K. Marvin Bruce

  I’ve been quiet for a while because I was working on a novel.   I’ve written novels before; seven of them.   Thing is, they’ve never been published.   One was under contract and then cancelled.   Now it’s under consideration again.   The other six are very patient. In addition to these novels, I’ve also written a nonfiction manuscript using my pen name.   It’s not published either.   The reason for this cross-over is that my current employment might become my past job if anyone read this piece.   Best to keep my identity false. Long-form writing is something I enjoy doing.   I do want some of the novels to be published, but it seems that you have to have someone take a chance on one before anyone will bother to look at another.   Such is the writing life. Just a thought, but for my fiction you need to give it a little time.   The first page might not snatch you, but the stories draw you in.   I read novels like that. ...

  I’ve been doing some thinking.   I have dozens of stories written.   Most of them aren’t very good, but several of them are.   I’ve been trying to get them submitted. Part of the problem with being a graphomaniac is that you have so much material that you begin to forget it.   I’ve read some of my own stories that I have no recollection of writing.   One that I recently finished was “Squirrel Play.” Recently finished stories I remember.   I wanted this one to get read, so I decided to aim high.   The Horror Zine is a phenomenon that took off.   I’ve tried to publish there before, without success.   I decided to try again. Much to my surprise, it was accepted.   I’m thrilled beyond words! As a struggling writer I wrestle with self-doubt constantly.   I wasn’t given much encouragement as a writer, except by two English teachers in my high school.   Although that was nearly forty years ago, I only got the courage to submit...