Rejection Letter
Posted by Aaron Springer on October 21, 2009 under General, Science Fiction | 
Read the First Comment
Dear sir,
I want to thank you for your submission to Weird and Wonderful Tales. Although your story was, indeed, weird, the editorial staff and I felt that the premise was a bit too implausible, even for fantasy fiction. This story went too far beyond the bounds of our own world to have much appeal to our readers.
Some of the sections we had the most issue with:
- The idea of an asteroid striking Nuyao millions of years ago was novel, but the supposition that anything would have survived an event such as you describe is implausible at best. The intense heat from the explosion would surely cook everything on the land, in the air, or in the sea.
- That the animals that survived were the fur covered milk-bearers was, again, implausible. Did you not know that they give birth to live young? Without the protection of an egg, how are they to survive the harsh conditions that would exist after the impact?
- The milk-bearers eventually losing their fur and becoming the intelligent “humans” was beyond belief, even for us. Millions of years of science have shown us that these creatures will never develop beyond their current state as pets and sometime pests.
- Finally, that these “humans” would form a world wide civilization powered by “oil” in less than a hundred thousand years was the final tooth, as it were. It has taken us millions of years to evolve to the point we are at now. Such a species, in their haste, would strip this world to its core for metals before learning constraint.
If you plan to make any future contributions to Weird and Wonderful Tales, please keep these sticking points in mind. No one’s scales are too thick to take a bit of constructive criticism.
Best regards,
Rongilan Garahra
Asst. Editor
Weird and Wonderful Tales
(To those good intentioned well wishers, this is a piece of flash fiction, not an actual rejection letter… read it closely if you are confused)
