It was the only short story I'd ever submitted, anywhere, so I was pleased to see it was included. It's fairly short, so if you're bored, take a look.
Warning: The story has the "n" word in it. It's used for what I believe was a legitimate purpose in the context of the story, but you don't see that word in print all that often, probably for good reason. Anyway, none of this is the real point of this post.
The point is that I got an e-mail today. Out of the blue. And this is what it said.
"Hi, Scott. Believe it or not, I represent ancient history at UH, and have been using your short story, Bob the Alien, for 20 years in the classroom. I use it to teach voice and tone. It looks like things are going really well for you! Congrats! Thanks again for a real GEM! Frances."
This is simply one of the most remarkable e-mails I, or anyone, could ever receive. Frances teaches in the English and Language Arts department at a school in Delaware.
I don't get moved much. But this moved me. It's not only a great feeling to know that my work has been out there, possibly helping kids learn to write or express themselves. I'm also touched that this teacher would take the time to find me, presumably via the Web, and let me know about the impact my story has had.
Yay, again, Interwebs. With another "yay" thrown in for literary magazines, just for good measure.
4 comments:
That is truly inspiring. Wow!
That's awesome!
And a truly offensive short story. I had to reformat my hard drive after reading it.
Way cool! And the story truly is out of this world! Or out of this country, anyway -- ark ark!
When you think about how much that guy has read in the past quarter century, that's really, really amazing.
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