I’ve been missing for a while – I got really busy with school this (almost last!) semester and despite having a fiction workshop course right now, haven’t really been doing much to warrant updates.

That said, a week or so ago I received my very first literary magazine rejection letter! I know a lot of writers get down on themselves over it, but that really just isn’t the way to get through all this tedious submitting we have to do – it’s just a way to end up discouraged. And at online twenty-one and still honing the craft, I’m not expecting a whole lot of immediate success anyway, so just to be recognized at all, even if it’s for not being quite up to par, is a huge step in my eyes. Not to mention my first rejection letter came from Redivider, Emerson College’s (which is at the top of my list of potential grad schools) lit mag – and the editor left me honest to goodness specific comments:

Dear Stephanie,
While I really enjoyed the backdrop of this story (Toronto during a
heatwave), I often found myself wandering during the story itself. So
we’re going to have to pass. Best of luck placing it elsewhere.
Editors

Along with a couple other story-specific comments. I’ve since also gotten less interesting rejection letters from Alaska Quarterly and Caketrain. And now that it’s past September 30th, a million more magazines are accepting submissions – time to get back to it again!