Last week I sat beside a picture window in a lakeside rental cabin in rural Pennsylvania, and, as the morning sunlight spilled over my keyboard, signed a contract giving the Michigan Quarterly Review / MQR Online permission to publish one of my essays. It’s a beautiful feeling to see my work recognized. Does it make me feel like I “leveled up” as a writer? No. I “level up” only when I produce new work. That will, always and forever, be the thing that gives me the most joy.
Next week the New York Society Library re-opens their reading rooms and study spaces, and I’ll finally have my space back, to sit and stare out of another sun-dappled window. And (hopefully) finish the next one.
