Not a fancy title. Not a profound statement. Just the simple, insanely exciting truth. I. Am. Published.

How did this happen? Well, one day I was searching the internet for places that pay you to write. I wanted to put myself out there. I had never submitted any writing to be published, but I wanted to try.  I came across the Chicken Soup for the Soul website and saw they had a book coming out about teachers. My thought process went as follows:

“Hey I’m a teacher… I have a story in my head that hasn’t ever been written down about the student who saved me from quitting teaching….I should write that right now…I’m submitting that.”

That’s what I did. I sat down, I wrote my story and I submitted it. I submitted it and forgot about it. Again, this was my first time submitting anything to be published so I wasn’t expecting much.

Then I got an e-mail a few months later saying my story was in the running to be published. I was shocked. Then a few weeks later I got another e-mail asking me to sign for permission to use my story and write an author bio. Then I got another e-mail telling me I was officially being published.

Last night, I got my copies of the book. It became so real. Yes, I’m calling it my book even though there are a bunch of contributors. It’s our book. However, in my head it’s MY book.