Not one...not two...but THREE.

GAH. Three strikes today.

And by strikes, I mean rejections. But I'm actually feeling pretty good in spite of - or maybe because of - them.

The first was a form rejection for Luke Boydston's Baby. Just "not right for us, good luck". Fair enough. Anything that isn't a "you suck, never write again" works for me.

The second was a personal rejection for Rules of Engagement. The editor described my work as engaging and encouraged me to submit other material in the future. His one comment was that a particular scene towards the end made it unsuitable for their line. In a moment of "it doesn't hurt to ask" brazenness, I wrote back and asked if it was the presence of the scene itself, or if it was the graphic nature of the scene (in other words, would it work if I toned it down?).

Shortly thereafter, he replied that it was the graphic nature. I'm now waiting to find out if he'd be willing to review it again if I tone the scene down. I'm on the fence as to whether or not I'll actually do it, but I want to see if this door is still open before I snip n chop. The scene is necessary for the development of the main character, but I may be able to make some changes. So, we'll see what happens.

The third was a personal rejection for Luke Boydston's Baby (sorry, Luke, you're getting it left and right today) from the same editor that rejected Camera Shy. She had nothing but glowing praise for it, it just didn't fit their imprint's requirements. A snippet from the e-mail:

"You have a tiger by the tail with that story line, including a huge character development/journey. If we were to try to fit Luke Boydston’s Baby into [this imprint]’s parameters, you’d lose too much of the heroine’s metamorphosis from desperate, submissive, self-loathing pawn to independent, self-confident queen of her own life. (...) Your story scrutinizes one woman’s journey from hell to heaven – all aspects of it, from what I can tell. (...) Kudos to you for being able to write about all those other issues and weave them into a compelling, page-turning story. (...) The 108 pages I read were a treat – thank you. I can’t wait to see where you land vis-à-vis a publishing house that can help you develop a niche for your stories. Please keep in touch, and let me know about your successes!"

Can't ask for much more than that.

So, this is another "rejected, but not dejected" day. I was discouraged about the Rules of Engagement rejection, but feel better about it after e-mailing a little more with the editor. I'll post an update if I hear back from him and whether or not I decide to trim the scene in question.

Now back to The Best Man...