I got to work yesterday morning and when I logged into my computer and checked my email noticed a message about a journal article I had submitted in December 2014. I remember trying to wrap it up before the holidays. The email had come through earlier that very morning, in between the time I checked my inbox over coffee here at home and the time I had taken the subway to the college. The message, so out of the blue, was from the editor of a journal saying that they intend to publish my submission in their next issue. Needless to say this news was as welcome as it was unexpected. Editors have a tough job and their timelines have their own logic that is unknown to the submitter. I had all but written the thing off. Even better, the editor had read the manuscript with a light hand and made some helpful suggestions, giving me the final cut if you will. He did not ask for any major revisions, add his own voice, or–way worse–turn it into something I had never written. I then sent in on to a few folks to read–it had been a while–to see if they had any thoughts or suggested revisions. They gave it the all clear.

When I got home last night I went through iPhotos and found the images I had long ago intended to submit for the project. I organized the photographs, wrote a few prospective captions, and emailed them in. I then gave the latest draft a read, incorporated the editor’s revisions, added a few of my own, and put it aside for the night to sleep on it. One thing I never do is submit anything late in the evening; one is more tired and distracted by that time than one realizes. Finally this morning over coffee I gave it one last read and emailed the article in. I don’t want to give away any details at the moment, but if the piece indeed reaches publication I will mention it here on the blog. One learns never to take these things for granted. We shall see how it goes.