Patience and Published in Ladybug Magazine

Ladybug, October 2010

My short story is finally published in Ladybug magazine! October 2010!
Why the word finally up there? Cause I've waited a long time. You know how writers are told you have to have patience in this business? I signed the contract for this story in 2004.

I'm not particularly bothered by that, although it's always nice to see your work in print quickly. But I've been a magazine editor and I know that sometimes editors have to wait for the right issue to slot a piece into in order to ensure that each issue you put together is a pleasing and cohesive whole.

This story, published under the title "Katie Kicks," was inspired by my daughter and her first attempts at playing soccer. She was dressed in her lovely clean white team shirt and black shorts. She held her very own soccer ball proudly. She was looking forward to it. And then we arrived at the field and she wouldn't even set foot on to the small patch of grass they'd set out for her team. She watched her teammates but she was too shy to join in herself. It really affected me. I struggled with feelings of understanding where she was coming from as well as a tinge of embarrassment as a parent that my child wasn't out there like the others. So I went home and jotted down my thoughts about this and it eventually became a short story. From her point of view though, not mine.

Now that it's in print I'm very pleased. I can't wait to see it myself. I've combed the stores looking for the issue but it's nowhere to be found. So I will just have to be patient awhile more while I wait for my authors copies to arrive.