Thanks for setting these up, Bill. I've been trying to figure out for the past two weeks whether folks like this direction or not. What do you think, Armchair Arcaders? Have you enjoyed reading these stories, or should we not quit our "day jobs," so to speak?

I spent the better part of my teenager years trying to write novels and short stories and get them published, but never had much luck. The closest I ever came was to get a signed memo back from The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy (or maybe that's reversed) claiming that the editor had liked the story, but not enough to publish it. Believe it or not, even that little memo was enough to flare up hope. Every other submission had just resulted in a mindless form letter, and I doubt the editors had even bothered to read the darn things.

At any rate, though, I was never able to get a story published commercially, though I did have some luck with local independent papers and the like. I took several creative writing classes in college and was always told I had talent, but was never able to find a way to make a living by it. Shame, really. I'd much rather spend my time writing fun novels and stories than teaching freshman where to put a comma for the rest of my life. So it goes! ;-P

At least I can put some of my creative energies into writing good non-fiction and technical prose! If it weren't for my knowledge of computers and gaming, I really would be stuck with nothing to write about.