No, I don't mean the baby. I found an email in my in-box, a reply to a submission from a few months ago. My brain being what it is these days (made of marshmallows), I had no idea what I'd sent where - a reason to keep good submission records - so I braced myself for a "Thanks but No Thanks."

What did I find but, "I am pleased to accept 'Wood' for publication in Volume 3, Issue #1 of

The Medulla Review, due out on November 1, 2011."

A bit about The Medulla Review from their website:

The Medulla Review is a literary journal that caters to experimental and surreal writing, a place in the hindbrain where breathing, swallowing, and circulation are done through words, a venue for those who believe in creating reality. We want to hear your voices. What jars you? What makes you dance on the staircase of your mind? It's about the core of things, getting down to the essence: that soft center of being and experience where you are free.

Oooh, it sends shivers up my spine! As have a number of the poems and stories they've published like LL Bledsoe's "The Babies." When I found The Medulla Review I ended up losing much of a week just reading the back issues online. Delicious, and a number of Pushcart Prize nominees among their authors as well. What a privilege to see my little byline beside the rest of their superb contributors!

Since "Wood" is a story for adults, the byline will go to an alter ego. I think. Maybe. I'm still doing some soul-searching on whether I want to invent another author identity or stick with the less-than-sexy Rebecca Grabill. Hmmm. All advice on this tricky topic welcome.