A Published Author

Last year I wrote a short story entitled “Woodbine.” It is a feminist tale, full of subtle allusions and magic. The story was accepted into The Sci-Fi & Fantasy Writers’ Guild anthology Depths of Love, and will be published tomorrow by Cloaked Press.

I am beyond thrilled for this story to be out in the world. It will be available on Kindle, and later, in paperback format. It is my first ever published work.

Let me just pause a moment to freak out about the fact that I am about to be PUBLISHED. For years I’ve been a part of the discussion of how to classify oneself. Writer, author, or published author? Well, we are all writers. Are we authors if we aren’t yet published? Yes! Does no one outside of our writing friends understand that publishing often takes YEARS though? YES.

I set a goal for myself to be published before my birthday (June 5th) in 2016. Did I attain that goal? Absolutely not. In fact, I sort of stopped trying in 2017. I am the worst at querying and submitting my short stories for publication. I am a busy mom, and now, a working mom. I still write, often with long stretches in between where I play video games and bake cupcakes, but I haven’t devoted a ton of effort into getting published in the last few years. So the fact that I am HERE, less than 24 hours away from being a published author, is mind boggling.

I am so thankful to my family and my writer friends who have supported and encouraged me throughout the years. Bardugo Babes, Chalklings, Toasties, and so many more, I’m looking at you.