How a Story That Was Rejected 20+ Times Becomes a Winner

Where Fleur writes a weird story that almost stayed in the drawer forever and shares the story behind the story (that's a lot of story).

I love it when an author or an artist shares their inspiration behind the work. It makes me feel like I’m getting a look behind the curtain, so to speak. Lots of anthologies share short background like that now, including the ‘Best of’ anthologies. Stephen King does. It’s fun.

Here’s a story behind the story….

Where do ideas come from anyway? It’s that most often asked question at author events, and it’s tough to answer. Because I get ideas everywhere.

Sometimes it’s a conversation. Sometimes a setting (how easy would it be to bury a body in this wild expanse of wilderness?), or a newspaper article, or a historical event, or a piece of art.

Sometimes it’s another book. In the case of my short story that made it into the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024 anthology that’s out this Tuesday, my inspiration came from this tiny booklet.

I found it as part of a batch of these Little Blue Books that were published in the early 1900s. They were produced in tiny booklet form, small enough to fit in your pocket, and designed to teach you a life skill or entertain with a short story. Think of any skill and there’s a Little Blue Book to teach you it. There are a ton of them still floating around, though the paper almost turns to dust in your hands now…

In any case, Little Blue Book 1206: How to Teach Yourself to Swim was written by a guy named Harry who clearly got a little lyrical about learning to swim, so it made good story fodder. I wrote my short story a few years ago, when Covid still kept us indoors and I just wanted to write something short and easy to finish in a few writing sessions. It came out a little sad but hopeful, too. My story based on this Little Blue Book is an odd, dark crime fiction piece. It was originally published by Dark Yonder, a neo-noir print publication—so I guess that makes it neo-noir.

I feel a little cooler for it.

Truth in advertising: How to Teach Yourself to Swim was rejected more than twenty times, by lit magazines and zines and (almost) everyone who publishes short stories.

And I didn’t even get personalized rejections, just the short, canned ones that told me they really didn’t like it. I almost gave up. Maybe this story was just too weird, too odd of a duck…

I share this because it illustrates that sometimes, you should just not give up. There’s a place for that weird bird of a story or book you wrote. And it’s those odd ducks that end up being just the fresh thing that makes it into a Best-of anthology.

I’ll say it again: don’t give up. It’s old advice but still truest.

Also, just because you write one thing doesn’t mean you can’t write a completely different thing. I write books for kids, but I also enjoy writing (neo-noir) short stories.

No need to type-cast yourself. You’re not Liam Neeson.

What I’m Writing

I’m still plugging away at my middle-grade mystery, at a time when not a lot of kids books are selling in the publishing world. I must be nuts…

But the revisions are going well. Fingers crossed I can finish this draft by the end of the month.

Where I’m Going

To the beach! *Cue the Dora the Explorer tune.

I’m off to California (again), this time to help my oldest daughter move into her apartment in the San Diego area. I’m hoping to spend some time on the water (I love a boat ride) and plan to eat good food.

I’ll share pictures. It’s okay to hate me a little.

Your Weekly Floof

Floof would like to point out that she’s shaped like California, so she’ll fit right in. Sorry Floof—no travel for you…