I found out yesterday that I sold my first profession short story, "Pi," about a mathematician who gets his power from reciting digits of pi, and from perfect circles he makes. This was a great experience for me because I have believed for so long that I was only a novel writer, after literally a hundred rejection letters for short stories I wrote in the early years of my career.

But this story, I just sat down and let it flow out. I didn't have a plan for it. It just sort of created itself out of my head. I'm not saying I didn't do revision. I did. I revised it myself over a few days, then sent it off and the editor sent back some revision thoughts, and I looked at it again and fixed it the way I wanted it to be fixed, then sent it back. The necessary revision wasn't a simple, do this kind of thing. It was rather subtle, but somehow I figured it out and got it sold.

I feel much more confident about myself as a professional and as a storyteller. There is something great about the speed of response in short story sales that I like. I mean, a novel is a huge project and a wonderful thing and there is nothing quite like seeing a hardcover with a beautiful picture on the front and your name on it. But what short story lacks in flash, it makes up in automatic feedback. You can tell immediately if what you're doing is working--or not.

I recommend it highly to authors who need a break from novel writing, and who want to stretch themselves with a new form. Also, readers, look at short stories. Sometimes you get the same emotional hit from a short story as from a novel, and the same sense of wonder and world building, too. I've been enjoying reading short stories more lately, and I regret that I neglected them for so long. The market is struggling, so go buy an anthology or a magazine today!

By the way, I sold this to Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, an online zine and it should be out in Fall or Winter of this year.