things I wish I'd said...

I've been a slush reader for the Berkeley Fiction Review this semester and for the most part that means scowling at mediocre short stories - looking for reasons to like them. Bah - most of them are plotless wonders and I keep thinking I've missed something - do literary shorts no longer need to have an actual story in there?

We have passed a few up the editorial line but even those I wouldn't buy if it were my money on the line. I know the Review is a for-love market but really....

However, this week at the editorial meeting the dude next to me said something I wish I'd said - we were reviewing a story that had made it out of slush and it had a few issues - during the comment phase he says, "This story gave me literary blue-balls."

I choked and tried not to snort up my guts from laughing - OMG and he was SO right about the problem with the story.