I'm talking about page proofs for my story that's coming out this fall. I got them via e-mail on Tuesday, and let me tell you, it's so cool to see my work that way!
Basically, the galleys are a PDF version (they used to be in print and sometimes still are) of how my piece is going to look in the journal. The layout, spacing, font, exact wording and punctuation. Once I check it over and make sure it's a-okay, I e-mail back with a go-ahead. Or, if I want changes, I send the details of what needs to be corrected (or, in proper Pittsburgh speak, what needs corrected).
When I got the e-mail, I was in the office chatting with Butcher and some other classmates after class, and I pretty much just had to sit there in silence and stare at the PDF for a full minute. It felt like, Wow. As a writer, probably as any sort of artist, this is one of those moments you wait for. There you see it, your writing, looking just like the writing by other people that you've been reading and admiring for years. You've fantasized about what it would be like to see your name in one of those journals and now, all of a sudden, there it is!
And, happily, this came late in the afternoon on a day when one of the creative writing professors at school read my piece (he had asked to, and of course I obliged) and sent me this response:
Wow. I mean: WOW. Just a stunning piece. People rarely get this short form right, but you really nail it here. I love the play of food and sex and violence and, ultimately, intimacy. Deeply visceral . . . Just brutal, but so perfect. Congrats to you on such an amazing piece of writing. Many more awards to come, i'm sure...
A serious writer treating me like a serious writer = major confidence boost!
What an awesome feeling that must have been. You deserve it!
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