My story, “The Dreaming Dead” has been published in Chill Mag Issue 4: Dreaming.
I originally wrote The Dreaming Dead a few years ago for a new magazine that was looking for stories and poems about dreams. The story didn’t get accepted, obviously, but they sent me one of the most glowing rejections I’ve ever received. In fact, they liked the story so much that I still have no idea why they didn’t accept it. Oh well, just one of those goofy writing fails I guess.
I had a lot of fun with this story. Since it’s set in a dream, I got to play loose with the language and imagery. It’s always a real treat when I get the chance to write something outside of a normal structured narrative. The only problem was, with it being a themed story (dreams), I wasn’t left with many options for getting it published. Most magazines and reviews aren’t looking for semi-experimental short fiction like this.
I submitted the story a couple of more times over the past two years, but with no success, so I more or less abandoned it. That happens. And The Dreaming Dead’s fate would have been sealed inside of the reject bin if I hadn’t stumbled across a submission call by Chill Mag. Sure enough, they’re an art and literary magazine that publishes semi-experimental short fiction, and the submission call was for stories and poems about dreams for their Dreaming issue.
It’s strange how things turn out sometimes. Perhaps stories are meant for certain publications and it’s only a matter of finding them. It certainly gives me hope for the ever-expanding pile of unsold stories I’ve been sitting on. Anyway, you should check out the magazine. It’s great! And I’m not just saying that because I’m in it. I would read it regardless. The artwork is fantastic and the stories/poems are all so unique and interesting. You can tell a lot of work goes into these issues.
Caleb James K. 