Bryan D. Gill

Well here is the big surprise! A little less than a year ago I was browsing a friend's blog. Susan at Stony River , always posts open markets at the end of her blog. This Chicken Soup for the Soul was the one posted for that day. I checked it out and it sounded like something I could do. So, I blindly submitted my story to them in hopes of hearing something back. Well, months passed and I forgot about submitting it, until I received an e-mail saying that I had made the first cut. The editor said there were around 4,000 submissions and they cut it down to about 200. Then about a month later they cut it to 120 and there was one more cut to make it to 101. I found out at the first of the year that I was selected to be in the book. Since the book wouldn't come out until April, I had to keep it a secret from my dad. I wanted to give it to him for his birthday, which is also in April. I only told a handful of people about it and they were sworn to secrecy. Wednesday, I...

Hey everyone, I received a phone call yesterday from my neighbor saying that I had a package on my doorstep that he'd picked up for me. I was at the coffee shop in Harbor Town on Mud Island doing some revisions on my most recent submissions to StudentLife for their bible study material. I had no idea what the box would contain but always get excited to receive packages. It is like Christmas; even if I'm the one who ordered it. Anyway, I got home and the side the box read Simon & Schuster. My interest was perked because they are a very large publishing house and I had not ordered any books. I tore open the top and threw out the padding to reveal 10 free copies of the book in which I was a contributor. I was PUMPED! I am not going to tell you the title of the book yet but I will tell you that there are 101 different stories compiled into this collection and mine is one of them. The editor I spoke with said there were over 4,000 entries and they chose 101. Opening that b...