Time for another path to publication, wherein I recount the long and painful journey of a story from creation to that vaunted state of publication. This time, we’ll be looking at “The Downer”, a spec-fic piece that I thought was an absolute slam dunk when I finished it and turned out to be a two-year, sixteen-submission death march that had me questioning my talent, my submissions targeting skills, and even my sanity by the end. Before we get into all the rejections and whatnot, let me tell you ...