This morning, I’m writing over at Modern Mrs. Darcy, the fantastic website of the remarkable Anne Bogel. If you don’t know Anne’s blog, you should. She talks about books, has great giveaways, and has managed to organize her bookshelves by color. 
One copy of The Santa Monica Review sat on my parents’ coffee table for years. My folks are not literary magazine readers nor are they from Southern California. So the magazine was a bit out of place amongst the Southern Livings and Readers Digests in their living room.
Really, the only reason it sat there was because I had an essay in its pages. And my parents were proud of me. I like to imagine them watching as someone thumbed through the pages and saw my name. I know they smiled each time This gentle act was their quiet, humble way of bragging.
Read more over at Modern Mrs. Darcy.