I’m afraid I worried a few of you with my last letter. I was in fact feeling quite down, but it is worth saying that high highs and low lows are simply a part of how the publishing process goes for writers in their early days. Rejection comes and goes. It is not a permanent state.
In fact, hours after I finished writing my last substack letter, I received an acceptance for two poems from Sixpence Literary Society! So it goes: what I know is a brief high in the (let’s be real) mostly disheartening process of trying to get published still does the job: it is enough to keep me going for a few more weeks. The cycle continues.
Cultivating a tolerance for regular criticism and rejection is a healthy practice for any creative person, something I’ve learned from years as a designer. An openness to feedback is a sign of maturity, but it takes regular vulnerability, regular boldness, and regular perspective to even be available to that maturity.
I think I’ve made reasonable progress detaching my self-worth from my work. I am not my writing career (or my design career), nor am I exactly what I publish or put out in the world, or what I feel in any one moment. Making stuff is a practice, and the way to contentment is finding joy in the process. And I am.
So, thank you for your concern. I’m okay! On, on.
Announcements
Writers weekend
Since I last wrote, I ventured away with mom to a cabin outside Ocala. I envisioned an austere weekend hunkering down Marjorie-Kinan-Rowling-style to labor over my novel. Instead, I finished a first draft of my story, “The Woman and the World,” and another, “I Haven’t Heard from Haleigh in Awhile.” We visited a vegan animal sanctuary, Kindred Spirits, where I bonded with a blind cow, Fiona. And we indulged in delightful desserts at Ivy on the Square. No regrets!
Acceptances
I had two poems, “Her to Her” and “Refusal,” recently accepted for Sixpence Society Literary Journal’s “Reflect” issue, which are my first of 2023!
I’m also still awaiting publication for two pieces accepted last year. Excited to share both of these with you once they are published.
“Sure” on Sylvia’s “menstruation” theme
“The Last of the Tangerines” in Fulminare Review’s “citrus” issue
What I’m reading
Essays & fiction
“Saying Goodbye to Jeannie Made us Even More of a Family Than Creating Children Together Did”
by Heather Osterman-Davis in Slate. What I loved about it: An unconventional family finding peace, confronting fears and being kind.
“Sliver of Sky”
by Barry Lopez in Harper’s Magazine. A tough read deserving a content warning for child abuse, but I was researching for my novel and came across Lopez’s beautiful perspective. I’m eager to read more of his eco-writing.
“Silence”
by Alice Munro haunted me a little bit into the morning after I read it. Mothers beware. I do love this Canadian legend!
“Scar Story”
by Andrew Roe in Wigleaf. A quick read and fantastic character portrait.
“I was the one who got stabbed, not Leonard, who was (as they say) the intended target, and no, it wasn’t about drugs or a girl or even the Dodgers, it was just (as they also say) one of those things.”
Poetry
A little speculative poetry, Ted Kooser’s “A Kitchen Drawer” out of Cotton Candy from University of Nebraska Press (found via Shane Schick).
Gabrielle Calvocoressi keepin’ it real with “Hammond B3 Organ Cistern” (found via @trenchfootiepjs)
Coleman Bomar’s “Exercise” in Rat World Magazine. There is something special about poets who run.
Pre-orders I’m excited to read
As you may or may not know, pre-orders (books planned for print but not yet available) are important for authors because they count toward the first week of sales, which is how “bestselling” lists are established, and which garner press for authors. When you pre-order, it counts for more. Here are a few I look forward to:
B/rds, by Beatrice Szymkowiak, coming spring 2023
An eco-poetry book. How gorgeous is that cover! $16.95 via University of Utah Press.
I Meant it Once by Kate Doyle, coming July 18, 2023
“stories about young women on the verge of coming into their own” (words from Jennifer Savran Kelly). On sale right now, $16.73 (normally 17.99)
Buffalo Girl by Jessica Q. Stark
“In these hybrid poems, Jessica Q. Stark explores her mother’s fraught immigration to the United States from Vietnam at the end of war through the lens of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale.” $21.00
Poetry by telephone
Last but not least, this is great: You can call a number at any time and hear a poem read aloud by its author. There are new poems every Monday, year-round. Healing Verse Poetry Line supported by Philadelphia Contemporary, curated by Yolanda Wisher and Trapeta B. Mayson. Try it! 1-855-POEMRX2 (1-855-763-6792)
That’s all for now! See you in March, lovelies!
xo,
cassie.
P.S. One more quick side note for my own accountability—I plan these letters for the 1st and 15th each month. We lost power for a few hours last night, which delayed this one! Back on track now =)