ORIGINAL FICTION

STORIES

Terra
(added 8/24/97)

Dionysian
(added 10/30/98)

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Sometimes they just don't sell.

Sometimes a writer, after having birthed a story, swaddled it and cradled it as it grew, wraps that story up in a warm coat and pats it on the bottom, sending it out on its way with a paternal "write when you find work." And yet, after some time long or short, the story comes a-weeping and a-wailing back to your door step, rebuffed and ignored, if not downright savaged, by the cruel minions of commerce out there in the big cold world.

Why? Reasons innumberable, but I'll innumerate a few.

Editors have personal tastes, and sometimes the story just doesn't appeal to those doing the buying, or doesn't quite fit in with their editorial leanings.

Sometimes markets are full, stuffed to the gills with great stuff they've bought in the past that has backed up not only into the present but is creating a bit of a clog in the future, so markets start buy more selectively, or stop buying altogher for a time.

Sometimes a story just isn't very commercial; this is a business, after all, and editors will buy what they think their readers want to read.

Sometimes a story just sucks. It happens -- they don't turn out quite the way we had hoped or envisioned, but we polish them as best we can and, because we've invested time in them and want to see some return on that investment if possible, we send them out. Knowing, perhaps, that it is not our best work but confident that it is at least publishable. Or decent. Or not complete dreck. Then again, as a group, writers are pretty self-delusional.

Sometimes, after a story has made the rounds and come back home to roost, we look at it and say "Yeesh, they were right, this bites" and throw it in a filing cabinet, lock the drawer, and melt down the key into a smoldering heap of slag.

However, sometimes a story doesn't sell, but WE STILL LIKE IT. We want to share it. But what's a poor boy to do when all the usual channels of distribution have thwarted our efforts? 

Which brings me to what I'm doing here.

I will be posting, from time to time, stories that have, for any of the reasons above or others, didn't sell, and for which I've given up hope of selling. I offer them here for the entertainment of anybody who happens to come across them. But I make the offer with the following caveats:

  • These were works rejected by the marketplace for one reason or another. I would not offer up anything that I considered embarrassingly bad, but...there will be no refunds once the show has started.
  • The posting of these stories in this space in no way can or should be interpreted as an abrogation of copyright. These materials are copyrighted by the author (i.e., me) and anyone wishing to distribute them in any fashion (and mind you, I'd be flattered) must receive written permission from me before so doing.

With those formalities out of the way, I hope you enjoy these little tales.