I submitted The Grass is Always Greener to one magazine last June and have not heard back (other than my e-mailing them a few months back and confirming it’s still in the running). So I e-mailed them today and pulled it.
This may have been a mistake on my part, but I’ve never had a short story sit longer than six months and had good results: Either the magazine already sent it back, or they decide they’re overstocked and don’t want to keep it tied up any longer. Or they shut up shop.
So I’m going to put the story back into play. I have other markets it might sell too, so I’m willing to take a chance.
On another note, regarding my recent post about giving villains valid motives and the problems that can cause, I was struck by this comment on the Slacktivist blog by gdwarf:
of the Rings is about as clear-cut a case of good vs. evil as one can
get. Yet it’s seen as an amazing piece of literature. … fans of the books never say: “It would’ve been so much
better if the ring was potentially the only hope to save Middle Earth
from a great fantastical evil, and that Sauron, despite being not a
nice guy, was just doing what he felt was necessary.” Why? Because that
wouldn’t have added anything to the story.
