Earlier this year Alaska Quarterly Review accepted one of my stories for publication. I've been meaning to share the good news, but kept saving it for another day. Today's the day! Publication is still a ways off, so there's nothing to see here yet. The editor expects "Graces, Fates" to appear in the Fall/Winter 2016 or the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of the journal. In case you'd like to read my story and support the journal, I'll share details here as we get closer and I know more.
The story is about March - daughter of Meera, granddaughter of Grandma Vee, great-granddaughter of Great Gusty - come home to Vaughn Bay at the death of Gusty. The photo above reminds me of Vee making flower wreaths in the garden, something I had the pleasure of doing this spring.
Contrary to the name, Alaska Quarterly is published twice each year out of the University of Alaska Anchorage, and they take submissions the old-fashioned way - a paper copy mailed in a manila envelope with a SASE included. This is how I sent out nearly all my stories after graduating PLU, but in recent years have found most publications request submissions electronically. The new way is convenient and saves paper and probably helps readers on the other end stay organized, but I felt glad to seal and stamp the big envelope again, as if Jo March or Anne Shirley were by my side. Clicking "submit" doesn't feel quite the same way.
My sister, Siri, is currently reading through my collection of stories. She's nearing the end, so soon we'll meet up and talk through her impressions. I'll have some work to do again after that. Maybe, maybe, maybe I'll send the whole group out to some small presses and see what happens before the year is out. If no one wants it, I'll find another way to print it so family and friends can share my stories. This isn't the first year I've thought would be the year to complete the collection, but maybe it will be the one, and who knows what will happen next? A novel, a children's book with my dear friend Roshni, poems? Whatever it is, I think I can accept that I will move through it slowly too. That seems to be my way.