When did you first start writing?
I started as a teen-ager. One of my high school teachers gave us a term project that consisted of writing a short story. Even though I'd been an avid reader from the time I learned how to read, it never occurred to me that I could actually write a story myself. That was something authors did, not something an ordinary person could do. From then on, I was hooked. I scribbled down several stories, but never showed them to anyone else.
Much later on, I ran across STAR TREK fan fiction magazines, and found that there was a market for non-professional writers to have their stories published. From that time on, I wrote fan fiction in numerous universes, but only rarely did I try to write my own original fiction, which mostly got turned down by editors and publishers on the grounds that it was "non-commercial".
Now that ebooks have entered the mainstream, I decided to try again.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
As I often say, I write for love, not money. But good writing is often done in your own blood, sweat, and tears, not ink.
My greatest joy is hearing from a reader that one of my novels or stories has meant something to them, just as many other people's writings have meant something important to me.
My greatest pleasure in the actual process of writing is when a new idea emerges in my mind, and I can barely scribble it down fast enough to capture the major points of the idea.
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