Kevin's Watch

Be gentle with him, Michael. I know sour grapes can be galling, but it's pretty hurtful to not make the grade for anything, particularly something creative that by its nature requires a fragment of your soul to make it live.

Hmmm. I should have known just how difficult this could all get. If I had thought it through, I would have run screaming from the idea of being on the Selection Team in the first place. Oh well, too late now.

As a team, we agonized over all our decisions. Very few of them were easy, and I personally was gutted every time an author's work was not included.

Yeah, it sucks. But we were asked to select and we had to select. I'm truly sorry if we have offended or upset anyone, but that was always going to happen when works are submitted for selection and not universally included.

Once again, if you want to know more about why your work was not selected, send me a private message. I say this to Syl and Cj especially, as you both appear quite upset by the decision and I would like to clear the air as soon as possible.

Sum sui generis
Vs

Ignorance is bliss as far as I'm concerned Really, I'm not bothered about finding out why my entry wasn't included - it's silly to enter something like this if you can't handle both outcomes. I suppose it's similar to failing an exam; it stings because I did my best and it wasn't enough. But I knew that was a significant possibility and I'm a big enough boy to deal with it. I'm happy for those who did make the grade, and I'm proud of our little community for having so much talent within it

And if I would've known the whole thing was going to be so... elitist (not really close to the right word, but something like it), I never would have bothered submitting (as much as I like you guys, I'm not putting my A material out there for free... though now I'll have to put something up in the Hall of Gifts so I don't sound like I'm boasting). I thought it was a community project. Is this going to be a chapbook, or are the other entries that big? Otherwise, by my math, you're left with, at most, 12 short stories. Hardly a broad sampling of the creativity here, and hardly what one would consider an anthology. And when multiple entries were allowed, I just assumed you'd be picking the best ones... not excluding others who might have a shot otherwise.

But that's not really it, is it? As the poetry examples illuminate, many weren't rejected because of page constraints. They were rejected because they either didn't meet some criteria or because they just weren't very good. So, the truth is, I'm probably mad at you guys for being polite.

Sue me; I'm human.

i must have missed this, what anthology?

*backs slowly away from thread.....and runs!!*

Don't worry Syl and Cjr we'll put together our own elitist anthology simply entitled The Zephyr. I have no sour grapes: I just screwed up in PMing my poems

...

You don't really think Dennis missed that, do you?

Sylvanus wrote:That's just the point, dAN, for whatever reason?

Hey, I don't know the answers to this stuff. I was not a part of the submission team. You need to talk to the guys who told you to talk to them. I do find it interesting that you say you submitted "non-A material", as you wouldn't get paid for this. Does this mean you're a professional writer?

Sorry, dAN, it was just rhetoric. I didn't mean to sound like I was really questioning you.

But, no, I'm not a professional writer... yet. My point, as badly made as it was, is that there's a difference, for me, as to what we guard jealously to ourselves and what we're willing to give to our community. And I guess that's what it was to me: a gift rejected.

But you know, it's cool. I'm sorry. I think some of the points I raised were valid, but I did it all in a pretty shoddy way. I let my ego and perhaps sense of entitlement get in the way. But like I said, I'm human, and hopefully I speak for others that got rejected, so I let my posts stand.

Okay, that's cool. I just got a little defensive, because I was thinking you thought my story sucked

Last year, a friend of mine made a cd, and told all of us on the bass player list I am about it, so we'd buy it. Nobody bought a copy, and after a week, he started to rant about it. I mentioned to him that only one person bought one of my 2 cd's, made in '97 and 2000, respectively. He actually told me my cd didn't sell because my band wasn't proffessional like his was, so it was okay that mine didn't sell, but not okay that his didn't sell. I did the smart thing; I shut up and bought his cd. It was actually nice; almost as good as mine are!

Anyway, I'd be happy to read anything you wrote, as long as it's not a harlequin romance or VCR instructions. As for my writings, the one that got accepted is the only thing I have ever written that I actually am proud of; everything else I write is just goofy to me. Must be due to reading so much Piers Anthony as a child.....

Well, if it's reading too much Anthony as a child, we're both screwed. I haven't seen anybody else's stuff, but I'm sure yours is good, dAN. I put up my story in the Hall of Gifts.

Sylvanus wrote:I put up my story in the Hall of Gifts.

As did I. I'd like to encourage all those who didn't make it to do the same

I don't know what reasoning was behind your getting rejected, Syl, but I was very disappointed when I didn't see your name on the list. Personally, I thought you were the most obvious choice. Oh well, their loss!

Really? I thought SRD would be the MOST obvious choice, but what do I know?

dANdeLION wrote:Really? I thought SRD would be the MOST obvious choice, but what do I know?

I rather think that if SRD had contributed something that he would have been accepted out of hand. I'd have given up my seat on the boat for him.

Oh, how magnanimous of you. I guess that means you think SRD could get rejected, but you couldn't. Wow, that's arrogant.

dANdeLION wrote:Oh, how magnanimous of you. I guess that means you think SRD would get rejected, but you won't. Wow, that's arrogant.

I was actually referencing a recent episode of LOST. In fact it was last night.

Or, so you think I'm too stupid to get the LOST reference? How bloody condescending of you. Besides, SRD wouldn't want to be on that boat unless the brunette was on it!