Getting Published Is A SCREAM!

Dear Lit Loves,
Have I ever spoken about how the publishing world is a real scream and about to drive me witless? The last time I had this much fun I was attempting to teach language arts and social studies to sixth, seventh, and eighth grade inner city middle school students.  This has been a real wicked week particularly because like Freud, the publishing industry seems to shut down during the entire month of August and not return until after Labor Day.  In the meantime, I have read a memoir that annoyed the hell out of me because it was written in a daily journal fashion and the first ten pages made me wonder how on God's green earth this author got published.  And then there was the sinking, nagging feeling of this question:  if a publisher thought this memoir was great, will I ever find a publisher or editor that views my pitches/queries and goes "Yes, Maám!  This is the ticket!" 
And the next thing that happens is I finish my manuscript about teaching in an inner city middle school and all the crossfire that involves.  I would never have gotten through it if not for my team teaching partner.  Speaking of her, she called this week and told me that she learned on Wednesday that her rare form of colon cancer is back with a vengeance.  Of course we were both hoping that maybe what the radiologist found in the lymph node was just a rogue polyp, but not so, for we learned today it is the beast and the beast is angry.  We'll find out next week what her treatment plan is. 
And the really good news this week was that my sibling was a featured extra on the hit television series Under The Dome, Episode 10,  You would have thought I was the featured extra on the show given my excitement.  Even better news was the next big event:  my sibling gets offered a SAG role in a movie that begins filming here in Atlanta in October.  
So while I am waiting to hear from literary agents and publishers who are most likely on vacation and enjoying themselves, I watched the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Falcons.  Thank God Jason Heyward was back sitting in the dugout during Tuesday night's game.  I was heartbroken when he got hit in the face by a pitch; it broke his jaw and he had to have surgery that included metal plates. Finally, I watched the Falcons second and third string play the Jaguars last night.  The only bit that worries me is that we have not won a preseason game and no team has ever won the Superbowl and also lost their preseason games.  Now, it is possible.  We have the talent.  And I will feel a whole heck of a lot better when all our starters are playing and remain healthy.  Because like getting published, getting to the Superbowl encompasses a great many factors.  One is luck.  Two is technique.  And three is passion.  And it will never be said that me or my football team do not have passion for what we do.  Let's hope we get properly rewarded for it.