Do you remember your first time? Were you kind of giddy and excited and scared and stumbling all over yourself?
Well, that's how it was. For me, at least. Because today was my first time.
No, no, no. I wasn't talking about that three-letter word that starts with s and ends in x. (Right...right, you got it. Playing the SAX.)
I'm talking about going from being a literary nobody and taking that step into the world of being published! Today, my short story Half Moon Tree, is now available in ESC! Magazine.
Granted, I'm still a literary nobody. But I'm just a bit less of a nobody. More like I'm almost somebody! And just like, uh, playing the sax, the first time won't be the last time. At least, I hope not. I plan to sharpen my virtual pencil and scribble out more stories. Stories people enjoy reading. Stories that literary magazines will actually publish.
And one day, I might just grow from being an almost somebody into an actual somebody. A name people recognize. The kind of name where, when someone asks, "Have you heard of Ryan Bruner?" they say:
"Ryan Bruner? Hmm. Isn't he that football player?"
So they would be wrong. But at least it would be familiar to them, like they've heard my name somewhere, though they don't remember where...until they walk into the bookstore, and see my name on the shelf and smack themselves in the forehead and say, "Of course! He's not a football player! He's that illustrator!"
Uh. No. But it's getting there. I'm learning this business is slow. And just when I thought it was really slow, I learn that it can be even slower.
So, for today, I'm revelling in the fact that I have this moment as my first time. Granted, it isn't quite as fulfilling as my wedding night where I, you know, first played the sax. But it is exciting nonetheless. Something I've worked hard for. Because I can finally say, "I'm Published!"
