“The Only Real Thing” was the first story I wrote after taking a break from writing. “The Shadow Over Jordan Lake” is much more recent. It began with a writing prompt: a man takes a 23 and Me only to find out he is part Fish. I wrote the first draft in January of 2024, revising it over the next seven months. Along the way, it went through some title changes, including “Lakefront Property” and “The Shad Over Jordan Lake,” before I finally settled on the current title. By July, the story felt complete and ready to go.
In all, I sent “The Shadow Over Jordan Lake” to 15 publications over the course of 1 year and 1 month before it was accepted. This might sound like a lot, but compared to the journey of “The Only Real Thing,” this was a cakewalk. Here is some of the feedback I received in positive rejection letters during that time (I am leaving out the names of the publications because I did not ask their permission):
“The story is cute”
“We really enjoyed your story, but we’re sorry this isn’t the right story for us right now. We did find much to admire in your work, though, and we hope you’ll send us more to consider soon.”
“I appreciated the tone and the concept, but I think I would have preferred a tighter plot.”
“Your assured writing and intriguing concept pulled us in with this one, but in the end we felt that it didn’t quite fit the needs of the magazine, so we have decided to pass on it. We wish you the very best of luck in placing your story elsewhere.”
After just over a year of submitting the story, I finally got the request from Black Cat Weekly to publish it. Now “The Shadow Over Jordan” is set to appear soon, possibly in October. I will post a link to the issue when it is released.
Daniel Kason 