My thanks to the Australian publishers who ran a request for stories for young people in 1996, 1997, and 2002. Without your calls for submissions I would never have ventured into writing stories for this age-group.
My special thanks to the editor who wrote this in a rejection letter I received in 1996:
“Your stories are well-written and sustain the interest of the reader. They are also very imaginative and encourage the reader to engage with important issues. However, they are too bleak for the series which is humorous and light-hearted. The language you use is just right, with short sentences and common speech, but I think the subject matter would be more appropriate for an older reader. Good luck in getting these published.”
Thank you. Without your comments, I would have taken longer to find the courage to send these stories to market.
Thanks also to the other editor who hoped I would be “able to place the manuscripts successfully with another publisher” and thanked me for my submissions in 1997.
And final thanks to the editor who wished me the “best of luck in finding a publisher for these manuscripts” in 2002.
Without all of you, this story, and the stories to follow would not exist.