Walking Home

The first story I ever had published was a short story called "Fading Man." It appeared in a now-defunct magazine called "Starblade" in the Spring of 1995. I still have a few copies of that issue in a plastic tub in my bedroom. I remember being so excited to see it in print, then embarrassed at some of the crappy prose, then unwilling to show it to anyone at Christ on Campus (for fear that these church-type people would judge me).

So I took the basic ideas from that story, rescued them from the worst prose imaginable, and wrote a new story called "Walking Home." Lisa liked it but said it was "sad." Then again, she has said almost all of my stories lately are sad. What can you do?

Anyway, I've decided to start aiming a little higher in the publishing world. From now on, it's paying gigs only, if I can manage it. So I submitted this story to Clarkesworld Magazine. They pay ten cents per word. I just sent them 4900 words. You do the math. Now, my chances of getting in that magazine are slim, honestly, but if I don't aim higher, I'll never hit the juicier targets. So there you go. At least I now have a somewhat impressive list of credits to include in the cover letter. That can only help.

Signing off,

Mr. McNard (aka Jeffrey Miller)