So I (Roberta) wrote this short story inspired by a trip to Leadville, Colorado I took with my sister’s family eleven years ago. My niece was 15 at the time and she really was the fifteen-year-old from hell. She is the narrator of the story and I portrayed her as she was on that trip. I submitted the story to a speculative fiction podcast that specializes in everything from hard science fiction, to urban fantasy, horror, steampunk, superheroes and more. My story was rejected. They found my narrator off-putting and suggested I tone her down. Well, I found her off-putting in real life, so why didn’t I tone her down when I wrote the story in the first place? I’ve done a rewrite per the editor’s suggestion, but I am dragging my feet about submitting the story elsewhere. I could just include it in my next collection of short stories titled Distorted 2. Oh, btw, my niece is a sweetie now. Headstrong, yes, because she’s turned out to be a bit of a perfectionist. She is also intelligent, beautiful, and kind. The fifteen-year-old terror was a phase.
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