Thursday, April 16, 2009

An Invitation to the Dance

I received a nice little email this afternoon.

The lovely Jennifer Brozek (the new submissions editor at Apex and chief editor of The Edge of Propinquity) sent me an invitation to submit a story for the upcoming anthology CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE URBAN KIND.

Maybe this happens all the time to other writers, and maybe this same invitation was sent out to 100,000 other writers, but it's a first for me, so don't spoil it. Also, don't think me foolish. I understand that an invite isn't a guaranteed acceptance.

The Day Job has been a bog of depression. I'm getting a rush training for my new position, and I'm not all that thrilled (but as they say these days "at least I HAVE a job"), so this invitation was a bright beam of sunlight through a thick canopy of black clouds.

As any writer knows, it's lonely out there. So when someone reaches out and actually ASKS you to write something . . . I mean, wow! Give me a computer; a crayon and some paper; a chunk of stone and a chisel; something quick!

I have until September 1st to turn something in, but I'm already sifting through ideas. As soon as I'm done with the current WIP, I'll be on it like gnats on a dog's . . . sorry, bad Indiana analogy.

Agent update:

It's going on six weeks that my full manuscript has been in the hands of a certain agent. The suspense is killing me, but to be honest, I'm a little afraid to get a response. Right now I'm holding onto the old adage "no news is good news", and I'm praying that things will go my way.

5 comments:

Jamie Eyberg said...

Very cool on the invite for the antho. I know of several writers that this has happened with, but it is far from common. Way to go!

Cate Gardner said...

Congratulations on the invite and good luck with the full.

Chris said...

Definitely the invite falls in the very cool department. As does the six-week wait. I've got my fingers crossed for you...

Anonymous said...

Go to bed a happy man! An invite sounds wonderful. Congratulations! :D

Gabe said...

Jamie, Cate, Chris and Mercedes . . . I love you guys (and gals).

Thanks for the encouragement and kind words. It makes bad days better.