Finished Short Story and Sent it off to UFO Anthology

Folks, the “UFO Anthology” referenced above is actually UNIDENTIFIED FUNNY OBJECTS — an anthology that accepts either science fiction or fantasy short stories, providing they are funny.  I sent in a funny urban fantasy story that’s about baseball; I don’t know what they’ll think about it, but I do know that it at least has the virtue of being original.  (Not many urban fantasies written about baseball these days, for reasons that elude me.)

Now, this was more difficult than I’d expected, considering that my main claim to fame (such as it is) is due to being a funny fantasist.  (ELFY, if you can say nothing else about it, is funny.  It’s meant to be.  I did that on purpose, even.)

Why was this, you ask?  (Maybe you didn’t ask.  But I’ll answer anyway.)  Simple — I came down with a sinus infection several weeks ago.  I was finally diagnosed last week, and got some antibiotics; only after taking antibiotics for several days was I able to finish up my latest urban fantasy story.

The good news is that I was able to complete my story on time; the bad news, as always, is that I wasn’t invited to submit to this anthology.  (I don’t have anywhere near the name recognition for that, nor the story sales to back me up, nor anything except sheer cussedness and a dab hand for urban fantasy to recommend me.)  And thus far, over 700 people in addition to those invited into the anthology have submitted stories; only a handful of stories have been accepted, at most, with another handful being debated among the editors for possible inclusion.

** Edited to add:  The official stats, from Alex S.’s blog post of 8/22/12, are these:  745 stories had been read.  18 stories were accepted totaling 55,600 words in length; 19 stories were held in round 3 (meaning they’re still being debated among the editors), totaling 35,000 words.  Now back to our regularly scheduled post.

How do I know this, you ask?  Well, Alex Shvartsman, through his blog, has given excellent updates throughout the process as to what he’s taking, why he’s taking it, and what he really doesn’t want to see any more of if he can help it.  (Fortunately for me, baseball stories were not among his “thou-shalt-nots.)

If you’re like me, though, and finished your story up the day before the anthology closed, then sent it in before the anthology was officially declared closed (as it says quite clearly that the “anthology window” is between July 1 and August 31, 2012), you can still get your story in if you hustle.  Go to the link provided above (click on UNIDENTIFIED FUNNY OBJECTS), follow the directions, and submit your story.

Otherwise, wish my little baseball-oriented urban fantasy well, will you?