As I mentioned yesterday, I did a submission log inventory and realized that a few of my stories had been sitting in slush piles for a woefully long time. I sent out queries after the ones out the longest that didn’t have a “default rejection” philosophy (i.e. if you haven’t heard from us after four months, assume it’s a rejection). I heard back from one market overnight—turns out they had somehow misfiled my story and it had never been read, so now it’s back in the queue and hopefully fast-tracked for a response. Moral of the story: it pays to query sometimes. I’m a little superstitious about querying in general, afraid that it will inspire a rapid rejection. In a situation like this, though, where the story’s been out for over a year, any news is good news.
I’m rereading Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon for something I’m doing with the ITW. I can’t remember when I first read the book, but it’s definitely been a long time. Holy crap, when the guy puts his mind to it, he can write circles around just about anyone. There is so much going on in the opening scene that it feels like a sequel to a whole other book when in fact his only other book at the time was Black Sunday, published six years earlier.
This week’s Mad Men was a little less captivating than usual. Perhaps I feel that way because I was working on a review of Leather Maiden at the same time and only giving it half an eyeball. I liked Law & Order: CI, though, especially the payoff about the murder being done on a whim and it turned out that the guy didn’t even enjoy it after all. The Closer was hilarious—Provenza doesn’t get enough time in the spotlight, and his character could almost take the lead in a series. The closing scene when he explains why he will never retire was priceless. Both CI and The Closer show that stupid people commit crimes and might get away with them if the circumstances are right. In Plain Sight was pretty good, but I seriously hope they ditch Mary’s family for season two, assuming the show is renewed.
