Today Is That Day

I got the email yesterday, and six words into it, I knew. "We are pleased to inform you...". That was about the point at which I stopped reading and started screaming. I knew eventually the odds had to turn in my favor, and that day has finally come.

I could tell you about how I started whooping and yelling, then ran downstairs to tell my family what had happened. I could tell you about how my jumping up and down and screaming alarmed the dog so much that she alternated between barking at me and licking my face. I could tell you how my knees gave out and I sat down on the kitchen floor, then burst into tears. But none of that would be adequate to explain just what it feels like to be able to say the following, finally, after 26 years of trying, hoping, and waiting:

One of my short stories, "The Truth One Sees," has been accepted for publication. It will appear in the Warrior Wisewoman III anthology, to be released this spring. I'll post a release date and any other pertinent info when I have it.

One Wait or Another

I sent a short story off to an online magazine and have been watching it move up the queue. It's something to do while waiting to hear from another submission that's been in play for a long time now. The first venue might still take a while to get back to me, although it could happen at any time, while this latest one will get back to me very, very quickly. As in less than 24 hours. I have no idea what will be decided regarding this more recent submission/venue, but checking the submissions tracker gives me something else to be excited or worried about while waiting for the results of the previous submission.

In other words, if I keep enough irons in the fire at the same time, I can spread my nervous anticipation around between them, instead of feeling like everything's riding on just one person, just one decision. I knew there was a really good reason I have three short stories on the market at the same time. This way, I can't sell my only cow for a handful of magic beans. Instead, I could potentially get three handfuls....

Little Red Laptop

I got it for Christmas, and it's awesome. It weighs less than 2 pounds and fits perfectly into the little laptop bag I found at Ross for $12.99. It isn't technically new, but it's close to new and more importantly, it's exactly what I wanted. In the past couple of weeks, I've found that I love its grab-and-go portability, so much easier than my other laptop, which weighs as much as a newborn child and is a lot less convenient to carry. The little red one also has an amazing feature--it has about six hours of battery power before it needs to be recharged, which makes it perfect for me while I'm running errands or taking children to their various away-from-home activities. It's been to the YMCA, a local coffee shop, a bookstore, and my last Moxie meeting. It's no more inconvenient to carry than a purse, and weighs so little that I can hang the purse and the laptop case from the same shoulder and not feel like my arm's going to come off.

I splurged and ordered an ergo travel keyboard for it, and this Kat is still on the hunt for the perfect mouse. Otherwise, all systems are definitely go--or at least, on the go.