"I Never Said I Was Smart..."

"...just tough and sexy."

This line of dialogue is from the Spenser: For Hire pilot, an adaptation of the novel PROMISED LAND.

I'm feeling bull-headed because—despite many suggestions that I put the story aside—I've revised "Stranded" again. Here's my line of thinking: 1) Ideas for changes came to me, and I thought it best to try them now instead of locking them away and coming up with a story idea from scratch; 2) "Stranded" wouldn't leave me alone (ha-ha), not in the supercritical nagging way—that I know to avoid—but in the encouraging "Let's give this another shot. Just a walk in the park" way.

For one thing, the story is back to first-person. I needed to go through third to bring out conflicts that weren't showing up. So, if this makes sense, the story is first-person, but less about me than it was to begin.

I appreciate that friends have asked me to put this aside, get some distance, but I have to listen to the voice that puts words on paper. No matter how many markets reject a story—as long as I see value in it and work to present that—it has a chance.