What I Miss About Being Unpublished ...

Some months ago, the kind folks at Project Mayhem ran a very kind review of Peter Nimble.  Last week, they asked me to contribute something for a post about what authors miss from their pre-published days.  As fun as being published is, I could think of at least one thing that I miss from the old days of blindly hoping for publication -- allow me to excerpt:

Before I had a book in the world, I had no real sense of my audience. Audience was an abstract idea that couldn't be pinned down and had little say in my storytelling. With the publication of Peter Nimble, however, I've suddenly found myself writing stories with specific readers in mind. It's hard to type a sentence without thinking: I wonder what Librarian X or Critic Y will think of this? While such thoughts may be helpful during revisions, they can be crippling to the early stages of the creative process.

Project Mayhem also got contributions from authors Kate Messner and Stephen Messer.  To read their responses and some great reader comments, check out the link below:

PROJECT MAYHEM: Rushing Towards Your Dream? Wait.