I am a member of the Science Fiction Romance Brigade. It is a
fantastic group of authors, readers, and SFR enthusiasts who help
each other with writing questions, book promotion, and even book
production. Late last year, sometime around November, a submission call
was sent out for group members to send in short stories for an
anthology. It was an experiment to get a free publication out for SFR
awareness and promotion.
But it wasn't just any 'ol experiment. They weren't looking for
random half-hearted stories. They wanted good, professional, works and
put together a stellar team of editors to decide which
stories were publication worthy.
Something about this submission call really spoke to me. I didn't
have anything out at the time and the same self-doubt that kept me from
writing before was trying to creep into my subconscious. They were
asking for professional stories. They never straight up worded it that
way, but I knew that's what they were looking for. I knew it had to be
good. Was my work professional enough? Did I know the right formula for
writing a SFR story? Was there a formula?
I already knew I could write, having gained that confidence through
writing fan fiction. I just didn't know what it takes to write a
publication worthy story. I'm still not entirely sure what it takes, but
it's a learning process that I'm enjoying.
Writing a short story felt doable and I wanted to submit something
so bad that I simply went for it. I spend a couple of weeks thinking
about what I would write. Ideas are always bombarding my brain, but
nothing was coming through that would be short enough. I started out
with the thought that I could write a flash fiction, but quickly
realized just how hard it is to write flash fiction. Seriously, sit down
and try to write a story with only 1,000 words. Obviously, people can
do it, but I think it might be more difficult than writing a full on
novel.
I took numerous breaks, reading flash fiction to hopefully get the
right frame of mind to write it. Unfortunately, I can't remember what I
read since I was reading so much, but something about a couple being
trapped in a cave sparked my imagination. I immediately stopped reading
and started writing. I'm not even sure how that cave story ended because
I haven't been able to find it again (I was perusing a lot of free
sites on the web).
As Christmas holidays set in, I began to lose heart because it
didn't look like I would make the beginning of January deadline. Then,
the deadline date was moved to the end of January, so I continued the
story with renewed vigor and was able to submit it on time.
Then came the inevitable waiting game I hear so many authors
talking about. Thank goodness I didn't have to wait as long as most of
those discussions imply. I received an email in March. Knowing what it
would be about, I put off opening it for a day, too nervous about the
shortcomings I knew my story had.
When I finally opened the email, I wasn't surprised that it was a
rejection letter. I had researched and learned several things about
points of view, voice, and showing versus telling after the story
submission and I knew my story had all those issues.
However, with the rejection letter came a surprising second chance.
It turned out that they really liked the story idea and gave me
suggestions on how to bring it up to speed. If I was willing to revise
it based on their suggestions, then I had another deadline. If I wasn't
willing to revise, then they wished me luck in submitting the story
elsewhere.
Now, I'm not proud and certainly not too proud to take direction.
I'm an amateur and these folks were the professionals. Flattered that
they liked the story idea and a more than willing student to improve my
writing skills, I went through each suggestion with the enthusiasm of a preschooler with a new box of crayons. The best part about it was that
I understood each and every issue they were addressing. All I needed
was that little extra advice, because the story simply popped after
that.
Of course, the second chance wasn't a guarantee that the story
would be accepted, but that part no longer mattered to me. What mattered
was that I was getting help from proven authors. What mattered was that
I was improving my writing skills. What mattered was that I would be
more prepared for the next time I submitted a story for publication.
They said to submit the revised story to Diane Dooley, which make
me even more excited because I had read and liked her works. She was
also the person that helped me get more involved in the group and,
therefore, indirectly responsible for all the stuff I had learned about
writing through the group discussions. The thing
I love about being a part of the SFR Brigade is how accessible and
helpful all the authors are.
It wasn't two days after I submitted the revised edition that Ms.
Diane Dooley forwarded it on for acceptance, that it was exactly what
they were looking for. I was so excited, I couldn't stand it!
Naively, I thought that would be it, that the story would be
published in the summer and that my job was done. I had no idea about
the editing process...Since that is where I admit I am such a noob that I
had no idea who the famous SFR authors were either, that is another story.
For now, enjoy "Tales From the SFR Brigade" and my short story within, 'The Stranger,' as well as the fabulous short stories by Linnea Sinclair, Marcella Burnard, Erica Hayes, Liana Brooks, Pippa Jay, Berinn Rae, and Amy Laurens!
