Forthcoming (Redux)

There are plenty of writers out there with blogs who are all cool about their acceptances. And what I mean by cool is, they don't ever mention them until the magazines where their stories or poems will appear are already out.

I'm not one of those cool writers. Acceptances are so rare, I think, that they might as well be mentioned twice: once when they are received and again when the magazine itself is set to come out and/or go live on the internets.

So: I got word the other day from Red Wheelbarrow that they're going to publish a story of mine. (I'd link to it, but their system is down right now due to class registration or something). It's a story from my grad thesis, which means that about two years after I defended said thesis, all of its stories are published except for one.

And for those of you keeping score, I may as well mention that I also have stories forthcoming fairly soon in Blue Earth Review, The Duck & Herring Co. Pocket Field Guide, and 5_Trope.

I don't think there's ever been a time when I've had four things forthcoming, and it's not so hard for me to remember a time when I would get so anxious waiting for the first or second or third stories that had been accepted to come out that I wouldn't write anything for weeks. Dealing with things this new way, I think, is much less taxing on the nerves. It is, in fact, a luxury.

Oh, and I'll give one last plug for Avery: An Anthology of New Fiction, where my latest story has gone from forthcoming to in print. Their first issue really is great, and you should all check it out. Big thanks to Stephanie Fiorelli, Adam Koehler, and Andrew Palmer for letting me be a part of it--and for having the guts and determination and to carry their idea out from conception to completion. J.C. and I once planned to start a lit mag way back in the day, and we never got much past the conception part. So, as I've said before, I got mad respect for all those people out there who actually carry this kind of endeavor out.