Some (Late) Publishing News!

After the excitement of being published in a print magazine last week (The UCLA Beat), I'm riding another high as one of my stories will get published later this month in The Journal of Unlikely Entomology, a fun lit mag that centers on anything and everything bug-related.  It's also a great relief to me as a writer.  About two years have passed since my first story ever was published.  I spent most of that time gap finishing up my creative writing certificate from UCLA Extension.  I wanted to improve, and looking back now, I think it was time well spent.  Knowing that my stories are entertaining editors and an audience of readers helps to assure me that I'm doing something right.  Becoming a writer was a childhood dream; I'm excited to actually start living it.  Will I ever reach the same heights as J.K. Rowling or George R.R. Martin? The odds say "probably not."  However, I'm happy with what I've accomplished so far and will continue to work hard in crafting the best stories I can.  A writer wants to entertain.  That's what I hope to accomplish.

Oh, and as a bit of continuation with my previous post, here's a shot of my Wahoo's OC 5K finisher medal.  I'm not a very fast runner, but I managed to get a new PR of 41:05! That destroys my previous PR of 43:13.  Not bad for someone who couldn't even run around the block two years ago.

The race was great overall.  The course was flat and fast, and the volunteers were enthusiastic.  My only gripe about the entire experience was the lack of organization near the starting line.  There were no corrals or waves, so everyone was clumped together in one huge group.  That created a bottleneck situation at the start when the gun went off.  Still, once I managed to dodge around walkers (as a Walking Dead fan, that word cracks me up) everything was fine.  I'd recommend the race to any 5Kers, and I'd like to run it again next year.

Happy Friday everyone!