Afterword

I'm going to say that Malice is finished. I'll post the last chapter on Thursday.

So now what. Now what now what now what.

I've gotten to a point where I've started to receive nice personalized rejections from the venues where I submit my stories, which is very cool. So I'll keep doing that.

So far I've only been submitting to magazines and websites that I'm already familiar with and actually read, which is a somewhat shallow pool.

I think it's time to subscribe to Duotrope, which I've been putting off. The $5 a month isn't really an issue; it's more about... Idk, I can't put my finger on it. Some sort of generalized anxiety. Fandom communities tend to be full of "writing positivity," like, "anyone can be a 'writer,' and all types of writing are valid," but the writing market is actually super competitive and scary, and I am a delicate flower.

Maybe it's also time to sign up for a workshop offered by a local writing center, but holy fuck these things are expensive. Like, I understand that it's important for people to get paid, but $170 for a two-day weekend online seminar? An anime convention would be cheaper.

Idk. It took me a long time to remove myself from the cult of academia, and I'm afraid that I'm about to jump right on in to yet another cult. At least fandom will always be there so maybe I'm not as done with Ganondorf's cock as I hoped.