Short Story Published!

It has arrived!

Yesterday was a big day for me. When I opened my mailbox, there was a nicely padded envelope which held my author copies of the April issue of Pockets magazine. And you know what that means--my first published short story!

Here is the title for my story. If you look closely (or click on the picture to enlarge), you'll see my name in the byline. :)





The story appears to be 98% the way I submitted it. The magazine obviously made a few editorial changes, but nothing major. I was very excited to see my story on page 2, the very first thing in the magazine after the table of contents.

The drawings of my two main characters, twins Erik and Espy, are very cute, and they are pretty much as I imagined them.

Erik is supposed to look like their Puerto Rican father, and Espy takes after their Swedish mother.

This second picture of them is when they meet their new friend Val, who is going through chemotherapy. The theme of this month's issue is hope; that's why I named the girl Espy. (It's short for Esperanza which means "hope" in Spanish.) Espy is the optimistic one in the family. Erik is the pessimist. Val is the one who helps Erik remember that when times get tough, you have to pray to God and row for the shore (hence the story's title).

All in all, I'm very pleased with my short story debut. Unfortunately, I can't reproduce the story here, but if you know me, I'll let you borrow my spare copy. :) Or you can order your own subscription. Check out the Pockets website here.