I’m Back At The Blog With Exciting Updates!

Happy Friday, writers and authors! I hope your summer is going well. I’m back from a brief rest period to reconnect with y’all and bring you up to date on what’s been happening in my writing world of late.

Authentic Woman, my business brand that champions women voices, celebrated its 8th year in the blogosphere last month!  I’m excited to report that my purpose mission to empower the authentic voice in women has become a recognizable, trusted and respected name in the world of self-development and women’s empowerment. At this posting, we have well over 2000 followers, and with your voices adding to the mix, it just keeps getting better.

I’ve been invited to join several prestigious groups consisting of consultants, mentors, coaches, lifestyle strategists, etc, to share experiences in the environment of our brand expertise in making a difference in the lives of others. I’m always happy and downright humbled and blessed to be in the inspiring and aspiring presence of like-minded folk. That’s just God, people!

At Authentic Woman on Monday, I shared the cover to Unleash Your Pearls~ Empowering Women’ s Voices, with my followers. Today, I’m revealing it to you. Yay! Trust and believe, the cover is awesome, but what you’re going to get when you open the book will be explosive (in a  good champion the woman voice way) Keep checking in for the book’s release.

Now here are links to stuff I’ve accomplished with my writings while on break:

Short Story.

“We have received it, and it will be considered for our next issue.

Thank you”

The Six Hens submissions team

Article.

Spring Edition of Magnificent Living Magazine!
https://issuu.com/kristiekennedy6/docs/annversary_magazine_interactive_pdf

 

My Natural Hair Essay.

http://accentedglory.weebly.com/accessory-diva-blog/my-crowning-glory

 

Recently sold a nonfiction piece to the “Lessons from Losers in Love” Anthology.

I think all of those online classes( free & fee based) are finally kicking in. I actually look forward to editing short stories and previously rejected submissions, which is a far cry from my earlier editing process (hated it!)  I feel like I’m Stella, the writer, getting her groove back. 🙂

Quote:

“Success comes when the work you do helps other people recognize who they are. It is when you see your work make a difference in another person, who in finding themselves, will sow seeds of their gifts and pay it forward by helping others.” 

Clara Freeman

 

 

Finding The Positive In Your Story Rejection

 

Thank you for submitting “Andrew And Mullins”.

With just the two of us reading all stories ourselves, it is not possible to provide specific feedback, I’m afraid, but I can tell you that, while we won’t be publishing this piece, it was a good read—thank you!

Happy Friday Storytellers! Like most readers, I can get lost in a good story. I have been intrigued by the art of storytelling since I was a young girl and my siblings and I would sit wide-eyed in our folks bedroom listening to them share tales from their imaginations. Anyone ever hear of the “No Headed Man”?! Yep, one of the scariest  from their vault filled imaginations.

Mama and daddy couldn’t have known they were scaring the heck out of their children or did they? 🙂 of course not every story was scary, but where’s the fun in that? Anyhow, I loved story so much that I began writing my own. The short story above was submitted to Glimmer Train,  one of the most respected short-story journals in print.  You can find their website here: www.glimmertrain.com and their submission calendar  through 2015 here:  http://www.glimmertrain.com/pages/writing_guidelines.php

As you can see, Andrew and Mullins didn’t make the cut.

But, did you notice they enjoyed the read? Even when your story doesn’t  make the winning cut, you can oftentimes gauge its value by the comments from the publication of your submission. The positive comment from Glimmer trains editors encouraged me to keep writing and sharing my stories.

When you don’t win from submitting your short stories, the clues in response to your story, if positive can help lessen the blow of rejection and keep you focused on your dream to eventual publication. If you receive a negative response, still read and learn from such comments and vow to show them what you’re made of.

Editors and publishers aren’t usually so anal in their responses to your work, unless they’re overwhelmed and will send out a cold form letter of rejection. Either way, just keep rewriting and submitting until your babies find a welcoming home.

I’ve decided to change the ending of Andrew & Mullins to one of empathy for its main character before submitting it to another publication.

I love when I’m in the flow of story and even when the piece doesn’t place in one publication, I can usually take the rejection in stride and take note of the message in the rejection to use it as a learning experience that will lead me to re-work the story for a better chance at acceptance, the betterment of readers and for the betterment of my craft.

How did your upbringing influence your love for storytelling? How many re-writes do you do with a rejected piece?

I will be taking a Thanksgiving break until December. Keep writing and stay humble.

Your writer’s quote:

“It’s hell writing and it’s hell not writing. The only tolerable state is having just written.” — Robert Hasse