For the Love of the Game

Would you keep writing if nobody ever bought your work? Would you keep at it if only you and those closest to you ever read a single word?

I've mentioned before that I'm going for posthumous fame with my writing career. I don't care if I never hit it big while I'm alive. After I'm dead and buried, I plan to develop a cult following. If not, so be it. I'm enjoying the journey right now, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But how honest is that? I do want my novels to be adored by readers. I want agents to snap them up and publishers to get dollar signs in their eyes as they offer me multiple book deals. I don't expect millions of readers to like my work as much as I do, but a few thousand would be great.

Is that why I keep writing? Is that my motivation?

2014 has been a good year: 15 short stories and 1 novel written; 26 stories accepted for publication; 30 stories and 1 novella published. Next year promises to be even better with the release of the Wastelands 2 anthology and my first published novel, Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the Space-Time Displacement Conundrum. I'll be releasing a new short story collection and a screwball detective novel as well, and I also have ideas outlined for new Charlie Madison novellas. One will be a follow-up to Yakuza Territory, and the others are prequels taking place prior to Girl of Great Price—before Charlie learned about the suprahuman secret.

I'm not going to worry about finding a publisher while drafting and revising and editing. I'm going to focus on having fun, immersing myself in worlds I've created and exploring them with characters I enjoy. I won't be alone on my journey. My wife is my first reader, and she's the most encouraging cheerleader I could ask for. Her input always makes my work better, and I'm so grateful to have her in my life. With her by my side and ideas spilling out of my notebooks, I know 2015 will be a good one.

For the love of the game, folks. Because I enjoy writing my brand of stories, readers or not.
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