Exciting News!

The day before Thanksgiving I planned to do some baking. I wanted to get a head start on the day to come.

Then I went out to the mail box. I do have a few query letters out so going to get the mail holds that certain thrill of suspense. Lo and behold, I spotted a SASE! "Oh, what a shame," I said as I pulled it out. This wasn't about my novel. It was concerning a short story I had sent to the Friend magazine six weeks ago. I worked so hard on that story, I really thought they were going to buy it, and here it was, rejected.

As I got back in the house I began to get suspicious. The envelope didn't feel thick enough to have my whole manuscript in it. I opened it up, and out dropped a contract! They bought my story! They bought my story!

I didn't think I could get any happier, and then my brother Jon called to tell me he got the internship at Pixar Animation Studios! Click on his digital painting blog over there at the right to see his demo reel.

The last time I sold a story to a magazine was seven years ago. The day I got that letter I was trying to cook caramel flan. I was so excited I burned three batches of sugar in a row. This time, not wanting to serve my family scorched pies for Thanksgiving, I saved all the cooking for Thursday.