I’ve just received some very good writing-related news.

Every writer understands the giant gulf between the way published and unpublished writers are perceived. Of course, writers write, and that doesn’t change just because they’re published. Publication indicates a change in how the writer is received by the world, not in what the writer does. Still, it’s hard not to feel changed by the news that somebody wants to publish something you’ve written.

I’ll hold off naming the story and the venue until the contract has been signed by both parties, but I feel very relieved. I’ve heard of writers laboring for many years before their first acceptance, and I can only guess how frustrating it would be to face many times more rejections than I’ve had to face before that first break. I’ve only been back at it for about eighteen months, but writing is something I worked at consistently all through my twenties, and for another stretch in my mid-teens, so I feel like I’ve paid my dues.