How Not To Get Published by Michael LaRocca

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How Not To Get Published
by Michael LaRocca

If someone had told me in 2000 that I'd publish four books in 2001, I'd have called him an eejit.

The last time I'd been published was 1989, and that doesn't count because I paid someone to do it. I'd long since given up on getting published again. In fact, I doubted I'd ever write again.

By now you may wonder how I made it from Point A to Point B. Or for that matter, why I stopped writing.

The second part is simple. I was chasing money, becoming a high-powered businessman and losing myself. The first part is a little more difficult to explain.

In December 1999, I flew to Hong Kong for a vacation. The first vacation in my life, really. I intended to stay for a month. Instead, I married an Australian who taught English there. I quit my job in North Carolina by email.

I found myself unable to legally work in Hong Kong. So what was I to do with my time? I dusted off a childhood dream and resumed writing.

I had a slush pile full of old short stories, and I ran them through the on-line writing workshops. There are two parts to writing--story and style. I wasn't changing my stories--they came from me and were what I wanted to write--but my style was pathetic. Style is also the part that can be learned. So I did.

Then came something that amazed me. New stories. Mixing with the

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Posted on: December 12,2006

Email: larocca.michael@gmail.com
Website: http://www.chinarice.org