After Love is Murder, I spent the next two months working on short stories, attending Twilight Tales on a somewhat regular basis and worked up the courage to read some of my stories at their monthly open mics. I asked for feedback on what I read. When I got it, I revised the stories and surprised myself by making them better. My confidence level was improving. It wasn't as scary to stand in front of a group of people and read one of my stories. I think the pages still rattled a bit, but it wasn't as nerve racking as the first experience had been.

In April, I attended the World Horror Convention in NYC. I got in late Thursday night and stayed up most of the night talking with David Thomas Lord, who was gracious enough to entertain my "newbie" questions about writing. Over the course of the weekend, I sold books at the Twilight Tales table, attended some outstanding readings (David Thomas Lord, Maria Alexander, John Everson, just to name a few) and met so many interesting people who were so welcoming that it floored me.

One of the highlights of the weekend was my decision to read a piece called "Top 5" in the WHC Flash Fiction contest. Prizes were awarded for the three best stories. I didn't win but was told afterward that my story was a contender for third place which made me feel like maybe there was a speck of hope that I had talent. I also participated in the poetry slam and had a blast listening to everyone read. I am having a hard time putting my feelings about attending WHC into words. The phrase that keeps coming to mind is "It was awesome."

I came home on another post-convention "high" and went back to work trying to finish some short stories, and bubbling with ideas for what would come next.

In June, I lost my mind and decided to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel draft in 30 days. I posted my intention to the Twilight Tales list-serv with instructions for everyone to heckle me if I did not accomplish this goal. I worked with the book, "No Plot, No Problem" and on June 1st opened a Word doc, sat down and started typing. I doubted whether or not I'd actually be able to write 50,000 words about anything. I'm proud to say that I actually finished on June 30th. The goal for me was to see if I could produce the volume. I did it and now it's time to see if there's anything salvagable in the draft. I am hopeful on that point.

So, I am here. Plugging away. I've been sending short stories out and gotten a few rejections so far. But at least, I'm writing. I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to make my stories better. I'm trying to help other people do the same when I can. I think that catches anyone out there who's reading this up on how I got here.

Now I just have to figure out where I'm going...