A Foolproof Plan by Judy Penz Sheluk

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m an author. I’m also an editor, as well as the owner of the independent publishing imprint, Superior Shores Press (SSP). Part of what I publish under the SSP umbrella, beyond my own work, are multi-author anthologies. Number five, Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense, launched on June 18th. 

Here’s the thing. In addition to selecting 20+ stories out of 80+ submissions, I also include a story in each collection that I’ve written. You might think that makes my story a sure win. After all, I’m unlikely to send myself a rejection letter, right?

Okay, fine, if you must know, there was that one time, when I was the volunteer intake coordinator for Bouchercon Toronto’s anthology, Passport to Murder, when I had to send myself a rejection letter. 

Humbling? That goes without saying. But with the judge’s feedback and a few revisions, it eventually found a good home. 

Fast forward to my story, ‘A Foolproof Plan’ in Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers. It began life as a third-person account of a woman, Amanda, plotting her escape from an unhappy marriage. The title, depending on where it was in the revision process, alternated between ‘Running  Away’ to ‘The Second Last Supper’ to ‘Just Ten More Minutes.’ 

After a couple of well-deserved rejections, I put it in my WIP folder and forgot about it for the next five years. Except I hadn’t, not really. When the time came to write something for Midnight Schemers, and pulled it out of the bin and dusted it off. 

I wish I could tell you that my first attempt at revival was a rousing success. Instead, my beta readers were far from enthusiastic. As for my longtime editor (because here’s a head’s up, even editors can’t edit their own work), she was considerably more forthright: “This is a great ending that deserves a much better story.’

Another writer might have given up, but I’m an optimist. I focused on “great ending” and went back to the keyboard.

I started by changing the point of view from third person to first. That helped, because instead of being an observer on the sidelines, it got me into Amanda’s head. A half-dozen revisions later, and I was ready for another round of feedback.

My editor still liked the ending. My beta readers, not so much. “This is going to be the last story in the collection,” one of them lamented. “Do you really want to leave readers on such a downer?”

I thought about that. True, the ending I’d written, the one my editor had found “great,” was dark. But was there a way where it could be, if not all sunshine and roses and wrapped up in a tidy bow, at least a bit more hopeful? I thought there was, though it would mean bit more tinkering to make it work.

‘A Foolproof Plan’ may bear little resemblance to its earlier iterations, but it’s finally found its way out of the WIP bin and into a book. And all it took was five years and fifteen revisions.

READERS: What’s your favorite sort of ending and why? 

About Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers: 22 stories of Mystery & Suspense

Desire or desperation, revenge or retribution—how far would you go to realize a dream? The twenty-two authors in this collection explore the possibilities, with predictably unpredictable results.

Featuring stories by Pam Barnsley, Linda Bennett, Clark Boyd, C.W. Blackwell, Amanda Capper, Susan Daly, James Patrick Focarile, Rand Gaynor, Gina X. Grant, Julie Hastrup, Beth Irish, Charlie Kondek, Edward Lodi, Bethany Maines, Jim McDonald, donalee Moulton, Michael Penncavage, Judy Penz Sheluk, KM Rockwood, Peggy Rothschild, Debra Bliss Saenger, and Joseph S. Walker.

Find it at www.books2read.com/midnight-schemers/

Find out more about Judy Penz Sheluk at www.judypenzsheluk.com