This cover is from the anthology containing my “very first, about to be published” story! The anthology is going to be sent out into the world! It is part of the 2018 “When Words Collide” convention this month in Calgary! I am going! (Expect lots more exclamation points!)
Seriously – this is how it all started in August 2017. I saw an open submissions note… somewhere and thought to give it a try. Though I have written all my life, my last attempt at “authorship” was a couple decades ago, before I started my current job and simply had no spare time or brain cells.
What I do have is the painstakingly-polished skill of writing to technical requirements, and Rhonda Parrish – the awesome editor – had laid out very specific things she wanted to see in the stories. I cobbled together my best attempt at meeting those requirements and hula-hula-hallelujah she liked it! Even more amazingly, she bought it!
(See? Exclamation points…)
Since then I have written and sold a horror story (link will appear when it’s published online) and am working on more. I still have no time thanks to my work, but have discovered fiction writing stretches different parts of my brain. I’m going to keep writing whether I sell anything more or not; and in the meantime, I’m off to Calgary for When Words Collide!
JB Riley 