Hm. All I have to say is that it's about time. Yes, it's about time I posted here again, but that really wasn't what I was referring to.

A while ago--oh, let's say, back in July--I submitted a short story of mine to a literary journal. This is the journal that failed to send me confirmation that they had received it and that failed to respond to any of my inquiries regarding its receipt. Well, about a month after they published the issue for which I submitted my story and about two months after I--genius that I am--put two and two together, they send me a response!

Although they didn't like the ending to my story (they found it came off "preachy" and suggested I take another look at it, as they "don't think that is what [I] intend for [my] reader"), they had this to say:

We were intrigued with your story, Natalie. You take some nice risks in the narrative and we liked that. [...] Thank you for allowing us such a long look at your work. We encourage you to submit again.

Okay. I'll admit that being encouraged to submit my work is rather generic, but I'm excited by their feedback. I'll take their criticism into consideration (I admit, the ending hadn't been sitting well with me) and send precious off again. But this time I'll send her out to more journals.

I feel very reassured.

And The Lord of the Rings allusion will have to be excused by those who--gasp!--don't like the trilogy. That's sounds too nice, doesn't it??? I shall amend that: those of you who don't like The Lord of the Rings will just have to deal with the reference. I happen to enjoy the trilogy very much and just saw The Two Towers this afternoon. Peter Jackson has left me agog. Well, and Orlando Bloom, too. Heh. Even without the long blond hair, elf ears and tights, nay especially without them, he's quickly usurping Chris Martin's place as my celebrity crush!

But I digress...

The Rings reference really isn't any indication of my story. Well, not of its power, anyway. It's unlikely the journal to publish my story will become the journal to rule all other journals. They'll just have the bragging rights to be the first to publish a story by the incomparable Natalie St.Pierre!

I tell you, though, my obsession with being published is taking on Gollum-like proportions. It's not that I want to publish for the sake of being published. It's far from that. Too many people are published when they shouldn't be. It's not like publishers are just handing out contracts these days. I mean, this isn't the record industry! But there are people who are published who should remain unpublished--the dirty little secrets of the literary world.

What makes me any different? Well, I could easily answer that it's because I feel that I have something to say (I genuinely do!) But who's to say that what I have to say has any more business being said than the words of the other innumerable hacks out there? I know that no matter how many people enjoy my and think it's genuinely good, there will be others who will say that I have no business being published.

So why do I want to be published? As feeble as this will sound now, it really is for the simple reason that I do feel I have something to say that is, if not new in itself, at least told in an intriguing way. And that's what's important when you come right down to it, right? The journey. The process of getting that message.

And, I think, that's why I appreciate the e-mail from that literary journal so much. Because it is, though a rejection, a small detail in the bigger process. And it is, though a rejection, a step towards acceptance.