Do you follow me on Instagram? If you don’t, please do! It’s my favorite place to connect with others and also where I share most of my writing updates and other random shenanigans. Recently, I shared some exciting news I received within these past couple of weeks: my first MAJOR acceptance.

Now, I’ve had plenty of pieces published and accepted (check out My Writing to see the full portfolio) and have been paid for my writing, but this particular publication is owned by Cricket Media so it’s kind of a big deal to me.

Lest you think it’s all rainbows and acceptance letters, let me share that I have been at this for over ten years (albeit, nowhere near as deliberate and dedicated as I have been this past year and a half), and I have received countless rejections over that period. Hundreds at least. I used to keep all the hard copies of rejection letters, but I don’t know where they are now. These days, I can just scroll back through my “writing” email folder or peruse my Submittable page if I want to see all of my rejections. (I don’t recommend that; it’s not fun.)

In fact, I had a couple of rejections from Highlights magazines (this was before they were on Submittable) where I received hand written comments. I treasured these rejections like you wouldn’t believe. “They said they like my writing! Yay!”

These days I’m focusing on keeping as many irons in the fire as I can. I try to submit at least four pieces a month just so I’m not fixated on one particular publication or story. I’ve explored other avenues to send my writing like Chicken Soup for the Soul, contests, and children’s devotional magazines. I’ll submit to journals that aren’t paying markets, but give another writing credit to my resume. If a piece is rejected at one publication, I turn around and submit it to another.

Meanwhile I’ve been working on rewrites for a book I finished a few years ago. I have several, crummy drafts of different novels that are “drawered” right now, and I’m working through completely rewriting one of them. Like, “open up a new document” rewriting it. Lemme tell you, if you think drafting is hard, rewriting is the pits.

I’m finishing up my article for publication which has a September deadline, and is scheduled to be published in January, 2021. I cannot wait to share more about that with you!

I’m also thinking about doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year. NaNoWriMo is a novel writing challenge to write a book in the month of November. I’ve never tried it before and am thinking about trying it and sharing a series of post about it here on the blog. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Would you want to see posts about NaNoWriMo? Let me know in the comments below!

I’m also always looking for ideas for my Free Writer’s Workshop, if there is a particular area you want me to teach and write about let me know! Shoot me an email or a comment!