After much sturm und drang, the Rejected anthology is available for purchase!

It's occurred to me several times during this process what a funny idea for an anthology this is: stories that were previously rejected. That's it: no thematic unity (as far as I know), no common genre, no shared style, nothing. That makes it tricky for a reader, I would think, who likes to know what he or she is getting into. I know people who stick largely to speculative fiction or eschew it completely, who despise any kind of sexual or violent content, who don't venture much outside the New York Times bestsellers. This anthology definitely requires a leap of faith from readers, so I'm extra interested to see how it's going to be received.

I chose the story I sent in for this anthology because it's even more niche than usual--not quite urban fantasy, not quite horror, definitely not literary. And, of course, because I thought it was entertaining and wanted it to find a home!

For my part, I'm looking forward to perusing my contrib copy--that's half the fun of submitting to anthologies! Assuming that other writers had the same healthy pile of rejected stories that I did, I'll be wondering as I read it why they chose the story they did to submit. I'll also be wondering whether I'll be able to pinpoint why the stories in here were rejected at one point. Heck, I don't even know why mine was rejected from the original call I responded to--it was a pretty form rejection.

Since the publisher asked the writers to reach out and find somebody to read and review (honestly, of course!!), I expect this will be the most reviewed of any story I've published. When I review short story collections, I sometimes pick out a few in particular to discuss... and I'm pretty nervous about seeing my title in somebody's review! It sure is weird contemplating being on the other side of a review.