Come October, this Writer becomes an Author

 I can only share a little. That's the way of the publishing world. I have an announcement.

My work has finally found a home. I have a piece of flash fiction (a short, short story) that a literary journal will publish in October. More details as I can share. 

What I can share is that I will have achieved one of my biggest goals this year—a dream, to be sure. Since 2019, when I started writing much more seriously, I hired a writing coach, Max Gorlov from across the pond, I have taken several classes to strengthen my writing skills, and I have been in a constant cycle of submissions and rejections—short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. Max helped me see through quite a few errors and problems that I had with my novel—a work of 13 years. I was over 85,000 words in when I hired him to help me write my first novel. I think that the hardest part was to have to ditch that first, uncompleted draft and rework it. I should break 100,000 words in the rewrite within the month and finish this year for certain. I was a 'pantser' with no structure or plan. A 'pantser' is someone who writes from the seat of his pants. The alternative would be to be a 'plotter.' That is someone who outlines and methodically maps out where almost everything goes. While I live my life so much more like a 'pantser,' I have come to the realization that I NEED to be a 'plantser.' That will satisfy my nature and the reality of life. 

I have many people to thank for their support and inspiration as I transition into retirement to add this skill/art to my repertoire. They don't let you add an acknowledgment section in a literary journal for a piece of flash fiction. Of course, I owe almost everything to my wife, Linda​, for her support, love, and belief in me and my dream. My daughter, Lian, has also been there for me. They have both been beta readers, critics, and cheerleaders. I would not have made it this far without them. My lifelong friends, Ray​ and Skip​, the horror/writing community on social media (Jonathan Maberry, Gabino Iglesias, Cina Pelayo, Stephen Graham Jones,  Cat Cavendish, Victor LaValle, and so many others) who have been more than generous. My mother, Jean, for an undying love that ALWAYS supported me and kept me on my path. And that guy in the CBS Sunday Morning story that I posted below, our Uncle Stevie. He has thrown more scares into me and shared so much on the art of writing that it would be a horror not to mention him.