This past Tuesday, I received a notification from WordPress that my site had passed 5000 views! That’s kind of crazy to me.
There’s a saying that I’m going to paraphrase: a blockbuster is when a million people see a movie once; a cult movie is when 100 people see a movie 1000 times. I’m definitely the latter.
I have a few people that read and like my posts every week. I’m used to getting the notifications through Sunday evening and Monday morning. I got one this afternoon and thought, “Wait, what? I haven’t written my post for the week yet.” I always appreciate folks taking the time to like my posts. It’s nice to know I’m not just talking to myself.
So I’d like to thank you all for coming here and reading what I have to say every week. I hope that you’ve been entertained, comforted, or maybe even enlightened. I look forward to continuing to do so.
To celebrate, I’d like to invite folks to Ask Me Anything. About writing, about biking, about… cats. I’ll also respond by editing this post to include stories about my adventures as a writer for every like it gets.
So, again, thank you. Now let ’em rip!
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First like. Let’s do this!
My first writing credit out of college was for my story, “Pink Lemonade.” It was chosen as a finalist for Fangoria’s first ever Weird Words contest. As an intro to the publishing world, it was published without compensation or a contract. To the best of my recollection, it was published without notifying me. I’m pretty sure I only found out because I compulsively checked their website for updates.
But I think it was the first one that they published, which means it got the most time in front of people. And it was pretty cool to be able to put Fangoria on my cover letter for story submissions. So, not all bad.
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All right, I call this story, What I’ll Do for Coffee.
The first time I was at Motor City Comic Con with the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers, I did not bring coffee. I asked my tablemates if there was coffee. They said there was, but it was in the green room for the Guests of Honor. Undaunted, I struck out in search of coffee.
No one stopped me at the door and there was no one in the green room to fanboy over, so I thought it was going to be a quick in and out. Unfortunately, a guy with a staff badge came back after what must have been a quick break from guarding what was at the time an empty room. Seeing me–and obviously not recognizing me–he drew a breath.
Interrupting him, I said, “This any better than the last batch?”
He looked confused, so I held up and waggled the cup of coffee.
He still looked confused, so I took a sip and said, “Yeah, it’s fine enough,” as I brushed past him, trying not to panic and run.
That’s how I got the name Mr. Charming from fellow writer Peggy Christie.
