this out, I also received
snail-mail rejections from LIGHT and West Branch,
and yesterday I received a very nice rejection from Whiskey
Island.
22 September 2003: The Funny Paper :-)
I received an acceptance and contributor's copy of The Funny Paper
#70, containing my mainstream poem "Our Mother" :-) The Funny
Paper is another paying market, albeit only a small sum ($15) :-)
In the past week, I've also received mainstream poetry rejections from
Lake Effect, OnEarth, and The Sun.
15 September 2003: St. Anthony Messenger :-)
Swift payment from St. Anthony Messenger of the poem
they accepted four days ago :-)
12 September 2003: Zoetrope
A 133-day science fiction short story rejection from Zoetrope.
11 September 2003: St. Anthony Messenger :-)
St. Anthony Messenger, a Catholic magazine, accepted my poem "On
Leaving" :-) :-) This is only the second paying market to which I have
sold a mainstream poem (the other being the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette). I also received poetry rejections from
Mid-American Review and Paper Street.... On the
non-writing front, I had a mammogram that I had been worrying
about for some weeks, and the results were declared normal. Hip,
hip, hooray!
10 September 2003: Buffalo News + FIELD
On Tuesday I had two good pieces of mail; today I have a pair
of poetry rejections, one from Buffalo News in 42 days,
and the other from FIELD in 20 days....
8 September 2003: Ship of Fools + Red Owl :-)
A happy mail-day: Ship of Fools accepted my poem "On Lying"
and Red Owl sent me my contributor's copy of issue #17,
Autumn 2003, containing my poem "Sustenance" :-) :-) On the
negative side, I received a 1-day email poetry rejection
from Hidden Oak.
6 September 2003: Pavement Saw + William
A 15-day poetry rejection came from Pavement Saw. On the
home front, William has had his first four mornings in the
Pre-Kindergarten class at St. Edmund's Academy. He is now happy
in his main classroom and in the school playground, but anxious
about the daily special activities (computers, art, library,
music, and gym). Hopefully he will soon be comfortable with
those as well....
30 August 2003: On Spec
After a quiet mail-week, today I received a 260-day short story
rejection from On Spec, plus a 9-day poetry
rejection from Beloit Poetry Journal. Both came with
nice notes, but, unsurprisingly, I preferred the 9-day response
time to the 260-day one....
29 August 2003: Mars :-)
After several attempts thwarted by clouds, we finally all got
to see Mars last night, and William declared that it did look
reddish :-)
20 August 2003: Mail catch-up
I'm catching up on the mail received while we were away on a
(most enjoyable) vacation on Prince Edward Island. I received
a slew of poetry rejections, ranging from New Criterion
at a blindingly-fast 6 days, to LIGHT at a rather less blinding
147 days. More happily, another of my short stories, "Clever
People," is now up at
Fictionwise.
7 August 2003: Fictionwise :-)
I received quarterlies royalties from Fictionwise today,
a small check, but larger than last quarter's :-) I also
received a poetry rejection from Edgz.
2 August 2003: Two rejections
Two rejections today, one for a short story sent to Analog,
and one for poems sent to The Yale Review.
31 July 2003: Cricket
A 34-day rejection of a poem by Cricket, my first time trying
this market.
28 July 2003: Confluence
I had a good time at Confluence - the annual Pittsburgh science
fiction convention - this weekend. I particularly enjoyed the
conversations I had with lots of different people, and I also got to
spend more than I ought to have on books in the dealer's room. For
the first time, I moderated a panel; happily my co-panelists were of
the friendly and informative persuasion so all went well (thank you
Sarah Zettel, Karl Schroeder, and Bobby Nansel!) In another
milestone, for the first time an editor bought me a meal - for which I
am very grateful to David Hartwell.... Returning home, I found a nice
rejection letter from Argosy.
21 July 2003: Sword and Sorceress 20 :-)
Returning from a most enjoyable vacation in Michigan, I found a bunch
of rejections but also my contributor's copy of Sword and Sorceress
XX, containing my story "Shen's Daughter" :-) I also learned that
Mothering Magazine is holding two more of my poems for possible
publication (they were already holding three others).
9 July 2003: Paper Street
A friendly, encouraging 69-day poetry rejection from Paper
Street.
5 July 2003: Iodine Poetry Journal + Main Street Rag :-)
I just had two poems accepted by Iodine Poetry Journal (one for
the journal itself plus another for their broadside, Open Cut)
and two other poems accepted by
Main Street Rag
:-) :-) Both
magazines anticipate publishing the poems sometime in 2004. I am very
happy indeed! Bringing me back down to earth, I also received a
poetry rejection from Barrow Street and a short story rejection
from MarsDust.
3 July 2003: Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine :-)
Four of my science fiction poems will be appearing in Futures
Mysterious Anthology Magazine :-) This is the most poems I have
had accepted at one time, and also marks my 200th acceptance (a figure
that includes both second rights sales and markets that folded before
publishing my work). A happy day!
2 July 2003: Honorable Mention :-)
My story "New World," published last year in Interzone
received an Honorable Mention in Gardner Dozois's latest
Year's Best Science Fiction :-)
1 July 2003: Crab Creek + Mad Poet's
Two 91-day mainstream poetry rejections, one from Crab Creek
Review and one from Mad Poet's Review.
28 June 2003: F&SF
A fast and friendly 5-day poetry rejection from F&SF.
26 June 2003: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-)
Today I received payment ($50) for my poem "Insignificant Others,"
reprinted earlier this month in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-)
I also received a 47-day mainstream poetry rejection from 5AM.
24 June 2003: Strange Horizons
A 46-day email rejection of an SF story by Strange Horizons.
20 June 2003: Blind Man's Rainbow :-)
Blind Man's Rainbow today
accepted two poems of mine for their Fall 2003 issue :-) The poems
are titled "A Child's Seasons" and "Three."
19 June 2003: Scifi.com
A 52-day short story rejection from Scifi.com.
13 June 2003: Fantastic :-)
My poem "If They Come" just appeared in the Summer 2003 issue of
Fantastic :-) Less happily, I also received a story
rejection from Asimov's after 99 days, and a poetry
rejection from On Spec after 97 days.
12 June 2003: Pittsburgh Worldwrights
After a farewell party yesterday evening, I have officially left
the Pittsburgh Worldwrights, the workshop that I began
nearly ten years ago. Hopefully the group will go on for another
ten years!
11 June 2003: Aurealis
A 97-day short story rejection from Aurealis.
10 June 2003: Kaleidoscope Review
Alas, I received a reply from Kaleidoscope Review today
saying that they are no longer in operation. Another market
bites the dust.
9 June 2003: Antioch Review
A mainstream poetry rejection from The Antioch Review.
7 June 2003: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette :-)
To my surprise, my poem "Insignificant Others" was reprinted in
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today :-) This poem first
appeared in 2001: A Science Fiction Poetry Anthology.
(I had submitted the poem to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
in November, but they hadn't replied and so I assumed it had
been rejected, as their previous two acceptances came in
under three weeks.)
4 June 2003 (later): Axe Factory Review :-)
Happiness! Axe Factory Review accepted two of my mainstream
poems: "The Last Time" and "Imperial History" :-) :-)
4 June 2003: Best of Soft SF
Returning from a brief vacation in England, I learned that my
story "New World" received an Honorable Mention in the Best
of Soft SF contest for 2002. I also received a bunch of poetry
rejections, plus a story rejection from The Third Alternative.
27 May 2003: Mothering Magazine maybe
Mothering Magazine is holding another of my poems for possible
publication (they have been holding two others since January),
and I received a poetry rejection from Crab Orchard Review.
23 May 2003: Worldcons
Good news and bad news about Worldcons. First the good news:
today I received a refund check from the Millennium Philcon (the
2001 Worldcon) for the cost of my membership -- they try to
refund the memberships of program participants. Next the bad
news: I won't be able to attend Torcon, this year's Worldcon,
after all.
22 May 2003: MarsDust :-)
In the mail today, payment from MarsDust for my short-short
"Growing Pains," published in April :-)
19 May 2003: rejections
Mainstream poetry rejections today from American Poetry Review
and Hidden Oak. At least they both replied quickly; I had
another rejection recently from The Gettysburg Review that
took over six months.
17 May 2003: Red Owl :-)
The mainstream small press magazine Red Owl accepted my
poem "Sustenance," and it should appear this September :-)
14 May 2003: Fictionwise :-)
I received a royalty check from Fictionwise -- a small
sum, but still welcome :-)
8 May 2003: Absolute Magnitude
A 104-day rejection of a solicited rewrite from Absolute
Magnitude. Other recent mail includes a rejection
from Star*Line, plus I mailed a withdrawal letter to
Atlantic Monthly who have had a couple of my poems
for nine months and haven't replied to a query letter....
30 April 2003: Polyphony
Alas, a 119-day short story rejection from Polyphony.
28 April 2003: multiple rejections
After a couple of weeks with just one rejection, today I received
several, one from Alchemy for a fantasy story, one
from Dreams and Nightmares for SF poetry, and ones from
Crab Orchard Review and Mothering Magazine for
mainstream poetry. Not a good mail day!
25 April 2003: S&S royalties :-)
I received more royalties from my story in Sword & Sorceress 18;
it's a small sum of money, but still welcome :-)
23 April 2003: MSP :-)
A very nice letter came from the Magazine of Speculative Poetry
accepting my poems "By the Numbers" and "Drawback of Life Extension" :-)
These are my 6th and 7th acceptances from this publication, with three
poems published and four now in their inventory.
20 April 2003: Black Gate
A friendly, encouraging, but very slow rejection from Black
Gate after 326 days!
15 April 2003: Lake Effect
After ten days with no story responses (though one publication), today
I received a mainstream poetry rejection from Lake Effect.
10 April 2003: MarsDust :-)
My short story Growing
Pains is now online at MarsDust :-)
5 April 2003: Asimov's
An 85-day rejection of two poems from Asimov's.
2 April 2003: Mixed news
Some mixed news over the past few days. On the plus side, a small
publication called Caravan will be reprinting two of my poems
("To the Whales" and "Experiment Eighty-Two.") On the minus side,
3SF has folded alas, due to the publisher's insolvency, and I
received mainstream poetry rejections from Iowa Review,
American Poetry Review, and Threepenny Review.
27 March 2003: Axe Factory + Two Rivers
In the past couple of days, I have received mainstream poetry
rejections from Axe Factory Review and Two Rivers Review.
21 March 2003: US citizenship :-) :-) :-)
Andrew and I are now naturalized U.S. citizens :-) :-) I am very happy
indeed about this! On a much lesser note, I received $100 payment for
the story extract of mine that is to be reprinted in a school textbook
(a sale from February 2002).
18 March 2003: Trispec and others
I received a very nice email rejection note from Trispec
for a poem I submitted last year. Various market sources have
reported Trispec's non-responsiveness, and it turns
out to have been due to the editor suffering a serious accident.
Happily he is now doing okay, and hopefully Trispec will
likewise recover. I've also had two other rejections in the
past week, one from 5AM and one from Zoetrope.
12 March 2003: Space and Time :-)
My poem "To the Whales" has been published in Space and Time
#97, Spring 2003 :-) This is my third appearance in this long-running
small press magazine, following stories in two earlier issues.
6 March 2003: Citizenship :-) :-)
On March 21, Andrew and I will hopefully become US citizens :-)
We received our appointment notices for the oath ceremony today,
and I am very, very happy indeed!
Rejections recently received: F&SF, Lilliput Review,
Journal, and Threepenny Review.
1 March 2003: Analog :-) :-)
My short story "Coming of Age" is in the current (April 2003)
issue of Analog, my first appearance in this magazine :-) :-) :-)
19 February 2003: 3rd Alternative
Today I received the contract, payment, and contributor's copy for
my recent publication in The 3rd Alternative :-)
14 February 2003: Fictionwise
Today I received my 4th quarter 2002 royalties from
Fictionwise, not a large sum, but still welcome! Also the
number of Fictionwise readers for one of my stories ("The God on the
Glass Cross") has now passed the 500 mark....
13 February 2003: On Spec, Talebones
Another day, another set of poetry rejections, this time from
Talebones, and, after 261 days, from On Spec.
12 February 2003: One thousand!
Today I received my one thousandth rejection! Quite a milestone. It
came from Two Rivers Review. Writing poetry has helped
increase my number of rejections substantially, as I can receive
multiple rejections at a time from a market (today, for instance,
Two Rivers Review rejected 4 poems). On a happier note, I've
also received nearly 200 acceptances :-)
4 February 2003: The Third Alternative :-)
My short story "Immigrants" is in the latest issue of the UK magazine,
The Third Alternative :-)
1 February 2003: Space Shuttle Columbia
I am very sad to hear of the loss of the seven astronauts and
the Space Shuttle Columbia.
28 January 2003: Magazine of Speculative Poetry :-)
I received a copy of the latest issue of The Magazine of
Speculative Poetry, containing my poems "Experiment Eighty-Two"
and "The Travelers" :-) And I also received a mainstream poetry
rejection from Beloit Poetry Journal.
23 January 2003: Mothering Magazine maybe
Catching up on some January responses that I haven't mentioned yet:
Mothering Magazine is holding two of my poems for possible
publication (they will keep the poems for a year to see if they
can find a match with upcoming articles), and I had mainstream
poetry rejections from Axe Factory Review, Crab
Orchard Review, and Threepenny Review.
It's the afternoon of the same day as the above, and the mail
has arrived, bringing with it a rewrite request from Absolute
Magnitude. I have spent the past couple of hours revising
the story, and it will be in tomorrow's mail. Fingers crossed -- I
would love to sell a story to Absolute Magnitude.
17 January 2003: Tangent Review
"Ebb Tides and Other Tales" has been
reviewed by Chris Markwyn for Tangent Online :-) A brief
extract from the review: "Her prose is subtle and precise, and her
ability to create rounded characters within the limits of the short
story is impressive.... I can only hope that this book will serve to
bring this talented writer a wider audience."
9 January 2003: Mid-American Review
Rejection of mainstream poems.
6 January 2003: Magazine of Speculative Poetry :-)
Happiness! The Magazine of Speculative Poetry accepted
my poems "First Impact" and "Art Will Be Appreciated." This
brings me up to four poems waiting in their inventory, plus
one poem already published by them :-)
4 January 2003: Star*Line + Space & Time :-)
I received a copy of Star*Line 25.6, containing my poem
"Backwards," and also received payment from Space & Time
for my forthcoming poem To the Whales :-)
2 January 2003: Review + 2002 statistics
Over the Christmas break (which I greatly enjoyed), I received a copy
of the final issue of Scavenger's Newsletter, in which Jim Lee
favorably reviewed Ebb Tides and Other
Tales :-)
Today I received my first rejection of 2003, a 219-day reply from
Poetry Magazine.... Looking back over 2002, I see that I
accumulated some 170 rejections (including poetry and mainstream
items). I also had 20 acceptances, including sales to Analog,
Interzone, 3SF, Third Alternative,
MarsDust, Star*Line, and Best of the Rest 3. And
last, but not least, my second collection ("Ebb Tides and Other
Tales") was published by Dark Regions Press :-)
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