Dear stack of novels,
Thank you very much for decorating my bookshelf. I have enjoyed these months (who am I kidding, years!) of looking at your earth-toned spines. I know I can never appreciate how much time someone spent writing and rewriting and revising and editing and editing and editing each of you, but having written short stories and essays, I can try.
Unfortunately, I regret to inform you that you aren’t the right fit for me at this time. As you know, I made myself miserable trying to read you as quarantine depression mushed the sentience out of my brain, and things just haven’t been the same since. I tried to start one of you a couple months ago, but it felt like homework. Since then, I have exclusively accepted submissions from short stories, essays, and poems.
I’m lost in mid-semester’s paper swamp right now, and I wouldn’t have time to slog through you if I wanted to. I will gladly reconsider your submissions in a couple months, but will I want to read you then, or even be able to?
Don’t hold your dusty breath.
Gratefully(?) yours,
Isaac Fox
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Isaac Fox is a student at Lebanon Valley College, where he majors in English and creative writing. He spends his free time reading and writing things that aren’t assigned, shooting pictures, and playing the clarinet. His fiction and photography have appeared in Green Blotter, Rune Bear, and Heart of Flesh magazines. He also reviews books and short-form pieces for Green Blotter. You can find him on Twitter at @IsaacFo80415188.
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image: MM Kaufman
Rejection Letters 