Dear <<First Name>>,

Hi.
 
It’s me. And it’s been awhile. 
 
I feel a little bit like I’m peeking out from under the covers wondering if things are okay out there. It’s been almost a year of pandemic and
I’m tired. I’m so tired I realized how much energy my previously tired self actually had. I hope you feel better than that. But if you don’t, we can just stay under the covers a little while longer together (virtually, from afar). I think it will be spring soon.
 
For now, I wanted to tell you a couple things. 
 
I’m still writing, even though I’m not posting a lot of writing. One of the funny thing about how I’m trying to be a “real” writer is that I need to try and convince other people to publish my stuff, not just self-publishing. (And if that doesn’t work out then I can always go back to self-publishing…) So, I’ve been submitting more stuff, and then waiting. Like, six months of waiting for a submission is apparently normal. That doesn’t feel super normal to me, but I’m learning. I’m also getting the hang of sending something out to twelve places instead of waiting for one rejection and then starting all over. So that’s a thing. 
 
And when something works, that’s super exciting. My piece that won the Erma Bombeck / Nickie’s Prize last year has made it to the next round of edits, and if all goes well, it will actually be included in an anthology that is being published sometime in late 2021. So, when that happens, and I see my name in print, I will be doing a little dance of joy and telling you all about it. 
 
In the meantime though, I needed to write a little thing just to share. Not to be published or submitted or evaluated or critiqued. Just a thing to share. Because I had one of those days… 
 
I live a princess life, and my problems are good problems. But I wanted to share some of those problems in a small hope that you might be able to have a little chuckle. As Erma once said, “When humor goes, there goes civilization.”  If she were still with us I might whisper, “Erma, I think we might be close.”

Wishing you all well. Thanks for reading. 

Onwards,
Colleen

Find my latest piece on my website blog or on Medium where last month's five cent royalty check is obviously making all the difference...