Author: Catherine Kenwell

Ahh, Valentine’s Day…a celebration of undying love and romance, a time to do something special for the one you love. But it’s not all hearts and flowers, is it? For the upcoming Valentine’s Special, we’re looking for stories that crawl upon the underbelly of romance…obsession, crimes of passion, and love that continues perhaps long after it should. Relationships that have run their course. Evil deeds done in the name of love. Love letters to the damned.

Need to get rid of the foul taste of bad romance? Pick up your poison pen and write about it. Send us your short stories, drabbles, and Unholy Trinities that reflect upon the dark side of love.

Stories can be sent directly to Catherine at [email protected]

Editor’s note: While an exact deadline isn’t set for this, ideally stories should be in by February 7th at the LATEST. Standard TWF Terms apply.

Here’s a neat story about rejections…and sticking with ‘your story’ regardless of how many you receive.

I finished writing a short horror story about 2.5 years ago; it was a labour of love that I kept returning to, and working on, for three years prior to that. So let’s say I’ve been living with this story for almost six years.

I subbed it for the first time on August 24, 2017. I recall that date, because it was my Mom’s birthday. I waited…and waited…and ultimately received the first rejection. No feedback or criticism, just…a ‘no thanks’.

Undaunted, I subbed it eight times in the following year and a half. I was committed to this story; almost everyone who read it thought it was clever. Well, everyone except the anthology editors I was sending it to, because time and time again, it was rejected.

But I continued to believe there was a special place for this tale of terror. Turns out, there was.

——

Last night, just before heading to work on the graveyard shift, I received a strange note from an editor about a story I’d submitted. I honestly couldn’t recall the editor or the story, so I ran through the files and emails on my tablet, and…hey!

I can’t get into details–temporarily keeping it under wraps–but the chiller I imagined and created and massaged and edited is one on a list of accepted stories for a horror anthology from an international horror lovers’ group. As I reviewed the contributors’ list, I realized that I was in excellent company; many co-contributors are established authors whose work has inspired mine.

Well, ‘dear story’, you found your home. All the rejections helped you arrive at your final destination. The ‘no thank yous’ were simply detours on a challenging journey, but you never gave up.

And heck, look at you now, you big shiny tale. What a fabulous thing to celebrate!

Never. Give. Up.
Happy holidays to all and here’s to a 2020 filled with detours and finding your homes.