I still remember the first time I got paid for a story. It was fifty dollars for A Life is Worth a Thousand Words, which appeared on Stephen D. Rogers’ site in October 2005.

I had had a handful of publications before then, but I had never actually got anything other than a thank you for my words… and here was someone who wanted to give me five cents for each of them. Professional rates, baby!

It is such a pure piece of writing, because it was conceived as an experiment – one thousand words exactly, start to finish – and that being the case, I probably couldn’t revise or redraft it, even if I wanted to.

It’s a story I always go back to when I feel the futility of life snapping at my heels, and then I remember, hey, this isn’t such a happy piece after all!