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.
