My first submission!
So, I just put the best story I've written so far in an envelope for Gordon Van Gelder at F&SF. I'm so excited! I know the day will come when stuffing a story in an envelope will have lost its glamor, but for now, I'm enjoying myself. I feel like a real writer now.

Tonight I'm going to break out the bottle of champagne my hubby and I haven't found time to enjoy yet. I'll have to get another bottle to have on hand to celebrate my first rejection letter. I won't need a bottle if it gets accepted; we'll be going out to dinner for that.

Perhaps planning dinner out sounds unduly optimistic. I realize that it doesn't often happen that a writer gets their first submission published in the market of their choice. But I told myself that I could indulge my fantasy about it until I send it off.

So, I've got another hour or so of certainty that this story will be eagerly accepted and that said acceptance will immediately launch a successful career characterized by editors sending me letters begging for my stories.

I think I'll have fillet mignon when we go out.