Oh, why not. It's snowing.

[mer]

Seriously, after reading about matociquala's caving adventure and watching a documentary on the Darien Gap and spending much of yesterday watching North & South and cleaning, I'm feeling a bit wanderlusty, which is at distinct odds with the weather, which makes me feel stayinsidey.

So, a meme, stolen from vincam, originating somewhere in the vicinity of autopope, customized by me.

* Age when I decided I wanted to be a writer:
Eleven, I think. Before that, I think I thought about it? But at 11, I really knew that was what I wanted.


* Age when I "wrote" my first story:
Seven. I remember writing it, sitting at my desk in my bedroom on Hart Street. I remember illustrating it with pink magic markers. "The Story of a Princess" -- who owned a dragon named--wait for it--Draggie. In some ways, I'm still writing that story, aren't I?

* Age when I got my hands on a typewriter:
I think 11ish/12ish. I saved up my dog-walking money and we went to Circuit City and bought it. It was electric, beeped when you misspelled a word, and had a mini-word processor inside that could hold 1-2 pages of material, so it was far superior to a manual typewriter, which I tried when I was about fifteen, and hated.

* Age when I wrote completed my first novel:
I think 16, though when I looked at it (the novel), Forever Blue, it seems to be more novella-length. In which case... twenty-eight?

* Novels written between age 4 and age 34:
Well. I'm only 33, but let's go with it. Completed novels so far, and no technicalities allowed, 2.

* Age when I first submitted a short story to a magazine:
Fifteen. "The Library Murders," sent to, uhm, Women's World Weekly (I think that's what it's called). My aunt had a writer-friend who suggested it, and I did it, but included no SASE, so. Fail....

* Thickness of file of rejection slips prior to first story sale:
Oh, not very. I used to know this, and at that time I thought it was a lot, but it wasn't more than 30 slips, virtual or otherwise.

* Age when I sold my first short story:
28

* Age when I first came close to selling a novel:
I haven't been close yet, since I've never submitted a novel (except to contests, and let me assure you, not close).

* Age when I killed my first market:
What criteria is there for killing a market? Selling and then the market goes dead never to print your story, or your story comes out and the next issue is gone, or your story comes out and the market goes away later, or you sub and the market disappears? The last one is the only one that's happened to me. I think that was the first year, so 28, if that counts.

*Approximate number of short stories/novelettes/novellas sold for cash money:
Wait! I have a spreadsheet: 14 stories (and 7 reprints).

* Age when I was first told I had no talent (by an editor):
No one has done that. Not explicitly.

* Age I was first told I had no talent (by a reader):
I don't think that's happened.

* Age when I first sold a non-fiction book:
Given I don't write non-fiction...

* Age when I first sold a poem:
Never earned money off a poem.

* Age when I first wrote a saleable novel:
Let's pretend I managed that this year. So, 33.

* Age when that novel was published:
Heh. We'll see.

* Age when the second saleable novel finally sold:
Laughter, laughter, laughter.

* Age when a work was first shortlisted for a Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy or Stoker award:
Laughter again...

Okay, skipping:
* Age when the second saleable novel came out:
* Age when the third saleable novel came out:
* Age when the fourth saleable novel came out:
* Age when I first won a Hugo award:
* Age when I finally shut down the day-job and became a full-time novelist:
* Age when the money coming in matched/exceeded my previous employment:
* Age when I returned to the day-job because of economic implosion:

* Age now: 33

And skipping:
* Number of books sold:
* Number of titles in print:
* Number of titles fallen out of print:

*Consider this an LJ-meme: if you write professionally, feel free to post your own equivalent of this list. (Obviously you'll need to customize it to track your career path -- but you get the idea.)*



Let's revisit that bad boy in ten years' time, let's say...

Comments

[dsudis.livejournal.com]

...Wow, I can sensibly answer all of five of these questions (and for the typewriter one it makes a lot more sense if I substitute computer). Guess I'm too young to even try this one yet. :)

[steve-buchheit.livejournal.com]

Although having gone through some older papers this past summer I can see a path leading to right where I am, I sure wish I had applied myself sooner. Man, I'm feeling old. All you kids get offa my lawn! There, now let me hike my pants up to my underarms and start wearing black socks with sandals and I'll be all set.