HOORAY! I am beside myself with happiness. I have officially had my first short story published in a literary journal. You can read my short story, “Joseph”, in Issue #4 of the Vine Leaves Literary Journal here (page 24 of the journal), along with other fantastic stories and poetry. It will also be featured in their "Best of 2012" anthology coming at the end of this year.
Not only that, but “Joseph” has been nominated by Vine Leaves Literary Journal for the Pushcart Prize. Though I am a bit cowed by the competition for the Pushcart Prize, I am so honored to even be in consideration for something I’ve been coveting for quite some time.
I have to admit that I’ve been getting rather depressed recently. Even though I’ve become used to rejections, it’s still quite the downer every time I receive another one. In a fit of despair, I’d told my husband that if I reached 100 rejections without getting accepted once, I would give up my dream of being a professional writer. So, this piece of news definitely gave me a little boost of confidence to forge ahead (I’d only reached 35 or so rejections at the time of my story’s acceptance).
The day after I received news of my story’s acceptance, I received two more rejections. But, I filed those away and got back to staring at my computer screen.