shanmonster | I Am Rumplestiltskin

What a week.

On Sunday, I woke up to the news that a publisher wants my short story collection Land's Sake. It is scheduled for publication in December of 2027. More details when everything is ironed out.

And this morning, I found out I've received a second creation grant for my new short story collection, Every Tear From Their Eyes. Many thanks to the Ontario Arts Council for their funding, and to Augur Society for recommending my work.

I am so grateful that people are seeing worth in what I do.

I've had over one hundred rejections so far this year, but including the grants, I've had fifteen acceptances. My hard work in the word mines is paying off.

Yesterday, I wrote a flash memoir piece about my first kiss called "Kissing-Tag." I've already sent it out to a publisher. Let's see if they like it.

This morning, I went over revisions with the editor of Sad Ghost Ink. I have a short story called "Ghost Honey" coming out in the SolarPunk Conflicts anthology.

I also okayed the proofs for my story "The Old Woman Who Became a Bear." It will be published in The Fiddlehead this summer.

Now I want to get back to work on the newest story for Every Tear From Their Eyes: a story tentatively called "Blood God."

On the not-so-great side, I've been going through a few excruciating medical procedures lately. The last one was awful, and I mined my pain to write an article on what it is like to endure a colposcopy (not to be confused with a colonoscopy). I'm still looking for a place to publish that personal essay. I think it's a good one. Will I write something after my next invasive procedure? We shall see. Writing about it helped me deal with the physical pain.

I am Rumplestiltskin. I weave pain into gold.