And Cookies for All!

"Good news, everyone!"
-Herbert Farnsworth, Futurama

About a week ago, I submitted a flash fiction piece to an E-zine recognized in Writer's Digest, Apollo's Lyre. Realistically, this is the first "professional" submission I've made. So it was great to open the e-mail reply from Kimberly Brown and see that the first line was, "I liked this piece. It was touching, and kind of heartbreaking. Nice imagery, too." She followed with a suggested revision and said if I edited, she'd like to take another look. Her response makes me very optimistic, and I sent her a revised version of the piece just a few minutes ago. I'm hopeful that she'll accept it. Even though it's a non-paying venue, it's still a professional one. As an added bonus, an acceptance to Apollo's Lyre will mean Jayne owes me baked goods for her challenge at the beginning of the year.

I also realized that September is almost half way over already, which means it's almost time for me to move. The new house is just a few blocks away from where I'm currently living, but since it's not right on the interstate and at least twice as big, it's kind of a big deal. Oh yeah, and it has a dishwasher, too! Also, on Oct. 7th, I'm planning a psuedo-housewarming party. Psuedo because while it's in honor of my new house, because I'll finally be living somewhere big enough to have people over, I'm not calling it a housewarming party because I don't want people to feel like they have to bring a present. If everything works out just right, I'll get an acceptance at Apollo's Lyre, which means Jayne owes me baked goods, so then Jayne can bring cookies for my party. See how that works? It's beautiful.

Also handy, with Apollo's Lyre, is the "Pub Venues" section listing magazines and other publishers taking submissions. I started going through the list a few days ago, and I'm feeling like it's a good time to start sending stuff off into the ether. Wish me luck.

Movie Review: Elizabeth. Cate Blanchett is one of the few actresses who'll make me want to see a movie just because she's in it. Co-star Joseph Fiennes isn't bad either, but Geoffrey Rush steals the show as Sir Francis Walsingham. Walsingham is a great example of why Geoffrey Rush is a wonderful, wonderful actor. The movie is great at showing the intrigue, conspiracies, etc. that surrounded Elizabeth, but I was disappointed that it only covered the first four or so years of her 40+ year reign. I can see why they narrowed the focus, but when the movie ended, I was surprised. There are a lot of good, meaty moments. However, I find I'm not so adamantly in love with this movie as others I know. Worth seeing, though, either way.