• Home
  • Short Story Achievements
  • Blog

Kathleen Palm

~ A little light. A little dark. A lot weird.

Kathleen Palm

Monthly Archives: March 2019

Tale of a Story: Voices

25 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by Kathleen Palm in Thoughts, writing

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

acceptance, being published, Leading Edge Magazine, rejections, Short story, thoughts, Voices, writing

Back in 2006 or 2007, or somewhere in there, I had an idea for a girl who could hear the thoughts of others. Her name was Lucinda…Cinda for short. So i wrote it. And it received an honorable mention from the Writer’s Digest short story competition. I was very excited.

I was so excited, I decided to submit it. Remember Leading Edge magazine from my last post? They published my story “Marked” (the story that didn’t place in the same competition), so I sent “Cinda” to them. It was rejected. Now, the wonderful thing about Leading Edge is that they send feedback from readers. I had comments on why the story didn’t work, which helped me rethink the idea, and I rewrote it.

And submitted it again.

It was rejected again with more comments. Though none of what anyone said clicked in my brain, so I set the story aside.

I went off into the world of writing and did many other things. My writing got better. My writing got darker. At some point, my gaze fell back to “Cinda”, and my creative brain had an idea. A bit of a darker idea, but I LIKED IT.

The whole story changed. I retitled it as “Voices”.

I submitted it to Leading Edge magazine. It had been a while, but I liked working with them, so WHY NOT. Of course, they had moved to e-mail instead of packing the pages off in an envelope, which is super nice.

And I waited. A year later, I sent an e-mail to ask for any updates. They replied that my story had been passed on to the editors. WHICH IS GOOD! Another year later, I inquired again. And got the same answer.

Okay. STILL GOOD. But I was done asking and thinking about it. Time to let it go. Nearly three and a half…maybe four…years later, I got an e-mail accepting “Voices” for publication, as long as it was still available.

Of course, it was available! EEEEEK!

I went through three rounds of edits, working with a wonderful editor, who gave great feedback and was excited every time I made changes, telling me that she was more thrilled with the story as we went. Well, after three-four years of growing as a writer, I made changes, because I wanted “Voices” to reflect my writing now, not three years ago.

And finally, “Voices” was released in issue 73! You can find it here.

I didn’t make the cover this time, but no biggie. My story is in there!

With some cool illustrations! And I got paid!

Publishing is a lot of waiting. A LOT OF WAITING.

Will I submit to Leading Edge again? Maybe. I do like them. I like their magazine. I like how they work. I’ll be prepared to wait, to forget about that submission and move on. I’ll remember that the longer I wait, the better the news will probably be. They get a lot of submissions. And only a few stories make each issue.

To all slogging through the world of publishing, you are not alone. With tiny victories, we will make our way along the path. A path lined with tears and sweat and, most certainly, smiles. We just can’t stop trying.

Tale of a Story: Marked

18 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by Kathleen Palm in Thoughts, writing

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

being published, Don't give up, first time published, Leading Edge Magazine, Marked, Short story, thoughts

*pulls blog out of the land of the forgotten*

HI!

I’ve missed my little piece of the blogging universe. So, I’ve returned to share past writing victory. My very first published work and how it came to be.

Back in the world before writing groups and critique partners and Twitter-writer-verse, I wrote a story called “Across the Purple Sands”…probably around 2007. I entered it in the Writers Digest Short Story competition. And it failed to place.

My mom and sisters read it (like I said this was pre-critique partners), and their comments got my creative brain going. I started it in the wrong place. THAT HAPPENS. A lot.

My mom also suggested that I change the title.

So I rewrote it. I added a new beginning. I set up the story and characters better. I changed the title to “Marked”. And I submitted it to a magazine. I took a chance.

I can’t remember how I learned of Leading Edge Magazine, but I sent it…in an envelope. Because that was a long time ago.

And they accepted it!

I vaguely recall screaming. And crying happy tears of disbelief.

I remember one round of edits, where they suggested a few changes and left it up to me what to do. In December of 2008, it was released in issue 56. They paid me actual money and gave me two contributor copies.
The cover? That is an illustration from my story. Dude. I made the cover. There is still one issue left, waiting to find a home here. This was pre-e-books, so only hardcopies exist.

 

To see my name in print was super great. The whole being a writer thing seemed…doable.

I get the magazine out every once in a while to remind myself that I can do it. Even when it’s just me sitting in front of my computer, I have the ability to put words together.

I’m good enough.

Never give up.

Sharing my search for magic in everything.

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 10,370 other subscribers

Archives

  • January 2021 (1)
  • November 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • March 2019 (2)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (3)
  • July 2018 (2)
  • June 2018 (5)
  • May 2018 (3)
  • April 2018 (3)
  • March 2018 (3)
  • February 2018 (4)
  • January 2018 (5)
  • December 2017 (2)
  • November 2017 (3)
  • October 2017 (4)
  • September 2017 (13)
  • August 2017 (3)
  • June 2017 (3)
  • May 2017 (4)
  • April 2017 (5)
  • March 2017 (6)
  • February 2017 (17)
  • January 2017 (5)
  • December 2016 (8)
  • November 2016 (4)
  • October 2016 (9)
  • September 2016 (17)
  • August 2016 (9)
  • July 2016 (7)
  • June 2016 (6)
  • May 2016 (9)
  • April 2016 (3)
  • March 2016 (8)
  • February 2016 (9)
  • January 2016 (8)
  • December 2015 (12)
  • November 2015 (9)
  • October 2015 (7)
  • September 2015 (10)
  • August 2015 (9)
  • July 2015 (9)
  • June 2015 (10)
  • May 2015 (9)
  • April 2015 (8)
  • March 2015 (9)
  • February 2015 (11)
  • January 2015 (10)
  • December 2014 (8)
  • November 2014 (7)
  • October 2014 (28)
  • September 2014 (9)
  • August 2014 (10)
  • July 2014 (7)
  • June 2014 (9)
  • May 2014 (7)
  • April 2014 (7)
  • March 2014 (10)
  • February 2014 (8)

Goodreads

Kathleen Palm, Author

Kathleen Palm, Author

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Kathleen Palm
    • Join 435 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Kathleen Palm
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...