Well done Siobhan. I always guessed there was a budding Milton/Shelley/Keats among us. No doubt the 'small magazine' is highly selective, prints the highest-brow offerings and is read by the literati from both side of the Pond. And pays in folding money . . .

congratulation and keep on writing

Woo-hoo! I'm absolutely delighted and so very happy for you.

Rosefolly

Hey - great super job!!! What a lovely recognition for you. It is scary to send your writing out sometimes - but you did it and you done good. :-)

Wonderful, wonderful. I'm so happy for you. Keep writing.

Congratulations! What a wonderful accomplishment and encouragement to continue.

Congratulations Siobhan!

Well done, Siobhan. Keep going till you get a 'small volume' together. That's the only way it will happen - by just keeping going.

Dido

My congratulations, too, Siobhan. We will be able to say we knew you when you were only a composer of intelligent posts on RP.

How exciting! Buy something special with the money so it will always remind you of this moment.

Congratulations! I like Annpan's idea.

Siobhan, how wonderful and exciting. Congratulations! And may more success follow.

Lovely news Siobhan! So happy for you! Looking forward to your first book.

PAM

Siobhan, congratulations! When will it be published? And will you share the name of the magazine? What a wonderful Christmas gift.

Congratulations! That is exciting news and I third annpan's suggestion.

The publication is called Lajoie, but it does not have a website. Hard to believe, I know, but I told you it was small! Of course I would like to frame the tiny check, but I will cash it and buy some little token. (Maybe I will take a picture of it first.)

I do have a grandiose plan to maybe publish a small volume someday in the not-too-distant future. I have a mentor who is very encouraging, a professor at a nearby university. She has told me that I need about 30 poems, preferably relatively short and on the same general subject. I've been working hard on that, and hopefully by this time next year I will have enough material to start getting serious. In the meantime I will continue to send out my stuff - for me the greatest incentive is to show people my work and get feedback. Last summer I got some really good objective criticism that helped immensely.

Most of my poetry is very dark but this one that will be published is almost humorous. I read it for my writing group and they laughed and seemed to honestly enjoy it, which surprised me as they don't usually respond well to my work. That gave me the courage to slip in an envelope and send it off. I suppose there is a lesson there!

Congratulations Siobhan! Good luck on the work on your next volume!

Siobhan, congratulations on being published. Did joining that writers' group help you?

It helped tremendously. For me, and I suspect for many others, nothing will motivate you as much as presenting your work to others. Reading my work in front of others is both scary and exciting, and hearing it in a radically different context than my own kitchen is more helpful than I could have imagined.

On another note, I have had a sad event recently - my brother died at the age of 45 after a sudden short illness. All of you mothers out there will understand that this was devastating to my mom. At the age of 77, she did not expect to experience the death of an adult child. Coming so close after this event, she was absolutely thrilled at this modest happening. I got my love of poetry and literature from her, both in my genes and in my upbringing - she read us poetry and had us memorizing it as soon as we could talk. So I am very, very happy that this gave her a bit of brightness in this sorrowful time.

Siobhan,

How exciting, to have a poem published (and to get paid for it too!). Congratulations on your authorship. :)

On the other hand, I'm sorry for the loss of your brother. I hope that time will help heal the pain and you'll be able to remember him with happiness.

Siobhan, I'm so very sorry to hear the news about your brother. What a shock that must be for you as well as your mother. Please accept my sincere condolences, and pass them along to your mother if you think it would bring her any comfort.

Rosefolly

Siobhan, so thrilled for you to hear about your publication. I can only imagine the excitement of seeing your words in print.

However, I'm sad to hear of the death of your brother at such a young age.

I'm so sorry to hear about your brother.

Siobhan, I also want to express my condolences and am glad your good news has helped cheer you and your mother a little.

Oh Siobhan, what a bittersweet time for you. I am so sorry about your brother. And so very proud that one of my RP friends is a published poet--congratulations!

Congratulations! That is a wonderful accomplishment!