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Dreams Come True
Dec. 5th, 2011 12:22 amBack in 2005, I made a decision. By 2006 I had figured out how to make my decision a reality. I wanted to be a published writer. My immediate goals were to first, get my short stories published, and second, become an accepted RPG author. My long term goal was to be published by a major publishing house like DAW or Tor. At the time, I had no thoughts at all about editing professionally or winning awards.
Shows you how well I knew myself and the industry.
By 2007, I was writing regularly for RPGs and selling my short stories to small press. I also was working on my first anthology. In 2009, I won my first editing award. In 2010, I won my first writing award. It is now 2011 and I have won another writing award and authored several RPG books on my own.
The only thing missing was being published by a major house. Until now. 5 years after I quit my fulltime job, I finally have my mass market sales and publications. Both are to DAW. The first was the Human for a Day anthology. The second is a short story in the new Valdemar anthology, Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar.
As I hold these two mass market paperbacks, it is proof that if you work hard enough, dreams do come true. When I started, I knew nothing and nobody. Now, as I am about to turn 41 on December 9th, I have reached my long term goal; that thing I set out to do. Not only that, I got to write in one of my favorite fantasy universes with one of my favorite authors as the editor. The thought is humbling and emotional. Holding and petting my books is emotional. Dreams come true. MY dreams come true.
Of course, now that I'm a little older and a little wiser, I know that making your dreams come through is a never ending thing. Now that I've reached this first long term goal, I need to aspire to new heights. And I am. My new goal is to get a novel published by a major house. Not just a novel—a series. That's what I am striving for next.
But, in the meantime, I can smile and cry tears of joy and pet my DAW books. I made my dreams come true. Happy early birthday to me!
Shows you how well I knew myself and the industry.
By 2007, I was writing regularly for RPGs and selling my short stories to small press. I also was working on my first anthology. In 2009, I won my first editing award. In 2010, I won my first writing award. It is now 2011 and I have won another writing award and authored several RPG books on my own.
The only thing missing was being published by a major house. Until now. 5 years after I quit my fulltime job, I finally have my mass market sales and publications. Both are to DAW. The first was the Human for a Day anthology. The second is a short story in the new Valdemar anthology, Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar.
As I hold these two mass market paperbacks, it is proof that if you work hard enough, dreams do come true. When I started, I knew nothing and nobody. Now, as I am about to turn 41 on December 9th, I have reached my long term goal; that thing I set out to do. Not only that, I got to write in one of my favorite fantasy universes with one of my favorite authors as the editor. The thought is humbling and emotional. Holding and petting my books is emotional. Dreams come true. MY dreams come true.
Of course, now that I'm a little older and a little wiser, I know that making your dreams come through is a never ending thing. Now that I've reached this first long term goal, I need to aspire to new heights. And I am. My new goal is to get a novel published by a major house. Not just a novel—a series. That's what I am striving for next.
But, in the meantime, I can smile and cry tears of joy and pet my DAW books. I made my dreams come true. Happy early birthday to me!