Nothing excites a writer more than learning that one of their works has been accepted into a publication.

On April 17th, my short story, “Sticky Fingers,” will be published on the front page of LINGUISTIC EROSION, an online journal dedicated to flash fiction.

Woohoo!

I try not to count my chickens before they hatch, of course, so I’m going to wait until I see my words in print before I start celebrating too much on my blog. However, this was definitely an exciting and uplifting occasion, especially considering the events of the past few weeks.

I’ve been sending out a lot of work lately, trying to build my portfolio and literary resume, before I send out the query letters for my novel. I’ve finished editing it, so now it’s just a matter of actually MOVING FORWARD. Funny how I keep finding excuses to procrastinate with that.

Guess the fear of rejection is a paralyzing one sometimes.

Don’t worry – I made a promise with myself that the moment I hit 20 total publications [I’m at 16, before this upcoming one], I will send my query letters out to my top ten  preferred literary agents. So the paralysis can’t last too long, especially if my school literary journal accepts my recent submissions after their April 1st deadline passes.

So… I guess the next few weeks will tell. I’m certainly not going to wish for a REJECTION of my work, so I guess that means I’ll be hoping for the push to finally start soliciting my novel to potential publishers. Eeeek!

On that note, I’m optimistic it’s going to be a tense – but exciting – few weeks!

~ Victoria Elizabeth