Rejection Notice, etc.

Today, "Jenny" was rejected by the largest group of military newspapers available stateside.

Rather, today is when I received the actual notice of rejection, so I'm not really sure when the physical act of rejecting "Jenny" took place. I'm going to stick with today because it feels like it. In fact, it feels like just a few minutes ago after I checked the mail.

While the Rejection Notice is certainly par for the course in the life of a cartoonist, this one wasn't met with a sense of "Another one bites the dust" and blithely tossed into the file drawer.

This one is hanging right on the front of the refrigerator.

Let me explain. The source of the rejection was ATPCo, which is comprised of the Air Force Times, Army Times, Navy Times, and MarineCorps Times. They're a subsidiary of Gannett News (publishers of USA Today).

I've been trying to get "Jenny" into the "Times" group for nearly four years - whether online, in print, or both - and I've never once heard anything from them. In June of this summer, I decided to hit them hard: I got another cartoonist to go to bat for me.

Twice.

It still didn't work but they did finally tell me for sure that the answer is "NO". No explanation, just "NO". Therefore, at this point in time, "Jenny" will not be getting into the Air Force/Army/etc. Times group.

I hope my cartoonist friend doesn't suffer any repercussions from standing up for me because he really went out of his way when he barely knew me. He simply believed in the "Jenny" comic strip enough to go the extra mile for it. He is now a wonderful friend whom I respect and admire.

Thanks to him and thanks to all of the spouses and other readers who've asked over and over why they can't read "Jenny" in the "Times" newspapers. I'm sorry; I tried.

Don't worry, though, I'm going to keep working on it. I have more angles to work and lots of paper on which to type submission letters. And, of course, you can still read "Jenny" every Sunday overseas and downrange in the Sunday Stars & Stripes newspaper and, of course, every week at jennyspouse.com.

Have a great week and don't forget to go to jennyspouse.com (and stripes.com) for your weekly mil-spouse chuckle!

~ j

New PCS, New Life, New Post

Hello! I've been away from my blog since May but it wasn't due to neglect. It was due to another PCS. We recently relocated to Robins AFB, Georgia, USA.

Life has been busy, as you might expect. Here's what's been going on at our house:

On June 1st, we put our house in Oklahoma up for sale and hit the road for a house hunting trip to Robins. My husband stayed at the base and I flew back to Oklahoma. He checked in at his squadron on the 15th and spent the next two weeks completing his in-processing while I spent the same two weeks packing out of our house.

Didn't I just "pack IN" six months ago while he was TDY? Seems like that's all I do lately.

So I got to Georgia on July 4th, celebrated my birthday on July 6th (Woo Hoo!), our furniture arrived on the 10th, and my husband had knee surgery on the 14th. For the next two weeks, he was on 'convalescence leave' and was in too much pain to help me unpack the house.

Meanwhile, a film crew from the Pentagon Channel's TV show, ReCon, came to our house to film a segment on how military cartooning has changed since the days of "Willie and Joe".

So, now that our first week in town was over, I had to catch up on "Jenny" comics...and the blogging continues to remain on hold.

I also attended a meeting with the Southeast Chapter of the NCS and, ever since, have been extremely motivated to get together a marketing packet full of new material. This means creating new material, however, so that keeps me even busier.

So...to make a long story short, I've been away from blogspot for over two months because my life has been really busy. I realize this simply repeats what I said in the beginning of this note but, this time, I added really for emphasis.

BTW...I do have a new essay written but I haven't typed it up, yet. I write all of my essays in long-hand. Helps me think better when I have the creative connection going on with my hand and pencil.

So that'll be posted soon.

I gotta get back to work. I emptied out about four boxes of office stuff and forgot that I don't have anywhere for all of it to go so now it's just laying all over the floor. It's not an attractive look plus a pile of stuff on the floor makes it hard to get to the kitchen for more coffee.

Have a nice Sunday.

~ j