Hideous , as in having something like a 99 % rejection rate for fiction writers . With those kinds of odds , I ' m much better off at a craps table in Vegas . Still , I was foolhardy enough - and , like most writers , unreasonably optimistic - to think that I might creep into that glorious one percent .

Question: Why is the narrator so pessimistic at the moment ?
Answer: Their writing is unlikely to get accepted .They lost their money at craps .They are in Las Vegas and have a gambling problem .None of the above choices .