On some Forums, the "
Edit" button is a perishable thing.
After some preset and arbitrary number of hours, days, weeks, whatever, it goes away.
The promotion people contacted me and gave me a week, ten days—something like that—to get all free copies off the Internet to be eligible.
"
Calderas" is an old story and it is on any number of "
Fossil Forums" nowadays—places where people still come to read and even join occasionally—but where there hasn't been activity for years.
I don't even know some of their names anymore.
I wasn't real enthusiastic about taking my stuff "
Back"...
I don't know how much the "
Kindle Select" program would have helped my sales.
Left to my own devices, I'd have happily procrastinated until it was too late—which is one of my
favorite stress coping mechanisms...
But I had my sister spurring me on...
So when I sent a message to one of the Moderators—like the one I sent to you—and he completely ignored it...
Didn't even fire back with an "
Up Yours!"...
I sighed in deep contentment and said, "
Well, that's the end of that."
The offer has come and gone. Wouldn't serve any purpose to get it deleted now.
For awhile, I was only posting stories as written, to a couple places—and using hinky titles so they wouldn't be too easy to google search if it came to that...
But then I said:
"To
Hell with it!"
So that's my story of "
Failure to Launch as a Fiction Writer".
Let's see:
I got cut from Purdue's Wrestling team.
I never became a Veterinarian. Changed majors
twice: Chemistry then Computer Science.
Failed out
three times.
Got fired from the only good job that I ever had (
Railroad).
Washed out of Airborne School.
Early Discharged from US Army—which was a failure only because it took me 10 long months.
Fired from the State Board of Health (Couldn't bring myself to be a big enough Asshole with the people under me...)
Gave up Asbestos Removal after 2 years—the work was killing me.
Quit the Carnival.
Spent 10 years working as a temp and living paycheck to paycheck.
Along the way, I've tried my hand and as an Artist (painting and drawing) and as a Preacher (Pentecostal Holiness)—no success.
Managed to complete an Associate's Degree in Industrial Maintenance. Dropped out for good reasons before quite completing a Second AS in Welding.
Worked in Maintenance exactly six months—Fired, physically unable to do the work.
So now, at the age of 57 I'm drawing disability. I can't afford $20/month to buy a blasted book.
And I really thought that I had something good and Marketable in "Parallel"...
But fifty agent queries later and then a very lackluster performance on Amazon Kindle...
I have to concede that I'm a mediocre writer as well.
That's okay. I really really wanted to be an Artist, Preacher and Maintenance Worker at various times.
Writing just comes to me. It isn't always enjoyable. Sometimes it becomes an irritation in my life and I resolve to stop...
But then I get to scratching the Itch—not because it feels good—but simply because I feel driven.
But it looks like it will never amount to a damned thing either.
.....RVM45
