An editor at Libri Cruentus, which is publishing the War is Hell anthology, sent me an email saying there was "nothing wrong" with my story, "Against Heaven and Hell," but that there were so many submissions they were unable to include it. He said if they decide to publish a future volume they would like to include it. It was the most encouraging rejection letter I've ever received-for a number of reasons: For one, it was a personal note, signed by the individual editor, not a form rejection letter. For another, he liked the story enough to want to use it in a future book. "Nothing wrong" implies, among other things, that he didn't see any historical inacuracies--something I worked hard to avoid but still could happen because there's still so much I don't know. Thirdly, I was half-hoping this anthology would reject the story because I want to expand on it and improve it.
A second editor, whom I met through a writer's website, is interested in possibly publishing it. The good points of that are that he would let me increase the word count to up to 10,000 (making it a novella) and he would help me, as he already has helped me, improve it. I am very thankful to this man (his name is Rick) for not being possessive about the story but suggesting, even while helping me hone it, that I might make more of a profit if I made it into a book. And I am considering a book.
A third editor has also offered to possibly publish it. He has not read any of it, but he has read and enjoyed some of my YA novel-in-progress, Blood of the Willing.
So it may be that Blood of the Willing won't be my first published book, as I thought it would be. Instead, a related adult's book may pass it up to the finish line. It is certainly receiving cheers from an appropriate audience.

In the meantime, I submitted a short essay to a contest and didn't win, submitted a poem to a poetry group monthly contest on this site and am not a finalist, and have posted a memoir to SilverPen.org for critique, and will submit the final version to Stealing Time magazine, a literary publication for parents. I'm very glad they changed the deadline for the issue I'm sending this piece in for, from Jan. 1 to Jan. 15. I am still recovering from Christmas and unsure how I will manage New Year's Eve. I have obligations that fight for my attention: an edit to do to test how well and fast I can do a technical report, in the hopes that I can do more in the future; and a critique I promised in exchange for a critique I received.

Right now, I can't decide whether I'm more tired or more hungry, and it seems too early to go to bed. Heck, I can't even decide whether I'm pushing myself or relaxing. Is there something luxurious about abusing my body? But I will make a salad and go from there.

If I don't talk to you until next year, please don't be offended.

Take care until 2013,
Robin