My writing “career” first began in the 80’s. At the time, I was either eight or nine years
old.
Around that time, I remember taking a walk with my father
in a local reservoir—talking about various life events. The subject somehow turned to a series of fantasy novels that he had loved
since childhood. He began to tell me
about the characters—a short, determined hero with hairy feet named Bilbo
Baggins, a bearded wizard named Gandalf, and a creature named Gollum. I was immediately hooked. Where could I find these stories, I asked him? My Dad ended up taking me to Waldenbooks (I
know, I’m dating myself here). I
started off reading The Hobbit, and quickly devoured the Lord of the Rings
trilogy in its entirety. At the time, I
was in 2nd grade. I can’t
promise that I understood everything I had read—there were a lot of big words
for an eight-year old. But reading that
series changed my life. I still remember
the covers of those novels. In fact, I’m
pretty sure they’re still up in my dad’s attic.
My love affair with reading continued. Books,
magazines—anything I could get my hands on.
I remember inheriting my uncle’s collection of Hardy Boy mystery books
sometime around then. The covers were
ripped, and the pages were yellow and smelled funny. I read the whole series.
It was around this
time that I tried my hand at writing. I
would fill entire notebooks with stories—I even cleaned out one of my bureau
drawers just to hold them in. When I got
a little older, I began to submit them to publishing houses. Somewhere, I have a pile of rejection letters
addressed to my eleven-year old self. I
can recall one of them, and it makes me chuckle to this day. It may have been from Bantam Books.
Thank you for your
submission. You are very ambitious for
an eleven-year old! “George and the
Robot” is a very intriguing story, and George is quite a likeable character,
but unfortunately we aren’t accepting any unsolicited submissions at this
time. Good luck, and keep on writing!
Someday soon, I am going to dig them out for a laugh. I’m pretty sure I saved them!
Now, twenty years later, I will finally share one of my stories
with the world. I can’t tell you how
exciting it is to have this opportunity.
The Internet has changed many things—in this case for the better. Clearly, the e-book revolution has turned the
industry on its head. The “new world of
publishing” puts the power in the hands of the reader (where it belongs),
rather than a small group of individuals at a publishing house. I will always have a love for physical books,
but I am eternally grateful to have been given the chance to share my writing
with others.
With that said, thank you for taking an interest in my
humble journey. No matter what follows,
I am excited to see my lifelong dream come true.
Feel free to drop me a line with your questions, comments,
or rude gestures (as one of my middle-school teachers would say).
-TW Piperbrook
