The Ups and Downs of Being a Poet

Being a practicing poet is a totally manic existance, for me anyway.

This week's been a week of ups and downs. I got the whole spectrum of writerly experiences. I got the world's sweetest acceptance letter:

 Dear Katherine,
Every one of these poems is a breath-taking delight to read. I am excited to be able to include my three favorites in our volume...."

Followed by one of those absolutely maddening "you almost made it" letters from one of my favorite journals, which said something to the effect of:

"You made it past the slush, we liked your work, in particular poem X BUT we don't love you enough to take it. Sorry. Try again, please, try again."

 I'm paraphrasing, obviously.

GrRrR...

and then those wonderful form rejections? Yeah, got one of those too:

Thank you for the opportunity to read your submission. After careful consideration, we have concluded that we are unable to publish your work at this time

Funk you!

LOL.

Gwahhhhh and on top of all this -- I'm not writing. Well, not writing what I'd like to be writing. I had to finish up a scholarly paper (woohoo....) and then am working on PR stuff for my book. Not fun. This stuff is numbing my creative brain. She needs a boost, a vacation, a... something.

Ups and downs. I'll never get used to this craziness. I've been doing this awhile now, and I still can't get over it. Oh well. Coffee helps. So does alcohol. Ups and downs...