The SQUEE GOOD NEWS Thread

[maybegenius]

I wasn't sure which was the most appropriate sub-forum to put this in, so moderators, please feel free to move if this isn't the right place for it.

We have a few threads lamenting the woes of writing, finding an agent, and the publishing industry, but I don't recall seeing a YAY SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENED TO ME IN RELATION TO WRITING/BEING AGENTED/PUBLISHING! thread anywhere (if I'm mistaken, please link me there!). So, here's that thread! This is the thread to squee and freak out and all-around jump for joy because your short story got picked up by a journal, you've won a writing award, you've landed an agent, your manuscript sold, or whatever else!

As you might have guessed, I started this thread because I HAVE GOOD NEWS OMG. I've been sitting on this for two weeks now because it hadn't been officially announced, BUT NOW IT HAS and I can freak out about it in public.

Earlier this year, I submitted a short story to Hunger Mountain (the literary journal of the Vermont College of Fine Arts). They do a yearly prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing, and I decided to bite the bullet and send some of my work in for consideration. Months went by, the deadline passed, and I hadn't heard anything, so I figured it was a rejection. Oh well, try again next time.

Lo and behold, I received an email two weeks ago letting me know that not only was my story not rejected, IT WAS THE YOUNG ADULT RUNNER-UP FOR THE KATHERINE PATERSON PRIZE! Which means I won a cash prize and publication in the January 2011 online issue! Also, my story was judged by HOLLY FREAKING BLACK and she said my writing was "beautiful and lyrical."

SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE!!!

This is my first semi-pro publication, and I'm pretty much beside myself with excitement.

What good news do you have to share? :)

[Sommer Leigh]

Holy crap! Am I allowed to say "holy crap?" Because OMG!

That's really wonderful news, congratulations! You must be about leaping out of your skin right about now, right? Will you keep us informed closer to publication?

[Down the well]

Congratulations, maybegenius!! Very good news!

[Margo]

All kinds of cool! Well done!

[maybegenius]

Thank you! Sommer - I will definitely update when the publication date is here :D

[Mira]

maybegenius - that's truly wonderful! Congratulations!!! Very happy for you! :)

[abc]

Damn that is awesome! Good onya!

[marilyn peake]

maybegenius,

SQUEE is right! Congratulations! That is so incredibly awesome, especially with praise like that from Holly Black! Really wonderful news!

[Truth and Fiction]

Congratulations!! Hunger Mountain is a fantastic journal. I'd love to be published there one day.

I recently had a short story accepted by The American Literary Review. It's one of my favorite stories (and my collection takes its title from this story), so I was pretty excited that it found a home.

[BethTH]

Congratulations, maybegenious.I hope you do something lovely to celebrate. Chocolate is always nice. Or ice wine. Mmmmm.

I like the idea of a good news thread. Mine is that my agent and I recently signed a contract with The Permanent Press for A CUP FULL OF MIDNIGHT, the second book in my Nashville-based private detective series.

[marilyn peake]

Hi, Laura and Beth,

Congratulations to both of you! Very exciting that you both found such prestigious homes for your writing!

[Down the well]

I recently had a short story accepted by The American Literary Review. It's one of my favorite stories (and my collection takes its title from this story), so I was pretty excited that it found a home.

Congrats, Truth or Fiction! Very cool.

I like the idea of a good news thread. Mine is that my agent and I recently signed a contract with The Permanent Press for A CUP FULL OF MIDNIGHT, the second book in my Nashville-based private detective series.

Excellent! Congratulations, Beth!


(never enough exclamation points in a good news thread!!!)

[Mira]

TruthandFiction and Beth - congratulations! Wonderful news. People are being published all of the place! :)

[RBSHoo]

Congrats to both of you -- great news.

So here's my moment, although I have a hard time using the phrase "squeee."

Like many of us, I've spent months and years working on novels, each successive manuscript getting more and more requests, but not quite breaking through.

And then about two weeks ago, I sat down and wrote a short animated film called "So You Want to Go to Law School", a satirical take on attending law school and practicing law. I posted it on YouTube. As of a few minutes ago, it's gotten nearly 500,000 hits. I am basically stunned by this, and it seemed significant enough to share with people whose comments I read every day on this blog.

If you'd like to take see the video, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMvARy0lBLE.

Also, if you've seen the video (it's gotten a lot of traffic among among lawyers and law students), please let me know. I've been obsessed with tracking its progress to the far reaches of the inter-webs.

Thanks.

[Quill]

Wow, RBSHoo, that was great!