Journey Into Publication

Well, isn't this exciting?

My first professionally sold story was released yesterday. It's the tale of a man who finds out his future and past are linked, and he's not at all happy about it. You can read His Father's Eyes for free at TGeneDavis.com

In addition to that, I also released a collection of short stories yesterday, available digitally through Amazon and in print through CreateSpace. This collection ranges from light fantasy to dark science fiction.  

Digital: $2.99 (Free to Kindle Unlimited Users)

Print: $5.99

And, finally, I created an Author's Page on Amazon. Among other things, it's supposed to link to this blog. It gave me a chance to write a new BIO, which I've included below. The address is easy to remember too: www.amazon.com/author/thewritescott

Scott Hughey was born young, and has done everything within his control to remain that way. His fiction has won two honorable mention awards during 2014 in the Writer's of the Future Contest. And yes, he double-checked. "Two" counts as multiple. He has also sold fiction to T. Gene Davis' Speculative blog, and ghost-written multiple non-fiction articles on the internet. That's no mean feat for someone who, strictly speaking, doesn't believe in ghosts. Scott is an IT professional. You could change that today by purchasing a million copies of his work.

1st Quarter 2014 Writers of the Future Initial Results

http://www.writersofthefuture.com/1st-quarter-2014-writers-of-the-future-initial-results/

Here's the list of Finalists, Semi-Finalists and Honorable Mentions for the 1st Quarter WOTF contest. Quick math with tell you that there were 116 honorable mentions (minus any that requested their name not be listed, or who didn't respond.)

Anybody who can't stand math can skip the next two paragraphs, but you'll still have to count to two.

I wish I knew how many people entered the contest, but those numbers aren't reported. However, I've read that somewhere between 5% to 15% of the entries receive HMs depending on (wait for it) how many good stories they receive.

Using the 116 HMs and the 5% number, that works out to 2320 entries. The number of HMs is probably higher, which would bring the number of entries higher. The percentage is probably higher too, which lowers the actual number of entries. Nevertheless, I'm confident in saying that thousands of people entered the contest, so being one of 115 HMs isn't too shabby. It's a start, at least. I'm aiming higher though.

Anyway, those of you who are DYING to see my name on the list (like I was) will find it 56 names down on the HM list.

Those who can't be bothered to look it up can see copied and pasted here:
Scott Hughey of North Carolina

I aim to please. Well, I aim to please myself, if nothing else.

The happiness of receiving the HM has faded, and I've gone back to concentrating on improving my craft. In fact, just this week I finished my entry for the 2nd quarter. It's vastly improved over the previous entry. Of course, writers are the worst judges of their own work, so what do I know?

Okay. Back to the novel. And maybe another short story or three.

Writer's of the Future: Honorable Mention

I finally heard back from Writer's of the Future. I'd entered the contest for the 1st quarter of 2014.

My short story, Finding Home won an honorable mention. That's good news, and bad news. Yeah, I wanted to win, but I'm mostly seeing this as a huge positive.  After all, I learned that depending on the number of "good stories," 5-15% of the stories receive Honorable Mention.   So, my writing is moving in the right direction.

This is also incentive to enter a stronger story the next quarter, and to keep working on my craft.

Writing! Yay!

Double Date: A 100 Word Story

Here's another drabble from 2011.  This originally appeared at http://www.weirdyear.com/2011/02/21511.html

I hesitate sharing my older published works here, because I'm egotistical enough to believe my writing has drastically improved since then.  Still, they're fun and they provide a quick blog post.

There's a much better story here then the one I wrote.  At the time, I felt beholden to fitting everything into 100 words.  (I love 100 word stories.)  Maybe someday I'll revisit this concept, and look for the actual story instead of looking just for the joke.

Double Date
By Scott D. Hughey

I share bodies with my disembodied twin brother. Usually I’m in control, except when my pulse races. We shouldn’t date, but Julie Valentine was worth trying.

Things went well until we kissed. “I had a great time Trevor,” she said, leaning across the couch. I tried to kiss her but he finished the deed.

“Call me Nate.”

Julie giggled, thinking it a game. Now we’re all going steady. She thinks of Nate as my wild side. Maybe he is. All I know is I’ve never been kissed. Without practice, I’d probably stink at it. Better Nate than Trevor, I suppose.