In 2011, one of my writers’ workshop course required that all the graduate students submit one of their stand alone pieces to literary journals–this is to get your toe wet when it came to publishing and getting your work out there.

I submitted to every literary journal that I can think of, and I welcomed all the rejection letters. The first letter is in a frame sitting on a desk in my office to remind me how beautiful it was to receive such a letter. The letter included a handwritten note from the editor telling me that she loved the piece, and that it has potential for publication–but, that their journal has different a theme and focus. I loved that letter.

The Prick of Spindle contacted a couple of months before October 2012 to let me know that they’ve selected the piece, and that it will be published exclusively on Kindle. The stand alone essay became a much larger project: a memoir, that is currently being considered as my thesis for the MFA.

All I can say is that when writers write about family, you are about to piss someone off–but, you are hoping that they love you enough that they will merely laugh it off, and admit to themselves that they’ve raised a little shit for writing about the family.

A Reason For Being was my only memory capsule of my Aunts who have long passed away.

Mom, if you’re reading this, I love you. Please don’t be mad at me. Writing is much cheaper than years of therapy. ❤

http://prickofthespindle.org/2012/09/23/a-reason-for-being-by-jennifer-hoppough/