Mobile Didn't Place

My severely restricted Internet access at home made me miss the announcement of the AlienSkin contest where I entered Mobile. Must have been a sign.

No good - I didn't place, not even a runners up spot :(

So currently, Dark Rose, Too Late the Rain, and now Mobile have all returned from the war worse for wear. The Rose needs work. Too Late has already been reworked, Mobile I still like as it is. I'll reread it tonight though and see if that still holds true.

Then they all need to go back out into the market. I think I'll do a mini submissions list of the Aussie markets and run them through there.

Placing submissions and receiving rejections is supposed to be character building and allow writers to cultivate that hardened second skin we all supposedly need in this business.

Personally I think it sucks the big one.

Entering pieces into contests seems to be that much worse because most give back very little feedback. PARSEC is different as it provides quite detailed feedback and so I'll be entering that contest again next year. Not sure about the others I've entered this year.

AHWA short story contest is an important Aussie contest for dark fiction writers and so I'll probably always drop something in there.

AlienSkin - I think I'll only throw something that way if I have a piece sitting around rather than write something especially for it.

Salisbury Writers Festival - The launch and results aren't due for another two weeks. I'll probably still enter this one as it gives the wife and I a night out.

I think the fact that these comps have all announced their winners so close to each other has allowed the feeling of despondency to be compounded for me. Not gaining any feedback as to whether they are any good or not leaves me nowhere to go and allows self doubt to grow.

I've had an offer from a friend of my wife, someone I don't know and have never met. They have heard that I write and have offered to read my stuff and offer their opinions. This person isn't a writer as far as I know. They work a lot of night shifts and therefore tends to read a lot. I think I'll print out the three recently returned stories and allow this mystery reader to give me their thoughts. At least it'll be a new audience to gain feedback from.

Yep, it's one of those dips in the roller coaster again. I never seem to actually reach any great heights at the moment and yet I feel I'm writing better. Obviously still something missing.

I hope you're all having better luck than I am on the submission merry-go-round.

BT