Acceptance in Shadows

This has been quite a week for the old scrivener. On Tuesday morning I learned that a story of mine, entitled “Vrangr”, was accepted for publication in the esteemed journal Shadows and Tall Trees (edited by Michael Kelly).

It is equally thrilling to report that this is my first official sale. As a writer who has faced his share of rejection letters, such an acceptance (and in a journal that I have always held in the highest regard, and which has published some of my very favorite authors) is cause for celebration; and believe me, I have done my fair share.

The issue containing “Vrangr” is due to be published in May 2014, in both trade paperback and e-book formats. What will I do in the interim? Write, of course. And with the added impetus of this future publication, I have received a boost of confidence that is absolutely priceless. Every writer questions themselves from time to time over the validity of their work, so to have a story accepted by an editor (especially one so respected in the field) is beyond words.

Writing is, as we’ve all heard before, a solitary endeavor wherein you spend countless hours writing, revising, and trying to perfect your work to the best possible degree. And the idea of seeing that work in print is always the light at what can seem at times like an endless tunnel. Finally arriving at that light, and then stepping through, is a bit overwhelming. You stumble forth a changed person. Not in the sense of ego, but in that of future possibility.

When I started this blog a little over a year ago, one of my secret desires was to one day craft such a post as this.

And here it is at last….