Published!

Mark Twain has been quoted as saying, “Write without pay until someone offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this as a sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.” While one must consider the socio-economic context of his statement, I believe the general concept to be sound.

Three years? Perhaps in the late 1800's and early 1900's the three year rule could be true. There were not nearly as many markets for writers as there are today, and, a huge venue did not even exist yet, namely the cinematic and television market. So there are much more opportunities for one find a niche or an appropriate home for any marketable composition. After much deliberation and some consultation with some like-minded writers, I've decided ten years. Ten years to write and submit and have something good enough for someone to offer me money for my effort.

Shortly after this decision, I had the fortune of being informed of my acceptance into an upcoming anthology. Published? Yes! Paid? No. And that is perfectly fine. So does this stop the clock and legitimize my standing as a writer? I'm going to say no again, just to fan the fire of my ambition to continue to try harder and thrive for larger achievements. The reason being that contentedness often leads to laziness and lack of effort.

The story is called "Scarred." It is a science fiction tale of a man running from a group of scientists whose experiments has given him psychic powers he is only beginning to understand. It will be published by Meizius Publishing in their upcoming anthology, Grey Matter, Volume Two. Look for an excerpt from the story in a future blog.