My short story, “Tusk,” came out this week in Amazon’s literary journal Day One. This is incredibly exciting, both because I’ve put literal years of work into the story and because Day One has some serious reach. The editor, Morgan Parker wrote a really lovely letter to readers. She said she loved the “eerie, southern gothic vibe” and wrote that “Even amid the menacing landscape and violent undertones of this story, I found an exciting shift in Sylvie’s confidence and ambition—the mark of all great heroines.”
I almost cried.
I’ve been thinking a lot about rejection. One of my writing goals for 2017 was to simply submit more, which seems easy, but somehow I always come up with reasons not to submit. Last year, “Tusk” was a finalist in the Tennessee Williams Short Story Contest, which was a small affirmation that I should keep trying despite the rejections. All told, I submitted the story fifteen times. This might seem like a lot or a little, but fourteen of those fifteen times I was told “thanks, but no thanks.” It’s a weird position to put yourself into willingly. I guess this is just a reflection to say that I’m incredibly excited to have a story out there in the world, yet I’m constantly thinking about what’s next.
Onward!
Allie Mariano 