Marie Croke

It’s been a little while.  I blame the lack of internet that I could coax into working and then the new baby.  So to catch up:

Did not get into Abyss & Apex — with that submission.  Once I finish updating my new submission tracking sheet, I’ll get back on top of where everything has been and get everything back out.  Too many pieces now to keep track with just a cursory excel spread.

For 2010’s Q2 of WotF I didn’t make the HM lists – much to my dismay.  I was sure I’d at least get that.  So I vented to my honey for a day, then put it behind me.  Then a few days later, after feeling less horrible about backsliding to a straight rejection, I finally checked the WotF blog again, and what do you know – a Semi-Finalist.  I was so shocked I had to stare at it for a good minute to be sure I was reading it correctly.  Talk about a boost :)

A few days before the new baby finally popped out, I received my critique from KD Wentworth.  A few formatting issues, that are easy enough to be sure I follow in subsequent submissions, and one major flaw, that was both story specific and general enough to apply to all my stories.  Basically, I have to make sure I answer every question.  Silly me had taken out the two paragraphs during my rewrite (that looks like a tangent – delete) that essentially might have stood between me being a Semi-Finalist and a Finalist.  Stinks, but now I’ll be, hopefully, more on top of future stories.