I grew up in the mid-west in the fifties and sixties, reading Heinlein, Asimov, etc. I've always wanted to write and began trying to write a novel about a particular idea I'd had (Friends in Dark Places)but my writing was rough and I kept throwing it out. Joining a writers' group helped me gain skills. When I'd finished the novel, I sent chapters to a major publisher who wrote back, "I enjoyed it, but we can't go any further until you get an agent." But then I couldn't get an agent, even with that letter. So, to gain writing credites, I began submitting short stories and poems (Usually si more...
