Approval Feels Awesome!

Garrison Keillor once joked that it feels so good to get "approved" by the credit card machine thingy when you swipe your Visa at the grocery store.  And it's true, instant approval/acceptance does feel grand.  Since I began submitting fiction last summer, I've received a healthy dose of rejection and not that much approval.  But lo, in the past week, I've receive THREE acceptances for my fiction, and I must say, APPROVAL FEELS AWESOME!

So which three publications have bestowed upon me the honor and excitement of their acceptance this past week?  I'm glad you asked.

Who Loves Me, Baby?  

 

 Okay, "Love" might be kind of a strong word here.  Perhaps a better heading would be:

Who Appreciates My Writing Enough to Print it on Something (Cyberspace, Paper, what-have-you)

eFiction has accepted my story, "Planet of the Slim, Socialist Ex-President" for the first edition of their Humor magazine.  I can't post a direct link because the humor division of eFiction has not gone live yet, but suffice it to say that editor Holt Hunziker is hard at work compiling funny stories for this magazine, which should go online any day now.  Thank you, Holt, for the insightful editorial suggestions which strengthened this story to publication quality!  

The Story Shack will publish a flash piece I wrote called "Reindeer Pictures" this Christmas season.  The best part: Each story at The Story Shack is accompanied by an awesome piece of visual art!  Which means that an artsy guy or gal somewhere will actually create a picture to go with my story.  Am I giddy about this?  Uh, yeah, just a little!

Wayman Publishing will include my story, "The Winkie Boy," in their upcoming print anthology titled "Open Doors: Fractured Fairy Tales," to be released on Amazon December 1st.  This is a publishing house with real heart, as the proceeds from the sale of this anthology will be donated to long term patients at a children's hospital.  Knowing this makes me feel all warm and goopy inside.  And no, I'm not referring to the three fun-sized chocolate bars I just inhaled from my kid's Halloween stash.

AHH.  Now, to stroke my ego even further, I'm going to post this blog and re-read it a couple of times.  Well, maybe fifty times.  All right, one hundred times.  Because I was never a popular kid in high school, and  I just can't get enough of this.  Acceptance feels so darned good!

P.S. You know who else loves me?  (Yes, this might secretly just be a way for me to practice adding photos to a blog post.  But they really do love me.)