On 250ths

Reflection: About Substack n Stuff Like That There

Photography: Suzy Paalman / CC BY-SA 2.0

As the United States of America prepares to celebrate a 250th of note — the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence — it was on or about May 1st that I realized I too had achieved a 250th milestone of my own. My 250th subscriber joined Pomalom’s Ponderings. This means so much to me: that at least 250 of you out there would trust me with your already-overburdened inboxes.

I’ve always loved to craft thoughts into words and hope that they land. For somebody besides myself, even. I love my day job, too, which makes time for writing mighty scarce these days.

Whom to thank? Bella the Torbie inseparable from my writing, very often as you see here — and, actually, almost precluding it. She doesn’t look or act at all like she’s well over 16, which keeps me feeling young.

Hiding behind the camera is my wife, Suzy Paalman , who is the love of my life (besides Jesus), as well as my number one editor and theological consultant. She also offers up myriad beautiful photographs of exotic places like Rome, Florence, Assisi, and Santa Fe. Her rates are dear, but her heart is true.

My age-old best friend from grade school through college and beyond (who shall remain anonymous) nagged me into joining Substack, as a means to share my words with others, and probably as a way to get me out of his face, asking for feedback on my latest weirdass story all the time. Thanks, bruh (I think that’s what the zoomers say now, and not always ironically).

I’m also indebted to Alexander Semenyuk, who bothered to pay attention to me, a fledgeling Substacker, about 20 months ago. He took me seriously, offered me encouragement, and brought me on as a guest writer for his wonderful newsletter Lighthouse , which is full of fabulous literary artists who also support and encourage my work.

A shout-out to my fabulously talented friends in the Catholic Writers Guild “Fiction Crit Group,” some of whom are also on Substack, and all of whom have not only supported my short fiction writing, but helped me to improve my craft; urged me to draw on faith, scripture and the Holy Spirit for all of my writing; and encouraged me to publish my work in literary journals. A number of other dedicated family, friends and readers have urged me on with likes, comments, and shares of my article posts and concise notes. Merci!

While 250 is a spit in the bucket for many if not most of the excellent writers in this part of the ‘stack ‘verse, it still feels like an accomplishment. Again, I’m so humbled. I’ve always hoped that my writing would reflect truth and be a vehicle for the glory of God and Mankind. Please keep me honest.