Friday, November 19, 2010

MY First Sale, For The Third Time

I recently sold a short story, Monster Movie, to Jean Goldstrom, editor of the anthology, STRANGE MYSTERIES III at Whortleberry Press. Thanks, Jean.

It’s my first sale of material I wrote after my second bone marrow transplant to treat multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer.) This is the second time I have recovered my ability to write. After each transplant I was concerned about eating, excreting, breathing, sleeping and walking for quite some time before I could concentrate long enough to understand a half hour television program. Reading came after that. Messing around with works I had written before gradually turned into editing. Writing returned last.

Before my transplant I emptied my works in progress file of anything remotely ready to send out for possible publication. Luckily I still had a few clunkers left to tinker with. Don’t tell me there’s no point in writing badly and hanging on to the crap.

I feel I have reawakened or perhaps come back to life. My local Sisters in Crime chapte, Boarder Crimes, helped. I am a proud brother in law in Sisters in Crime. Ray Bradbury helped. Not in person. His ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING, Joshua Odell Editions, 1996, encouraged me to rekindle the passion involved in the creative process.

Friends, family and other writers have been wonderfully supportive. Thanks to you all.

What have you overcome in your writing?

11 comments:

  1. Huge congratulations on your sale! You've overcome so much, and you have much to be proud of.

    My biggest obstacle is myself, truth be told. I'm my worst critic!

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  2. That's so great, Warren. Heartfelt congratulations.

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  3. Congratulations on both your recovery AND your sale!

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  4. Congratulations, Warren. I only have to be rejected one or two times to feel I'm a lousy writer. I need to look more objectively at what I write, revise with the sole objective of making my writing better, and persist in my efforts towards publication.

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  5. You're an inspiration, Warren! I've had nothing to overcome that compares with this. Like Pauline, mostly rejections for year after year. Keep it up!

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  6. I admire your spirit and tenacity, Warren. The things I've had to overcome in order to write are far less serious than yours. I've had to put myself at times as the number one priority when I'm used to being last after raising kids and doing work in my husband's business. I've also had to overcome thinking that everyone else's work is better than my own. All of which are changes in perspective, priorities and focus.

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  7. I have to admit that before I "caught cancer," as one of my clients put it, I was discouraged by rejection letters. Now, I'm happy to be a live seldom published author.

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  8. Thank you, Warren, for putting this crazy business in perspective and for reminding us to enjoy the writing process even as we pursue the brass ring of publication.

    Congratulations!

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  9. You've been through so much, Warren. Life is truly unfair, but congratulations on the sale!

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  10. It's also unfair that I had the insurance to pay for needed treatment while so many people do not. The survival rate of cancer is highly related to patients' income.

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  11. Congratulations on your sale, Warren. You have a wonderful attitude, which I'm sure aided in your recovery. Obstacles present themselves all through life. It's how you face them that makes the difference on whether you succeed in overcoming them.

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