A Dream Deferred?

The waiting game is what I call it. What am I referring to? The months and months you wait to hear whether your work will be published in a literary magazine. It's like waiting to hear whether you've got accepted into the school of your dreams. Honestly, I don't ever think I have a real chance of getting published, but it's nice to believe you have a shot. During your waiting period, you ask yourself, "What if?" What if your work does get published? I remember when my story, "Elvis,"became published. I received the news on the last day of July via email. It was for The Baltimore Urbanite, New Voices: Emerging Writers Issue, August 2009. I was so ecstatic. Lights, camera, action! I thought being published meant things were going to happen. Maybe someone would contact me...recognize me...phone calls...none of the above...but it is a starting point. So, I just got to keep trekking along and maybe things will start to happen. At least, I hope. Anyway, can you recall your first published story? Did you have high expectations? Did anything come from it?

The Fame Game

You've sent out your manuscript to your favorite literary magazine. You imagine yourself reading the email, "Congratulations, we have selected your story for our publication..." And to top it off, you get paid a couple of hundreds, and before you know it, you become a household name...okay, I'm getting carried away. But honestly, who doesn't wish that one of the above scenarios wouldn't happen? What prompted these fantasies? I have submitted a collection of prose poetry entitled, "Black Codes," for Tin House's issue about class in America. I guess, I'll find out, if my submission made it by August. If not, the game continues. If so, YAY! I gotta be like Jesse and keep hope alive. What is your motto that motivates you to keep writing?