Problem Solving Done

 I overslept yesterday. Today I was up at 2 am. That I gave up on consciousness at 8 pm explains the very early rising. Yesterday, I got groceries at Walmart. I got back here around 5, piddled with the email, and accomplished nothing of any importance.

I did see the mark-ups KH gave me for "Best of Intentions" but could not get back to them yesterday.

Two more rejections:

Thank you for giving me a chance to read "The Psychotic Ape." Unfortunately, this story didn't work as well for me as I'd hoped, and I'm going to pass on it for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. But I wish you best of luck finding the right home for it, and I hope you'll keep us in mind in the future for your other new stories.

In the meantime, we all hope that you are staying safe and healthy.


Best regards,




Sheree Renée Thomas, Editor
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
http://fandsf.com | @fandsf

You have worked so hard this year to write new, original stories and poems and send them out. Thank you for thinking of F&SF as a possible home for your work! Please note that the magazine will be closed to new submissions starting December 1, 2022 to January 14, 2023. During this time, my production team and I will continue with production for the upcoming new issues, but my reading team and I will rest our "reading submissions" eyes and return renewed and refreshed for the new year! The F&SF Moksha Submission Portal will open back up on January 15, 2023 at midnight, central standard time. In the meanwhile, continued strength to your writing hand and enjoy the holidays!

Submission Guidelines and Tips for Writers
https://fandsf.moksha.io/publication/fsf/guidelines

Subscribe to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction:
http://fandsf.com/subscribe.htm

Current Issue
https://www.amazon.com/The-Magazine-of-Fantasy-and-Science-Fiction-november-december-2022

and

Thank you for sending "Problem Solving" to The Lakeshore Review.  We appreciate the opportunity to review your submission. We have decided against including your work within this issue, although we welcome your interest for upcoming issues. Visit us at https://www.lakeshoreliterary.com/review for additional information about our reading windows and publication cadence.

We know first-hand that rejections suck, but it's better to send your work and be rejected than to never submit at all. My co-editor and I therefore tip our hats to you for enduring the slog and we wish you the best of success on your continuing literary journey.

Sincerely,

Jason Gillikin

Co-Editor

The Lakeshore Review

So I decided to send "Psychotic Ape" to Orca, which just rejected "Problem Solving."  Wyldblood Press also got "Psychotic Ape."

miniMAG has a new issue here.

I read Little Facts Paint a Big Picture on History Through Fiction, which might remind some (teach some others?) the dangers of authoritarian government.

Will Smith may be slap-happy, but his work seems to be improving (I have seen King Richard on HBO, and it reminded me of Ali where Smith proved he could act.), and Emancipation review – Will Smith flees slavery in fierce, sombre thriller from The Guardian makes me think he is on a roll.

I wound up still being late. A problem with the toilet came up at the last minute. I turned up a half hour late. I got lucky, the bus driver dropped me off in front of the place instead of me walking over from Cowan Road. The knee was aching a little when I got to work. By 10:30 I was miserable. I left at lunchtime for the doctor. Central Indiana Orthopedics did an x-ray: arthritis and a small bone spur.  I opted for the steroid shot. That has helped.

Back here by 3 pm. I paid my rent.

After deleting emails, I was not so peppy, I considered just calling a day and do an imitation of a vegetable. I got the counselor called and left my PO's numbers with him.

Then I got my second wind. I went back to working on KH's comments. What I did this morning were all gone. I am, trying to learn how to share with Google Docs. My responses are off to KH; the experiment continues. Otherwise, I feel like I feel every time KH edits me - a blind, moron.

I opened Gmail to send KH an email. Something I forgot to put into my replied to his comments. I noticed there was a new email about "Problem Solving" and this is what I got:

I am writing to inform you that "Problem Solving" has been accepted into INK Babies Literary Magazine. We are honored to include your creative voice! If you would like to include a brief bio and headshot for the contributors section, please feel free to send them via this same email address!

Very best!

--

Stephanie Josiah

Owner

INK Babies Literary Magazine

INK Babies, LLC

www.inkbabies.com

I called KH with the news and then spent about 2 hours withdrawing the story from other venues. 

I sent the week's pay stub to the PO. $76, thanks to my bone spurs. Grrrr.

And now it is 9:05 pm, and I think I will call it a day.

Since I never thought anyone would pick "Problem Solving", let me say I am in a good mood and leave you with this:

and this, since I do like the song (particularly this version):

sch