My name is Robert. I currently live in Woodbridge, Virginia happily raising my 4 children. I work as an SQL Programmer but since separating from my wife and getting primary custody of my children I would prefer to work at home and writing would be one way to do that. So here I am dreaming of a best seller without having anything finished yet. I have technical articles published online and a few of them were included in books with many other authors. Now I want to write books. I do best writing fantasy but have also written science fiction. My problem generally has been how to turn my short stories, which come easy for me, into full length books. And of course I never knew about any online places that publish books on demand and so don't require much up front costs. Now that I have found them my hope of publishing a book has returned and as I turn my thoughts toward writing the ideas just start flowing. I think some are good, but don't know. And of course I know my grammar needs work as do my story crafting skills and I have joined here hoping to learn from others how best to improve my character development and word craft skills to ensure the stories I write capture a readers attention. I am currently developing one of my old fantasy short stories into a book and feel it is coming along nicely. And yes, Cogito, I plan to look around and do some reviews before I post any of my work for review - see I've already looked around a bit before posting my intro.
Tee-hee! Methinks you're refering to the "Posting your own work should not be the very first thing blah, blah, blah......." bumph you're about to get. Hi Robert, and welcome.
Hiya Robert, and Welcome to the Writing Forums Since you'd already read the blah-blah, blah-blah-BLAH blah, I shan't repeat it. Again, welcome to the site, and have a whole lot of fun!
Thanks for the welcomes. I wasn't trying to steal your thunder and I realize that what you said is important I just wanted to let you know that I already came here with the intent to look around first. I actually like the idea that you are supposed to review other peoples stories before posting your own. Too me it will ensure that people give to this community before receiving. Now if I can just figure out the best place to participate besides just reading what everyone else has said ...
Thanks again for welcoming me. I've found a place here where I feel comfortable talking but it wasn't where I expected. From reading a lot here I am beginning to see how much I need to learn before I can contribute much to writing discussions. I don't really know any technical terminology, I simply write and see how what I write turns out.
