Last June was a busy month for me. I had my port-a-cath surgically removed; we drove to the other side of the state to spend several days with family and I had an emotional visit with my mom as she had deteriorated so much since my last visit. She could not speak, except a loud “NO” when the nurse was attending to her. She just kept gripping my arms, imploring me with her eyes to make it stop. Trying to explain to a loved one with dementia that the nurse had to do what she was doing was a heart-tearing lesson in futility. She didn’t understand.
I was one month into my first summer break from blogging in three years. I had needed time to explore and develop new paths for my writing. Three pieces I submitted to literary journals did not pan out. I was happy, however, when a 2020 post about my first day in the infusion suite was accepted by Story Circle Network. It appeared both on their “A Day in the Life” blog and in their online fall journal.
Women completely run this international organization and they are celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Their mission is to support women writers and share their stories. There is a yearly membership fee which includes access to their content, writing seminars and multiple writing opportunities. I need to add a big thank you here to fellow blogger, Marian Beaman, who first told me about the group. If you don’t already follow her, she is the author of Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl and her site is https://marianbeaman.com/
There were several encouraging emails in May and June regarding The Network’s upcoming 2022 Anthology. They were looking for submissions. The theme this year was Real Women Write: Seeing Through Their Eyes. The deadline to submit stories for consideration was July 1st. Sadly, I wasn’t going to make it. The thought of seeing through my mother’s eyes drifted through my mind, but I simply could not. I could not rally to write about my mom, or anything else. I was tired.
Then, an email came in around July 4th. The Network had extended the deadline until July 15th. This was still not a lot of time, but I didn’t delete the email either.
I had a talk with myself that the whole reason for taking the summer off was for this type of opportunity. But what in the world was I going to write about? In a way, themes are helpful as they force the mind to narrow the possibilities.
I think it was a minor miracle that an idea rose among the dozens of question marks. I went with it. It was a fresh topic; something I have not covered on the blog.
I wrote quickly. If I remember correctly, the word limit for personal essays was 2000. Mine was half that, and that was alright. After sitting on it for a few days, I decided to do it. I hit send. I saw the deadline extension as a sign that I was supposed to try.
On October 2nd, I received an email stating that my entry, “Soaking Up Early Lessons on Ecology” would appear in Story Circle Network’s 2022 Anthology. The editor attached a copy requesting I approve any changes. She noted all edits are based on clarity, grammar, and coherence with the theme. I was fortunate, as it appeared there were maybe two or three grammatical corrections.
It will be available any day now. They assured us it would be ready with plenty of time for holiday shopping.
Although I previously experienced the great joy of seeing my work in print when I free-lanced for a newspaper 25 years ago (yikes!) this is the first time my work will appear in a printed paperback (and other e-book formats.) That’s just cool. It is exactly the type of fuel a writer needs to keep going. My goal was to find growth this year, and I did. It feels pretty awesome. My only hint on the topic I chose lies in the title above. It is about ecology. I’m including a 2017 photo which is not part of the book.
I am looking forward to 2023 and hope to keep following this positive path.
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