Posts Tagged ‘relationships’
The Honeymoon Phase
Remember when your relationship was brand new? When you wandered through your day, stuck in a perpetual state of cute, smiling in joyful anticipation of the prospect of seeing one another naked again? When you couldn’t talk without touching and angels played joyous music in your head everytime you even heard his/her name? Ah yes, the honeymoon phase! Now fast forward a couple of years. You still love one another very much, but you no longer burn with it. The very quirks about the other person that you used to find just so damn cute, are now the very things that you find the most annoying. Then, you find yourself actually scheduling sex, What are you doing a week from next Monday, Dear? and even more incredibly, breaking those dates because you are too tired, too busy, or you just ate too much at dinner and are feeling a tad bloated (hey, it happens!). There is nothing wrong with this phase of your relationship. It’s natural. You have become comfortable. Soon we become so comfortable with one another, that we no longer feel the need to hide our flaws, or live in our insecurities. Sure, some of the excitement is gone, but now you can feel free to belch after dinner and scratch your ass whenever the need arises. Like I said, comfortable. Which brings me to the point of this post.
Breaking into the publishing business is not unlike a relationship. It is a love affair that we enter in to. At first, it is all so very exciting. The first submission, the first personal rejection, the first acceptance, all are a new and powerful experiences. Holy Cats! I have 99 fans on my face book page! 82 followers on Twitter? I’m a freakin ROCK STAR! The other day, I received a link from my comrade in horror, Kevin McClintock (fantastic writer, you should check him out!), that directed me to a page where there were reviews for ALL the stories in the first two issues of Dark Moon Digest. My palms immediately began to sweat. My first-ever review of my first-ever published story, Jack and Jill? How terryifying and exhilirating! My finger actually shook as I clicked the link. What if he hated it. What if he loved it?! Overall, it was a very positive review. In comparison to the others, it wasn’t the most glowing, but it was nice and fair. Mr. Reviewer liked my story. He said the last line actually gave him chills. Yep! That’s me the Rock Star! No photographs, please! This is such an exciting time for me in my career, and I hope it never ends, but it will. It already is in fact. I remember how I used to agonize, my finger hovering in anticipation before I clicked the irreversable submit button. Now I prepare my story according to the guidelines, click submit, enter the story into my submission diary and…move on to the next project. Already the excitement about some of the mundane aspects of publishing is starting to wane. There are even things I used to find charming that are now a bit of a chore. I am still finding joy in the process and I hope to prolong it for as long as I can and enjoy it for all it’s worth. I just hope I never cross the line towards JADED, now that really scares me…
Want to read the review of my first published story, Jack and Jill? Go to http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcasualdebris.blogspot.com%2Fsearch%2Flabel%2FDark%2520Moon%2520Digest&h=6f49d and check it out!
