Surprise Call

I was standing in my kitchen one late afternoon contemplating dinner when a big surprise appeared. No, it was not a naked man falling through the ceiling, alas.


However, it was a man calling on the phone and asking for me. Now, since I am married, that does not happen very often. Especially someone I was sure I didn't know. But I admitted to being myself. He then identified himself, his publisher, and announced that he was calling to see if I was intending to sell them a short story I'd submitted.

This may not seem like a big deal, unless you're a writer. But I was stunned. He was calling me??? I could barely answer him. It was truly such a complete surprise!

Backstory. Though I have finaled and even won a reasonable number of contests, I'd never, not once, received a phone call to announce my proud moment. I've sold a novel and a novella, both sales offered and finalized completely via email. So I felt like I'd already had my "first call" story, without any excitement whatsoever. An offer is always nice to get, via any medium, but the personal touch was definitely lacking.

Honestly, I'm chagrined to tell you how exciting it was to have this man on the phone. And he even complimented my story!

Now comes the sad part. I asked him a few questions about the terms of the sale. Sob. I didn't like them. They weren't terrible, but I liked my story, too and thought I might do better elsewhere. So I had to say no to the very first person who made the effort to call me with an offer. I didn't enjoy that.

But…it's sort of like a first kiss. The surprise. The excitement. The confusion. I'll never forget it.

Any other surprise calls out there, writing or otherwise?