300 publications and counting

With the latest review I did for Buzzy Mag going live today, my total number of publications has now reached 300. That seems like a lot because it is. That is 300 times that I sent in some writing, someone thought it was good enough to put it in their publication, and pay me for it.

As a young writer I was always fascinated by prolific people like Asimov and John Creasy, now I'm becoming one. It is strange to think that a few years ago writing was a cathartic exercise that brought in a few bucks here and there, and now it is looking more and more likely that I can step into the full-time writing shoes in the next 6 months to a year. It is an odd feeling hitting this level of success after having so many years of struggle. Of course success means different things to different people. I'm still a peon in the grand scheme of the publishing world but I enjoy it and being able to pay the bills is always a good feeling.

As far as future plans go, I'm going to keep doing what I do and keep trying to break into new markets. I'm going to keep sending my stories and novels out (though I don't get to write new ones as often as I like) and I'm going to keep reviewing things (which I really enjoy doing). I've gotten way out of my comfort zone this year writing about things like data storage. The experience taught me that I could write about all sorts of things, all the while learning as I go.

For the new writers or ones that haven't been selling as much as they would like, I don't have any secrets to share. It is the same old same old: work hard, send your stuff out, learn from rejection, and read as much as you can.

Other things of interest in my life:

There are a few other successes that I would like to talk about. My son, Dylan, was born 10 weeks early. At first it was a big scare, but he has been doing great. His stay in the hospital made him the almost million-dollar-baby. But the writing money has helped and we plan on having a big chunk of our debt knocked out in the next month or two. And we have been able to upgrade the crap shack some, making it more efficient and saving on our energy bills a bit.

With that comes a decision I've been putting off: Without my day job I'll be able to get more writing in and break into more markets, but the day job does come with some benefits that will be lost switching over to a full-time writer. So I have to decide if I want to stay where I’m at, where it's comfortable, or take a big risk to move ahead.

And finally, I had a bit of a health scare a few years ago and started to take care of myself a little better. Last year I got into the best shape of my adult life and found out that I had an inguinal hernia that had to be repaired. As that was healing I got sloppy with eating and wasn't able to do anything. My son showed up early, which didn't help me eat any better. And when everything seemed like it was getting back on track I found out I had another hernia on the other side. So now, almost a year after the first surgery and six months after the second, I'm just about back into the shape I was in before the surgery.  In total I dropped about 70lbs. and am feeling much better for it. My health is improved quite a bit and I hope I can maintain it better, and that no more surgeries pop up.

In the coming years I aim to maintain or increase what I've started.