On The Road To Storyville

On The Road To Storyville

One way Kevin liked to relax when not working as a corporate accountant was by reading fiction—novels, magazines, journals. One day, while he was flipping through an anthology that contained both fiction and poetry, he came upon a poem about a young man whose fiancé had died before they could get married. Suddenly, he found himself thinking that he might want to try and write a story based on that same concept. He knew he didn’t have the skills to produce a novel, but he thought he might be able to complete a short story.

When he was finished, he was so pleased with the results, he decided to try and write another short piece, this one about a malfunctioning robot. After producing both manuscripts, he found himself compelled to continue to write more short stories, until he had twelve in all. But now what?

He knew nothing about publishing. So, he bought a book, ‘Publishing For Dummies,’ and after reading it, sent out several query letters. While waiting for replies, he joined a writer’s group made up of novice authors, some of whom were trying to write novels, while others were focusing on short stories.

It turned out, he had more talent than he thought. Most everyone in the group really liked his stories and hardly had any suggestions for corrections. In the meantime, he received no acceptances from any of the queries he had sent out. This left him wondering about his future as a writer.  

Then just when he was thinking about maybe hanging up his pen for good, he received a note from an editor to whom he hadn’t sent a query. It seemed, the editor had seen the query that Kevin had sent to his friend and thought Kevin’s story might be perfect for his small magazine.

 Kevin was so excited, he couldn’t stop smiling, even at work. But that wasn’t going to be the end of his journey into the publishing world. The editor asked to see more of Kevin’s work then told him he wanted to help compile his stories into an anthology.

While it took a year for the book to come out, Kevin continued to write more short stories. On the eve of his anthology’s release, his writer’s group threw him a celebration party.

Holding up their wine glasses, they saluted, “To Kevin, may he continue to be published!”

“Amen!” he murmured.