When Was the First Time I Was Published?

As I write this on June 29th, I’m very aware of an upcoming “writing anniversary” of mine. The first time I was published. So, when was that?  How long ago? Of course, I know the answers. But as I asked myself these questions, I started thinking about all the other writing anniversaries and how long ago they were. Not everything is documented perfectly in my mind, but I’d say I got a decent calendar-view of it all. So, it’ll be fun to review the timeline.

I often tell people, I’ve been writing my whole life. But it’s not just a platitude for me… I have the evidence to back it up!

About 32 years ago: 
Second-grade, Mrs. Dionne’s class, I was 7 years old, and I wrote one of my first ever stories. OK, it’s not so much a story as it is a… what would you call this? Blurb? Biography? And OK, the teacher made everyone in class write one. But still, mine is titled "Mike Segreti." And it’s about– you guessed it– Mike Segreti. Still friends with Segreti to this day. That’s another accomplishment of its own.

As you can see, the writing is stripped down from too many distracting and unnecessary adjectives and just gets right to the nuts and bolts of conveying a message. The title was likely chosen by my editor, and she also got my name spelled wrong. But I probably didn't notice... because I was 7. And my last name is hard to spell. But I have a feeling the character of my story was largely left alone. All me. My writing has slightly changed. But also, there was a story written about me, by Christian DuPont, and he let everyone know (and that includes me) that I was writing in my journal even back then, and I enjoyed it. I partially remember that. I’m not sure I remember my favorite movie being “Bart Simpson” but it was a while ago.

In my younger years, I wrote a lot for pleasure. I used to write stories, with pen, on paper, staple them together, make covers, the whole nine. In my teen years I wasn’t doing that type of thing anymore, but it wasn’t until senior year of high school that I got another big taste of writing.

About 21 years ago:
I was 18, senior year, and my public speaking class was putting on the comedy show for the school. I wrote a skit for it, and played the main character of Melvin. I was involved in some other skits, a little here and there, some writing and performing in it, and then last minute one of the hosts dropped from that position and I had to take over. A friend and I had to write a lot of our monologue jokes, it was frantic because we had to do it all last minute, and I loved it.

About 20 years ago:
19 years old, I wrote my very first 5-minute stand-up comedy set to perform at an open mic. I performed it. It was the most terrifying and exhilarating thing. That’s how it was every time I did one of those.

About 18 years ago:
21 years old, I wrote my 5-minute set for the To Catch a Rising Star Contest and performed that in Rhode Island. That was the biggest audience I had ever performed in front of… a little more than 200 people. Also terrifying. Also exhilarating. But like the other moments writing material and performing it, hearing people laugh at things you created, oh boy… nothing like it. And when there’s more people, the laughs sound louder. I loved this, but stand-up wasn’t quite my forte. I was alright, but I didn’t move on in this contest, and I could sense my limitations. But the writing, I had a knack for it. Maybe I needed to write in a different format.

About 18 years ago:
Still 21, but I decided I wanted to write a screenplay. I got the software, I learned while writing, and I started with my very first script idea.  I eventually finished it. It had some great moments and overall it’s a great idea, but it wasn’t a solid script. Some day, I’ll probably redo that script from scratch. I still remember a lot of the good stuff to this day.

I kept writing more scripts for films and TV. I entered contests and didn’t get any results I wanted. Not until… 

About 8 years ago:
I was 31, and I had written a script for an episode of Family Guy and submitted to a contest. Scriptapalooza. It moved on to the Quarterfinalist round, and then even the Semifinalist round. It was the first time I had seen something move on to another round and I felt a renewed sense of, “Oh, I’m supposed to be doing this.” So, I kept going, but I dedicated myself even more to writing.

About 5 years ago:
I was 34, and I found out about Vocal. I saw the contests that they had for short stories and I wanted to take a shot at it. It had been a while since I had written prose because I was mainly just writing scripts. But I used to do it when I was younger, so I wanted to do it again. I wrote a short story and submitted it to a contest. Nothing happened, but I was proud of it. I enjoyed it. I decided I’d keep writing short stories, and even get back into writing longer prose as well.

About 4 ½ years ago:
Still 34, and for the first time, sent a short story to a publication. It was eventually turned down, but I knew that that was something I wanted to chase. I had continued posting things on Vocal, but I wanted to get published somewhere. So, I kept going.

And going. And going. And getting turned down. And getting turned down.

And then, to finally answer the question I originally posed…

About 3 years ago:
36 years old. I was published for the very first time. June 30th, 2023, my story “Titanium, Thorium, and Tungsten” was published on Sci-Fi Shorts. That was a feeling that stood out, that moment, and I’ll always remember it vividly. I remember where I was when I got the news, and who I was with. It’s nothing crazy exciting. I was on the couch, leftmost cushion, and I was with my dog Ginger. She was the first one with which I shared my news.

And I just kept going. I kept submitting and getting turned down… and every once in a while, I’d get published again.

About 1 year ago:
I was 38, and I was published for the 10th time. It wasn’t a fluke, eh? I have a skill. I’m a writer. I’m going to keep going.

It was my story “Nuggets of Joy” which was published in Adelaide Literary Magazine… that was number 10. I was really proud to get that double-digit number of publications.

As it stands now, I’ve submitted to so many publications and contests. 588 times, to be exact. 55 are pending. That means that 533 have come to one decision or another. 514 were ultimately a no, although, of those 514, 18 were either moving on to a second round or were shortlisted or were a quarterfinalist or semifinalist, etc. and that’s something. So, that means 496 of the times I submitted somewhere… they were a straight no.

But 19 of them… those were a straight yes. 1 contest win, and 18 times I was published across 12 different publications.

To look back, knowing I’m right at my “writing anniversary” of having been published for the first time… three years ago… and now seeing that my number of times published is 18 feels incredible. There were times when it felt like it’d be impossible to get published once. And then since it happened, to see all I have accomplished in three years, well, I’m proud of myself. Looking back also makes it easier when looking forward feels difficult. I’ve done a lot before; I can do a lot more still.