Gemotions

"I'm sorry," the editor said, his voice clipped. "We've accepted another submission with a nearly identical premise." Ben's carefully crafted novel, the culmination of years of work, was now worthless. He was stunned.

The news hit him like a physical blow. He'd poured his heart and soul into the story, dependent on the affirmation of publication. Now, he felt exposed, stripped of his purpose.

He saw the other author's name on a publisher's website. They had a similar cover design, and a similar story. He felt a wave of nausea. He felt…empty, a hollow shell. He hadn't known what he was without the book, but now he did. He needed to know what had gone wrong, and how to recover.