A Little Victory

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A couple of weeks ago I sent a small piece into my local newspaper in response to a call for stories about random acts of kindness.  This summer in London, I experienced a monumental act of kindness which I documented in  A Brilliant Stroke of Luck and I thought this story might fit what the editors wanted.  I did some editing to meet the the 200 word requirement and sent it in, never once thinking it might actually get printed.  I held onto that belief until I checked my blog comments on Thanksgiving evening and found out that I was in fact published!  For the first time ever, my work and my pen name are in print!!

The editorial page may be small apples, but to me its a small step where I found a bit of success as a writer.  After all, little victories sometimes lead to bigger victories, right?  As I put the finishing touches on my query letter and continue the arduous task of writing a synopsis, this is certainly a nice little boost right when I need one.

  

It appeared in both the print edition and online!  When I got the news, my husband and step-dad were out doing some early Black Friday shopping and they were nice enough to stop at a store and pick up a newspaper.   A couple of friends saved some copies as well, which means I can do some fun things with my first publication (i.e. keep a whole copy, frame one, paste one into one of my spirals for inspiration, etc).

Special thanks to my writer’s group for giving me the heads up on two fronts.  I am so grateful to Cindi of Loving Arizona Living for bringing it to my attention that the newspaper was looking for stories and to Susanne of That’s Not My Table  for letting me know it was published.  Thank you!

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Note: My tiny break is officially over.  New posts will start appearing as they did before with three or four a week.  Thanks for your patience!

c.b. 2011

40 thoughts on “A Little Victory”

    • Thanks! 🙂

      It’s funny that it happened while I was taking a “tiny break.” Today I was very, very ready to start writing again. Motivation is coming at me from everywhere, including my muse!

      Thanks for reading!

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  8. Woohoo!!!

    Every bit we have published is a step toward a larger goal. I’m thrilled for you. In the beginning these small rewards is what keeps us writing. I started out by sending work to small literary magazines. What a wonderful Thanksgiving gift for you.

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    • Thanks! 🙂

      Right when I sent this into the newspaper, I sent a couple stories in to literary magazines. It feels good to get some of my work out there, no matter how small. I’m at the point where I want people to read what I write and that’s a great feeling after such a long time of being too afraid to let anyone see it.

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  9. Leila

    I am doing a happy dance for you! My first published piece was a letter to the editor about global warming and powerpoint. This is absolutely wonderful.

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  15. This is only the beginning for you!! I will keep my copy for our WIG book and am so happy to be a part of your first publication, though with the writings on your blog, I’d say you are a many times over published writer. I love to read your writing though I can’t keep up with your blogs, you amaze me. Keep submitting and you REALLY SHOULD send an article to the Republic about your trip to London. They publish them every week and you’ve certainly got what it takes!

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    • I’ve got two more pieces submitted elsewhere (as per the goals I set last year in WIG). I’ll definitely think about writing something about London, but the trick is deciding where to begin. That trip was so massive and I’m still trying to figure out the impact it had on me.

      Thanks for all the encouragement! 🙂

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