Hello, readers.
From time to time one gets, if one writes, rejections. Sometimes in the form of forms. Sometimes in the form of a comment or two from an editor. Occasionally, one might receive a whole letter. Chuck Wendig has a post concerning 25 Things Writers Should Know About Rejection, which includes such delightful phrases as “tentacles of woe” and “the secret gnostic gospels of Doctor Huxtable.” You should read it. It’s delightful.
Of late, I’ve received several letters of rejection. These letters included several encouraging words. It’s an odd thing being both buoyed and deflated in a rejection, but it’s far better than being simply deflated. It occurred to me, upon the 5th or 6th of these letters, that it might be fun to pull certain quotes from my recent rejections, freeing them of their otherwise rejectionatory context and arranging them in such a way as to be not so much happy sad as happy happy. Here is what such a list would look like.
“…really cool…and very memorable…”
“emotional and well-written…”
“enchanting…”
“Lush, mythic…”
“…a strange, beautiful story. The prose uses words in ways I’ve never seen them used before…”
Happy weekend, readers. If you’ve any happy sad pull quotes to share, feel free.
p.s. To the editors who sent me such quotable quotes, thank you. It is wonderful to receive such considered responses. Also, if you recognize your words and would like me to remove them, drop me a note and *poof* go the words.
the magnelephant review 
“… well-written… poignant… quite engaging and readable.”
“… vivid sense of detail and… feel of character…”
“It’s certainly suitably disturbing…”
“This one got under my skin, which is a good thing… it’s well-written and super-creepy…”
“…there’s a lot, it seems, going on beneath the surface…”
What if these pull quotes were all dating site profile descriptors? “My friends have called me really cool, memorable, and enchanting.” “I am engaging and have a lot going on beneath the surface; I’m certainly suitably disturbing. SUPER-CREEPY.”
…You might have better luck than I.