The Waiting Game

After sending in my submission to subTerrain’s Lush Triumphant Literary Awards for this year, it’s now a matter of waiting many months before hearing what will happen. I reread “A Case of Jeff” earlier this year and I actually didn’t like it very much — I thought the writing was too obvious, too tell and not enough show, that I wondered how it managed to win (I still think I was the only submission as there was no runner-up but whatever. I’m happy enough just to win something). I guess I’ve grown a bit as a writer this past year, and the piece I submitted is, at least in my opinion, much better written than “A Case of Jeff.” But we’ll see what the subTerrain folks think about that.

In the meantime, it’s time to work on a new piece, finally. I think I’ll write a personal essay, maybe one about how I’ve always felt the like the lone gay person in the room wherever I went. Yes, I think I’ll go with that one.

Onto the next

Submitted my (incomplete) play today. And now, onto writing a creative non-fiction piece for subTerrain‘s Lush Triumphant Literary Award before May 15th. Just gotta keep writing and submitting!

I love subTerrain!

I had a feeling today when I got home that I’d be receiving my copies of subTerrain — and I was right. Despite my raging hunger, I proceeded to rip open the package to find five lovely copies of the #66 issue. As I rightfully predicted, I stared at my name on the cover for a bit before flipping it open and finding my piece. There in front of my eyes, on page 50, was this wonderful artwork that accompanied my words.

A Case of Jeff, it said. “By Aaron Chan”. What a feeling that was, to see my name in print. I know people might think I’m being sentimental and borderline vain, but it’s a pretty big deal in my mind, especially since I didn’t think this would happen, and my parents never thought anyone would want to read my stuff and all these other terrible reasons that I feel like I’ve mentioned at least once on this blog. In the words of Anne Hathaway, this is a weapon against self-doubt.

And to top it all off, I received not one cheque, but two! One for winning the Lush Triumphant Literary Award, which I expected, but I didn’t expect to get a cheque for having my piece published in the magazine itself. That was pretty freaking awesome. I’d say today was a pretty awesome day.

Want to read my award-winning (god, it feels so weird and wrong to say that) piece? Go buy an issue on newsstands!

Staring at my name in vain

My name on a magazine cover

Whenever I get news that I’ve been published, I’ve been obsessively checking and re-checking the magazines’ sites to see if the new issues have come out. Today, I found out that the #66 issue of subTerrain magazine came out last week; there, on the Facebook page, was a photo of the cover of the issue. SubTerrain features the names of all its writers on the front of every issue, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I saw mine, just a couple spots away from my former college English teacher (Peter Babiak). I must’ve stared at my name on the screen for about a minute, quietly digesting the awe and pride of seeing my name published, and to know that my story will (hopefully) be read by many others.

Not sure if other people understand what I mean. Here’s the picture: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=689339287763566

When I get my copies of the issue, I swear I’m probably going to cry a bit.