I got my second rejection today. They were quite nice about it, of course. I got an email saying that they didn't have space for the piece. I would like to know if that's a euphemism for "we don't think it's appropriate for this particular issue," or "your writing isn't quite good enough for our publication, keep trying," or "your writing really sucks, don't send us any more." Because I know it's one of the above. I sent it in more than three months before the issue comes out. I wonder how many submissions they get for each issue. I'm going to be irked(to say the least) if I read the issue and feel like my writing is better.
In the meantime, I end up feeling quite discouraged. What will it take for me to get published? How many rejections? Can I deal with it if I keep getting rejected? That is one of my big concerns, honestly. I worry that I will end up feeling like my writing is not good enough. My voice is one in the midst of thousands. I have to be super spectacular. But hey, Stephanie Meyer got published--why can't I? And I read an awful children's book yesterday. I can write better than that! I've got to ignore the rejection and keep on keepin' on.
Sounds like the people downstairs are watching a soap opera! LOL.
So, I'm going to pack up my things for my awesome cruise to the Bahamas. I have my clothes laid out and just have to put them in my suitcase. I am sure I will have at least a thousand emails to read when I get back. We are planning to get a wireless card once or twice during the week, but internet access is too expensive on the ship. I will be taking a million and a half pictures, and I'll be sure to share them when I get back, too!
So, my dad has spring break in a couple of weeks. I'm really the only one free to go traveling with him. Well, now that my cousin has moved in, she could. She's afraid to ride the bus, though, so I doubt she'd make it onto an airplane or a boat. We've been looking at the cruise options as well as possibly going to Berlin. The cruise would be pretty cool, but I'd probably rather go to Berlin, even though it will be chilly. He called tonight and set all of this off. Now, it's 1:30 in the morning and I can't write. I need to whip out a thousand words or so, but I've totally lost the thread of my story. It's gone, whoosh. Mostly when I've been writing, I visualize a scene in my head and then write it. I can't visualize anything but how frakking awesome it would be to go to Berlin.
I guess I'm going to go read for a while, then either go to sleep or come back and do some writing if my head settles down.
My cousin moved in with my parents yesterday. She was supposed to on Saturday, but we didn't hear from her and didn't know what was going on. She called yesterday, though, and said she was on her way. She didn't have that much stuff, so she was installed with no problem and her friends headed back home.
We all acted like it was the most normal thing ever. It was no big deal that she'd been evicted and was moving in with my parents. I couldn't wrap my head around it, though. It was the most surreal thing. It felt like this big, life-changing moment and we were standing around chatting as if it were an every day occurrence.
In the end, I decided that it really was the best way to act. It was difficult for her. It was difficult for us. It would have made it worse if we had made a big deal out of it. So, it was best to just act as if it was no big deal. I'm still having trouble with it myself.
My cat has been using my bathtub as a litterbox for a while now. Not that long--maybe a month. I'd rather she goes in the bathtub than on the rug, you know? I have no idea whether it was the difference in litter, the hood on the litterbox we have, or the fact that my brother's crazy cat is seriously territorial with his litterbox. Probably a combination of all of the above. I did get a litterbox and put it in my bathroom when she started doing that in an attempt to get her to go in the litterbox again. No dice. I guess it really was the litter. Prissy cat. Well, I went out earlier this week and got a couple more litterboxes and the usual gravel litter. And lo and behold, she's been using the litterbox again! Thank goodness. We have four litterboxes in the apartment now. It kinda sucks to have to maintain them all, but I would rather do that than have her go in my bathtub again.
We had craziness in my neighborhood last night. A guy shot someone on pretty much the opposite side of town, then led police in a chase to my side of town. He was headed for the mental hospital that's about a block from my apartment. He stayed in his car talking on his phone to the police for three hours and holding a gun to his head. I had to drive the long way 'round to go hang out with a friend of mine. It TOTALLY slipped my mind to pay the rent. Yikes! That's a costly mistake. Thank God that when I went in today, they let it slide because of all the ruckus. Sweet. What a relief--I can't really afford it on my nonexistant freelance writer's salary. I'm considering applying for food stamps, but it would be weird. I'm not in dire straits yet.
On another high note, one of my friends whose opinion I really respect read the piece that I wrote and submitted. She said that she was really interested and kept her interested the whole time. She's more than a little ADD, so that is a HUGE compliment. In my opinion, at least! It's something to keep someone who is easily distracted interested! I would love to share if anyone else wants to read. Maybe I can find another market for it somewhere. It would be a shame for it to go to waste, so to speak.
