Submitting Stories While Blindfolded

So I wonder if I should include a little disclaimer on my cover note when I send out my next batch of story submissions:
If you’ve already seen a version of this story—or, worse, have it in your slush pile and haven’t gotten around to rejecting it yet—please forgive me. My hard-drive died and I lost [...]

Appointment

One perk to living in New York City that I’ve just learned about is if a New York agent likes a story you published in a journal and contacts you to see if you’re represented and you say no and then she wants to see more work and you send in more stories and an [...]

Writing at Night

I have always been a morning writer. That’s what I tell myself: I am most creative first thing in the morning and that is that.
But…
Last night I was writing when it was dark outside. I could see the night through the windows—the lit-up buildings across the way, what little could be caught of the night [...]

Cure-all: Magazines

When I don’t feel good—a little sad, a little snotty, achy in the wrong places, not that there are ever right places—I want to do one thing and one thing only, and it’s not nap. I want to read. Reading is the perfect escape. You can be in a crowded place, people whirling all around [...]

Submitted

I submitted a new story today. Just a few minutes ago, actually. This is the first time I’m sending this story out, a story I’ve been trying to write for years, and which I just finished this afternoon. It was in my hands, and now it’s not.
This is the exciting part. The thrill. The fantasy. [...]

To Do: No-Box

Another short story rejection came today. Just one of those thin photocopied slips without even a name on it. No return address on the envelope. (And they had this story 5+ months.) Whatever.
At some point at some nameless future date when I feel more secure in my footing, I’ll put together a “No-Box” for all [...]