Going to Print

My first waking thought this morning was my last coherent thought as I drifted off to sleep last night. “Review your essay and submit it.”   It’s kind of like being back in college. I have writing deadlines.  Similar to my undergraduate years, I find that I do my best writing at the last minute, as the deadline looms.    I’ve turned in more than a few papers still warm from the printer.  Unlike college, I’m not writing for grades.  I’m writing for an editor.   This year, I was published.

Getting published was not a bucket list entry.  It has been a dream of mine since 1988, when I submitted my first short story to a magazine and received the first of many preprinted, “Dear Writer” rejection letters.  Last May, I was introduced through a mutual friend to a magazine editor for Home Educating Family Magazine.  She invited me to submit a story for their September issue.  I did, and it was accepted!  When the issue arrived in the mail, I was more than a little surprised to see the cover.

Homeschool Dad: Let Your Kids be Kids?  That’s my article.   This was an extremely satisfying moment in my life. 

   

If you click on the above title, you will be taken to HEM’s website.  On the left hand side of the page there is a red bar that reads “View Current Issue.”  Click on that and you will find my article on page 95.

I have no idea how well the article was received by Home Educating Family’s audience, but I was invited to submit another story for their December issue.   I saw a sneak peek of the cover of the December issue.  My essay title is on the cover.  Score!

Since then, I’ve been asked to submit two essays for their blog.  I emailed the second essay this morning, after I brewed a pot of coffee and reviewed the article.   Between the publication of the first article and the acceptance of the second, I received a check in the mail from HEM.  I do not know if it was for the first or the second magazine article.  I do know that I was paid for writing for a magazine.  That was just cool.

I think there are several reasons why I’ve experienced sudden success.  One is due to the fact that I have been regularly practicing the craft of writing in the blogosphere since 2007.  Practice pays off.  Another reason is that I have a unique voice in the homeschooling community.  I am a stay-at-home dad who homeschools.  Most of the men who write about homeschooling go to work each day while their wives teach their children.   But the biggest reason for my success is the passion I have for my subject matter: my children.  I’ve combined my love for my family with the frustrations of being a stay-at-home parent, my Christian faith and a healthy dose of humor.    I tell the truth, with maybe a little hyperbole for effect.  It’s been a winning combination.