Guest Post by Bonnie Schroeder*

“A decade ago, I sent a short story to “The Bark,” which is a super-cool, glossy magazine for “dog people.” They rejected it, but the editor wrote a note on the form letter: “We encourage you to keep writing, as you have an interesting voice.”

Those words sustained me through many dark times when I questioned my goal of getting published. This year, after my short story “Vigilantes” took First Place in the Idaho Writers Guild’s Short Story contest, I decided what the heck, let’s try again.

Less than twenty-four hours later, I got an email from “The Bark,” offering to publish my story–and they even paid me for the rights!  It is a short story about a lonely widow and a dog locked inside a car on a sunny day.

This has been the highlight of a busy year so far. In addition to the…