Life Interrupts The Day

Has it really been two months since my last blog? I am so sorry.

I have been very busy. As a midlist author (which means, not a best seller), I still need to work a full time job. Writing does not pay the bills. It barely covers enough to Super Size at McDonalds, these days. But I am not complaining.

I thought about this the other day. If I never sold another thing, I'd have nothing to complain about.

In 1995, I sold my first short story. It was a western that took place in Rochester, NY. That was what the editor liked about it. It was called, Eye For An Eye. The magazine, Western Digest, was a new Canadian publication out of Alberta. I'd found a listing for them in Writer's Digest. I'd never written a western. I'd also never been published. But I set out to write and sell a short story, and did exactly that.

My tale concluded at 8,000 words. I was paid a penny per word. Canadian. Got a check for about $45 dollars (U.S.). And I actually did take the family to McDonalds -- and spent the whole thing!

After that, I went on to sell over 75 short stories to an array of publications. In February 2000, my first novel, MIND PLAY, was released by Dry Bones Press.

Dry Bones was actually a non-fiction, medical oriented publishing house in California that wanted to expand into fiction titles. I was one of the first signed fiction authors.

Here we are in 2009, and I've sold not just 75+ short stories, hundreds of articles, six mystery/suspense novels, and two books for young readers, but I have done hundreds of interviews (TV, Radio, Print, On-line), hundreds of book signings, countless speaking engagements, attended conferences, and have been recognized as "the author" enough times to make me feel a little special ...

How could I ever complain if I never sold another thing?

The good news, I do have some publishers now considering some of my completed manuscripts. So I am far from down and out. And in the waiting-time, I am hard at work on a Mafia thriller, and have completed a rough outline for a supernatural thriller, as well.

Also, I continue the hunt for a new literary agent. Seems they are as hard to find as a solid publisher. But I have not given up!

I will be back -- hopefully with good news about signing a new contract for another novel soon!

Until next time, have a wonderful day!

Thomas Phillips
Author of The Molech Prophecy