Published at last!

Six months and thirty-odd years after I first decided that I wanted to write, at last, I have published my very first novella, “The Map in the Fortune Cookie”.  I have published as an e-book at Smashwords.

I am very aware that this is my first attempt at writing a complete story, and that I am still very much learning my craft.  However, I am proud of myself and my work.

There will be errors and some things might not quite make sense, but the act of publishing something that I have created is both liberating and terrifying.  I know that my writing will improve, but without a starting point, you have nowhere to improve from.

I know I could have made it a free e-book, but giving away your creative work is saying that you do not value the work you have put in, that your time is worth nothing.  It devalues my time and my effort, and that helps no-one.

So where to from here?  Well, this will not be my last attempt at writing a story.  It is merely the first.  My next project will be a fully fledged novel rather than a novella; a more complete story for a (now) more experienced writer.  Each work that I do improves my capacity to write.  It’s a skill that requires exercising and practice like any other.

But for now, I hope that you will read and enjoy my very first story.