Monday, March 20, 2006

Samurai and me

Well, it turns out I'm going to have a short story printed in two different publications. I brought a five-page story called "All the Samurai I Know are Dead" (definitely inspired by my growing obsession with Lone Wolf and Cub) to the graduate-level fiction workshop I'm taking this semester. Ironically, I thought the story would be met with, at best, loud indifference. Everyone seemed to enjoy it (except for one woman who wrote some very frustrated, but funny, comments on her copy of the story complaining that she didn't know what all this ritual suicide stuff was and that she needed some explanation).

In class, one of the editors of my school's literary journal (Cement, and actually I should say one of my school's literary journals, there are a few) nagged at me until I agreed to submit it. Honestly, since returning to school I've wanted nothing to do with any of the school's literary publications. I was involved with that stuff in Tampa and there was just too much stupid drama involved. Plus, if I've got something good enough to publish, call me an ass, but I want to save it for a journal or magazine that might throw me a few bucks. But, the guy was persistent, and I was flattered. And he gave me soda (not really).

This weekend another member of the workshop e-mailed me and asked me to submit it to The Culture Star Reader. I made sure he was cool with the fact that it was being published in Cement too, and he didn't mind, and so we have my first paying fiction gig. It's only $10, but it's $10 more than I've been paid for my fiction before, and I'm a happy camper.

Hello, step one. I can't wait to meet step two.

2 comments:

Jhunt said...

Hey, 10$ or 1000$, getting paid for something you've written is a very cool thing.

Congrats!

Mick Martin said...

Thanks! Yeah, believe me, I don't care about the money. It will buy my some snacks and diet soda which I will relish greater than any snacks and diet soda.