Paynym - A Shelter of Leaves

Restrictions

Greetings.

For those who have visited my port before you may notice some of my work is no longer available for review. I decided to restrict access to some works because I have been unable to get back to crafting them as I have been more focused on getting other stories published on a commercial level. What I have here is a labor of love and until I can get back to it I felt it best to just close the book for now. Stories have not been deleted, I put too much work into them for that. What I am leaving available are projects that do not require a lot of maintenance time and folks find either useful or entertaining.

The first novel I am trying to publish is an Urban Fantasy set Corpus Christi, TX in the year 2019. I am waiting on the response back from the editor on this one.

Another novel in the works is an Historical Fantasy that takes place in pre-dynastic Egypt and uses the oldest Egyptian names and references I can find. I prefer not to use any of the known Greek names if I can help it. This one is about 70% complete. This one was written in response to the rejection of a previous novel utilizing the same characters. The remark that women aren't typically warriors in this time was particularly irritating as you can't argue with a potential editor if you want to be published even if you have material proving them wrong. Worse, many of these editors are freelance and represent more than one publishing company. So, logically, if you get rejected for one publisher you're also getting rejected for those others the freelancer represents- a multiple whammy.

On the positive side these novels came rejected with a critique addressed to me directly, not as a form rejection with no information and addressed to "dear writer". The reviewers got back with me quickly (indicating my work was not in the slushpile) and were kind enough to take the time to tell me their likes as well as the points they felt would not be marketable for their company. This is appreciated! These are the rejection letters worthy of being framed and hung on the wall of reaching for success. These are the badges of honor that state: I was diligent enough to complete my novel and brave enough to get off the porch and run with the big dogs.