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I feel kind of silly doing this since I've only been at this a short time (especially compared with the rest of the folks on the left nav of this page), but I feel guilty reading everyone else's stat sheets without sharing...so, without further ado:
- Age when I decided I wanted to be a writer: 24...I had a blast writing papers in college on my rusty little typewriter and got great feedback (the one kind of cinched it for me was a history prof who was impressed with my essay on pre-war German culture; he asked me where I went to H.S., and when I told him I dropped out in my sophomore year and got my G.E.D. years later, I guess he was so taken with my untrained writing style over the semester that he let me skip the final exam with a 4.0 and the reward-for-writing synapse formed instantly...I continued on to an MBA and became a banker, which is about as far from a creative writer as you can get)
- Age when I wrote my first story: I started about a dozen, but didn't actually knuckle down to finish one for another 11 years: 35...I had zero confidence in my ability to write and got caught up in my day job and raising kids for the next decade.
- Age when I first submitted a short story to a magazine: 35 became my do-it-now-or-forget-it-forever age for writing.
- Age when I sold my first short story: 35 (Billy Don't Like Clowns to Niteblade)
- Total number of submissions: 14
- Total acceptances: 2
- Thickness of file of rejection slips prior to first story sale: zero...the first story I wrote was the first story I submitted, and also my first acceptance. Sounds way cooler than it is...I was extremely lucky.
- Number of short stories/novelettes/novellas sold for cash money: One...Billy sold for $1, which I donated to Ralan anyway (that was one of Niteblade's payment options).
- Poems sold: zip...I enjoy story-style poetry like Sherman Alexie's early work, but poetry, for the most part, is beyond my understanding
- Age when I started writing my first novel: 30
- Age when I started writing my first completed novel: Haven't finished one yet
- Age I finished that novel: Well, since I'll be 36 in less than a week, I'm going to be optimistic and say 36.
- Age I started my second novel: NA
- Age I finished my second novel: NA
- Age when I sold a first novel: NA
- Total number of novels written: Finished? Nada.
- Books sold: 0
- Books in the process of querying: 0
- Short stories in the slush: 2 shorts and 1 screenplay
- Short stories written this year: 8 stories and 1 screenplay
- Age when I became a full-time novelist: (shakes magic 8-ball): "Reply Hazy, Try Again Later"
- Age now: 35
