Friday 17 July 2009

Go ahead...make my day. Oh, you already have!

I'm very fortunate to be a published author and to have my debut book, Dead Men's Dust, out there in the world for all to read and enjoy. However, that hasn't always been the case.

When I was still an aspiring author I submitted to magazines and to publishing houses and collected enough rejections to wallpaper quite a large room, so I know how difficult it is for an aspiring writer to get their work out there.

When I started there was no such thing as the internet, so I didn't think about publishing electronically, and actually came late to the game (I only started blogging after I got the publishing deal). It was then that I realised that there are some great blogs and webzines who do offer an opportunity to writers to have their work read and commented upon, and it was for this reason I decided to start my own. Ta-da! Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers came out of that idea.

My intention for my sister site was to give authors an opportunity to post their work and to have their peers give comments and helpful feedback. I never expected it to be the great success it has become, and I must thank all those who have submitted work to TK'n'C. It never fails to amaze me the wealth of talent out there who are 'previously' undiscovered gems.

I didn't set up the site out of any altruistic reasons - and genuinely it was for the benefit of others - but I must say that I am happy to report that I have just received a comment that has made me feel extremely happy and has vindicated everything I set out to do.

One of our Australian contributors emailed Co-editor, Col Bury, and told him that he was attending school and that his classes were about writing 'crime fiction' stories. Doesn't sound so different than many others out there. But then he states: "...for english, at school, we're doing crime fiction. And my teacher strongly suggested your website as a point of call, to help familiarize ourselves with the world of crime, to see the different styles, views, perspectives of crime."

This to me is an ultimate accolade.

We - and I include everyone who has submitted, commented or had anything to do with the site -can be very proud in that we are helping writers to achieve their dreams.

A big, big thank you to you all.

And to the teacher out there in Oz. Thank you, you've made my day!

http://thrillskillsnchills.blogspot.com

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Made my day, too! Brill innit? (Hope the English teacher int reading - I'll be marked down!)

Unknown said...

Matt,
This just get better and better.
Having you read Dom's update comment on this post over at TKnC?
You may want to revise this when you do!

Author said...

cheers Col. read it and still basking in the after glow!