the reason why

the paramount reason why i have been so m.i.a. the last few weeks is because i decided that i was going to commit myself to writing and submitting my first essay for a print magazine. the publication i chose to write for provides freelancers with prompts each month as a guide...the prompt for this particular edition was, "what if?" and i had seven sunrises and seven sunsets to get the thing finished by the deadline.

'twas the night before the deadline and i was exactly nineteen words short of the minimum length requirement. felt like i was at the library in college again. choosing those nineteen words turned out to be easier than i thought and in the end i think they actually made my story stronger. it was ready, all 837 words. one "click" and it would virtually be in the magazine editor's hands.

"click".

it felt good. with no guarantee that my story would be looked at--let alone published--i was relieved and proud to have finished what i set out to do.

thing is, less than a day later, the editor of the mag sent me this one-liner: thanks so much, but we don't have a spot for this in our march issue. all i wanted to say in return was, "then why do you encourage writers to contribute their work on your website? thanks for nothing." needless to say, i felt a wee bit deflated after receiving this e-mail, which is why it took me a few days to post the article on my blog (which is also why it took me another few days to actually explain the premise for the article). better late than never, right? i knew a few college professors who would disagree.