Here's a really, really old short story from right when I finished my MFA! Paul McAuley gave me a crique on this one on two occasions. In his words after the second critique, it's "still a bit 'one thing after another', but getting there."
At the time I thought that meant I should hide this story away. I sent it off to see if it would sell. It did, but I never told anyone about it. Paul McAuley thought it was "one thing after another," after all. What I've learned since is that when an author that awesome says a thing like that, I've learned to take it as a compliment.
That's why I'm putting it up on my blog.
Another little story, just for you authors who, like me, aren't trying to publish your work because you don't think it's good enough: at the start of 2012, when I got serious about this blog, one of the first things that happened to me was somebody sending me a message saying, "Aren't you the author of 'Temple of Mirrors'?"
He might even be reading this. If so, thanks again, mate. You're my first ever fan, and you'll always hold a special place in my heart. "Temple of Mirrors" may not be my best work. I may have sold it for $10AU to an e-zine, but over 7000 people have read it, and one of them (Hi!) actually sought me out to tell me how much he loved it two years on. That's the same lesson I learned when someone forced me to submit some stories to my agent. Like Iain Banks said to me, "Send out the best you've got and let the world decide."
I still don't think this story's brilliant, but I don't want to under/over sell it, so here you go. I hope you enjoy!
http://www.short-story.me/fantasy-stories/185-temple-of-mirrors.html
No comments:
Post a Comment