Shameless Plug

It has been a hell of a week for me. However, it seems to be ending on a high note. You see, a few months ago I was invited to write a short story for a speculative anthology that hadn’t even been sold to a publisher. Which in this day and age, is pretty crazy, after all, there was no guarantee of getting paid, no idea who’d else be involved in the collection or even when the book might be produced.

            Everything about the deal had red flags going on. It was the brain child of two free-lance editors. But I dug the idea, so I agreed. How they got my name, well, it’s not a mystery but it is almost suspicious in nature.

            You see, a friend of a friend who had read something someone else had done that liked something I did in some other publication referenced me. I know, convoluted, right?

            So within a few hours of being asked I had an idea. Three days later I had a story written. Three weeks after that, my beta-readers and editors had gone through it. During that time, the books editors found a publisher, told the invited writers to get working and send what they had as soon as possible.

            I sent my story, they liked my story, they edited my story, they sent my story back to me, I fixed everything they asked me to fix and then they sent me a contract. I signed the contract and sent it back to them. Now, in a few months, I will get published again, then a few month later, another book with my name in it will come out.

            When I started writing I never thought I’d be writing fiction. I never thought anyone would pay me for my words or ideas put to words. But here it is six years into beating my fingers to nubs on keyboards around the United States and I’m getting paid and published.

            Strange how this all worked out. Now, mind you, I don’t write novels, I don’t know if I ever will write a novel, but I do like writing short stories. I have more than my share of them written and saved on flash drives. Few have been published and I’m sure that if I keep doing this, more will follow. At least I hope so.

            You see, I started to write as a way to relieve stress in my life. Then, it became a habit and now, it is an obsession. To me, it matters not whether I’m writing fiction or non-fiction, just that I’m writing. That I’m conveying ideas, purging my mind of all the crap that seems to fill it up on a daily basis.

            It’s quite cathartic.

            Well, that and it allows me ample time to sit on my porch and smoke my cigars and not be bothered.

            So, where is all this going? Simple, I want you, my dear readers to buy the books that I’m going to be published in. One comes out in July and the other comes out in October. They aren’t going to be expensive nor are they going to be difficult to acquire. Heck, if you have any sort of tablet you will be able to download them.

            Or, if you’re like me, go on the internet retailer and buy the dead tree book. I’m sure it won’t cost you much money. Heck, you’d most likely spend more money on lunch or dinner than you would the book. Besides, I want you to read my twisted little tales. They are much different than the stories and thoughts I post here.

            Okay, enough pimping for now, I will keep you all posted when the books become available and I hope you do purchase the books. Also, leave a review or comment on what I’ve written after you’ve read the tale. I want to hear your thoughts too.

Have a great week.