Nearly a full month late (with Starbucks), I am writing about “We Lilies of the Valley” which was first published by Shimmer.

This story went through a number of revisions. The first draft also featured Sierra’s point of view, and they alternated between Yvonne’s.

I eventually trimmed it down so that it was solely from Yvonne’s. That was a tough choice to make, but I think the story or is more cohesive and more poignant than before. One day I do want to tell Sierra’s story, but I don’t think it belonged here.

My experience trying to sell this story once more reiterated how incredibly lucky I was to  have sold “You An Accidental Astronaut” on my very first try. It also showed me that I am a terrible editor, and that I need to become more comfortable sharing my drafts to people who can read it previously before me.

I also learned not to give up, even as I’m trying to sell another story that I wrote a year ago–a story that I am still editing, and trying to apply what I learned in the editing process for “We Lilies of the Valley” for this story.

And in case anyone was wondering about the title, my mother asked me why this title. This is what I said:

I couldn’t think of a good name for my story. We Lilies of the Valley seemed to fit better than the others. It’s a reference to Song of Solomon, chapter 2, which is about two people in love across a separation of race and class, iirc. So a story about two people falling in love across literal space seemed appropriate to title with that literary nod.

If you read the story, I hope you enjoy it!