Six Pretty Good Weeks

The Rat Chancellor was published in June of '09, a year after Tin Whistle - a year that was increasingly filled with frustration as rejections from publishers began to stream in. The thing is, it doesn't matter how low you are, one letter of acceptance can pick you up in a hurry. The encouragement it gives you is without any equal that I've ever known. This one sustained me through the rest of June and July with ease, and I'm sure would have carried me much further, but August was the beginning of a six week period that I've yet to surpass: "Freedom's Wings" Transition magazine, accepted August 5th; "A Word", Penticton Writers and Publishers (Clem Battye Award), accepted August 31st; and "Highway Driving", the John Kenneth Galbraith Literary Award, accepted September 20th. By the time it was over, I was more than half convinced that I'd finally arrived.