This month marks thirteen years since I began writing, October of 1998. I had scribbled a few stories before that time, always for school assignments (including a memorable Halloween one I’ll blog about later this month). But 1998 is when storytelling went from something for which I had a knack to a private hobby, then eventually something I got paid to do.
I wrote diligently for eighteen months before composing a story I was willing to let someone else see, something I felt was worth submitting to magazine editors. Although that particular tale never got published (a flash fiction piece, as I recall), I kept at it and pounded out story after story. Six months later I sold my first published piece to a horror anthology for professional rates. I was a fifteen-year-old freshman in high school. See, persistence does pay off.
To help celebrate this lucky thirteenth anniversary, I’ll be doing some special stuff throughout the month; I’m not ready to announce it all at the moment (probably next week). In addition I have another major milestone coming up this month, my first million words. Based upon my calculations, I’m not far from my millionth word. The number doesn’t mean much in reality, but it’s an important psychological barrier for me. I’ll speak to that later in the month too. So stick around and help me count down to one million.
Between the countdown, the sales specials and Halloween itself, October’s gonna be a busy month. And to top off everything, today I began my next book project. All I’ll say for now is that it’s a horror novel. More info forthcoming, once I have a large chunk of the book behind me.
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