…to report all at once, after a lengthy dry spell.
(1) Over the winter, I joined the writers’ group sponsored by Barton Community College in Great Bend. Justin Brown and Scott McDonald lead monthly gatherings with presentations, prompted exercises, and general good fellowship. Each year, they publish an anthology of fiction, essays, poems, photographs and artwork called Prairie Ink. This year they accepted my short story, “Duet,” about a young man who unexpectedly discovers the devious ways art can confuse, surprise, and enlighten. In the course of a casual conversation about a dramatic local storm, I sent Justin a photo I had snapped with my elderly cell phone, reminiscent of WWI’s Western Front, only in my back yard. He liked it and decided it belonged on the cover!
(2) Way back last fall, on a whim, I sent a poem to Inscape, another annual lit mag produced by Washburn University. You must understand I have written maybe six poems in my entire life, so I sent it in and promptly forgot about it. And to my astonishment, months later, I got an acceptance! The poem is called “Euthanasia,” and it was my way of expressing a soul-deep gratitude to a veterinarian who wept with me on one terrible day. It’s a lovely magazine, with some very fine work and I am proud and grateful to have been included in such good company.
(3) Again, way back last fall, I submitted a short story, “Cloud and Rain,” to the Next Generation Short Story Awards, in the category of Children’s / Juvenile Fiction. I was pleased to have the story reach the Finalist level.
So, with a trio of successes, maybe I’ll have to plant my butt in the chair and get back to some work on the historical novel that’s been looming over me impatiently for way too long…