Signed, Sealed, Delivered...I'm done!

The deed is done!

Despite a tiny panic attack and some very sweaty palms, I successfully submitted my paper to a literary conference. This conference is for the organization called The New Direction in the Humanities Knowledge Community, and I thought my paper, about both literature and its accompanying media, might just fit right in.

Here's the link to where I submitted my paper proposal. 

Here's what it looked like right before I hit the submit button! Eeek!

How exciting is that?! And at last I mustered up the courage, believing that my paper was worth all this nervousness... and submitted a paper of mine to a conference, a very official one I might add, for the very first time! What an adrenaline rush!

Here's my acceptance letter!

Naw, just kidding. But it is a confirmation that they got my submission and will call me back about it in a few weeks. Here's to hoping I make it.

This has been such a cool experience for me. Although it has been stressful, and sure, maybe I've cried myself to sleep a couple nights (kidding again), but my confidence in myself has grown. I never thought I could even submit to something like this, and just in knowing that I can has opened my world up so much.


I'd like to thank my-

Kidding, once again. Man, I'm on a role.

But it really has been a great experience.

Formal publications, here I come!

I have explored many different places where I could submit my paper about Gail Carson Levine' fairy-tale adaptations for publication, but I have come to the conclusion that the best place for it to go is to the BYU Scholars Archive. I have contemplated several guest blogs such as Interesting Literature but decided that my paper is too formal for that kind of blog, and the literature that I am analyzing is not "classic" literature which is what they seem to be looking for.

The other venue that I am seriously considering is called the International Student Journal. It accepts more formal papers and on a variety of topics. It's perfect for my Ella and Aza analysis! I am going to focus on those two venues now as I focus my paper throughout this week.

Addendum: I have also submitted my paper to AWE, the BYU Women's Study Journal since I am addressing topics of feminism in literature.

Things I've Never Tried Before

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Honestly, I'm terrified to share my paper thesis with a stranger. I've never approached another human being about any paper I've written for school, unless that person has been a friend in the class and we are complaining about it. The idea of approaching a complete stranger and presenting something as personal as my novice efforts is disconcerting... but perhaps it has its upside after all.

I decided to look up The Phantom Tollbooth on Goodreads to find someone who had written a review that might echo my thesis. I found a couple people: one compared the book to L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, which reminded me of my comparison to Through the Looking-Glass; another mentioned that she had recently read the Tollbooth in preparation for her own research paper. Even though I was speaking to strangers and I had only a little information to go on, I took a deep breath and commented on their posts.