"Murder your darlings": darling strikes first

[deepfishy]

The latest story-in-the-world seems determined to give me a heart attack (acting out because I sent it away?). First with confusion over timezones, deadlines, and daylight saving time. Then just now, when my dad looked up from the printed copy and said, "I assume the last page was deliberate?"

Um, maybe? No, as it turned out. The last couple of sentences of the story all looked something like this: $>_e_0c__!osaaS=aL5O%E_+!vE)- (except with more accents, mathematical symbols, and inscrutable boxes). Cue hurried checking of the version sent. Last page normal.

I always knew my printer operated on the misanthropic principle. I just never thought it would pull more than passive-aggressive job duplicates on me.

Comments

[lyr]

Something about formal submissions seems to cue a perfect storm of catastrophe, doesn't it? I'm glad you got the normal version sent off okay anyway! And good luck with it---I'll keep fingers and toes crossed for you.

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Even if it's not accepted there, it means I have another story edited and ready to do the rounds.

I always have to multi-check them before I click submit - mostly I'm terrified of mistyping an editor's name, or completely forgetting to attach the story (and wouldn't that be a total *facepalm*...).