Already Published

I started my freelance-writing career while stationed in San Angelo, Texas, and I hit it big with a response from John W. Campbell to my very first submission to Analog or any other magazine, saying his queue was full, but try back in six months (see the letter). I did, but by that time, John had died, so Ben Bova bought the story (see the letter) and "Monster in the Waterhole" appeared in July 1972 with its own illustration, like this:

One of the original stories presented by that pioneer of on-line publishing Alexandria Digital Literature

Ben rejected my next couple of submissions with patient explanations, then from Anchorage, Alaska, I sent him a story he felt we could work on. After about three revisions, he bought "Violence on TV" (see the letter) and it appeared in February 1974, also with an illustration, like this:

One of the original stories presented by that pioneer of on-line publishing Alexandria Digital Literature

This story also crossed the Atlantic, or at least, I gave permission for Tschai/Fanzine de Science-Fiction to translate and publish it (see the letter).

My life got in the way of my writing then, not for last time, so after leaving the Air Force and finally starting a new career in technical writing (about the only way I could make a living as a writer back then) in Dallas, Texas, I connected with a great group of writers in Austin. They published a hardcover anthology titled Lone Star Universe, with my story "Fiddle Ess" as the main link to "hard SF," like this (no illustration this time):

Lone Star Universe cover.jpg (361325 bytes)

You can read this story now at fictionwise.com