Carpe diem all the way to Romania!

I did something rather interesting yesterday. I submitted to a literary magazine in Romania.

It's called Nazar Look. The link takes you to the site. There was a very specific reason I did this, too. It wasn't for any of the usual reasons I submit my writing. Usually, I submit my writing so I can further my goal of becoming a well-accepted, widely-known writer and have total strangers remember my existence after I die (I'm serious, this is what I do it for. I do it so total strangers will remember my existence after I die. That and because I like it and because I'm sort of good at it and I want my stuff to become part of people's inside jokes.) Oftentimes, with my writing, I'll submit it to a market that pays well, or at least pays (I took this up after realizing that 1. there are more paying markets than I thought there were and 2. this stuff is work, sod it! Hmm. "Sod it" is not something you're supposed to say in England. I say it relatively frequently because I'm from America and no one much minds if I use impolite British phrases. I try not to be impolite on my blog. I apologize, hypothetical British readers.)

Anyhow. I apologize, hypothetical readers of all nationalities (American, British, Romanian, otherwise), for that digression.
 None of the aforementioned reasons were the reasons I submitted to the Romanian place. There was a very specific reason, and it was possibly even a good reason.

Bragging rights.

I'm not even kidding. I submitted something because, if I get accepted, I will be able to say that I am published in Romania. They'll be able to look up a copy and stuff. I'll be there. Published in Romania. (This is assuming I get in. According to Duotrope, they have a rather high acceptance rate, so if I don't get in this time, I'll probably find myself getting in pretty soon thereafter.) But my stuff will be published in a foreign country. One that doesn't speak English. One that most people don't really think of as a great place to get published. I don't know anyone who has been published in Romania. Of my circle of friends, acquaintances, and otherwise, I shall be the first. I shall have bragging rights.

Let's face it. I hate sentences that start with "life is too short", but life is too short to spend all your writing energy submitting to known places or paying places or known paying places or what-have-you. Sometimes, you need to do things for the bragging rights. Sometimes, you need to do things for the story you can tell everyone. Sometimes, you need to do things because you now can say you're the only person you know who has done a suspiciously specific but still kind of awesome thing. You know, there's this thing - carpe diem. Seize the day. I don't entirely know how carpe diem applies to this situation (in the literal sense, anyway - perhaps YOLO, "you only live once", is appropriate because, in this one life I have, I can submit to Romanians, but I sort of despise "YOLO".) But you know what I've done? I have done it, I have submitted, and I am going to carpe diem and send to all the foreign countries I like in hopes of getting accepted and being able to say "I HAVE BRAGGING RIGHTS! A FOREIGN COUNTRY ACCEPTED MY WORK! WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH YOUR LIFE?"

Okay. Maybe not entirely like that. But something like that. At any rate, I shall have bragging rights and one more publication, and I think everyone wants that.