Yes, I know it is 2026, and the holidays are technically behind us. But our house and front yard are still festooned with decorations, and I don’t think I’ve taken enough photos of the Christmas Village that took so much effort to put up this year. So when it came time to write a post for SleuthSayers, the mystery blog, this week, my head was still stuck on Christmas. In one of my first posts of the new year, I always try to share some sort of inspirational message for writers. Today I am sharing an anecdote of how I came to write my first published story, and the strange thing that happened immediately afterward.

You can read my article at this link. It is called…

This will date me. I majored in magazine journalism in college, intending to work for big glossy magazine back when they were still relevant. The biggest and richest still are. The smaller ones struggle, or have evaporated. Still, I’m amazed by the variety of publications I see when I open the Apple News app on my phone, or scroll the magazines available via my Magzter app. I love browsing the magazine racks at Barnes & Noble, or Hudson News when I’m passing through airports. But seriously, how many of us know where we can find a solid newsstand anymore? They used to be ubiquitous when print was king.

About a decade after I went freelance, my old writing professor asked me to speak to his class of magazine journalism students. We kept trying to find time when I’d be able to fly up from North Carolina to Syracuse. I never did. But I did write the following memo, which I sent, and he distributed to his students. I offer now because beyond that one sharing, it’s never seen the light of day…

I’ve been recommending this essay for years to every writer I know. And it’s free to read online…