Meg Chittenden writes:
When I started writing in 1970 (eek!) I intended writing only literary short stories. Several rejections later, a story was accepted by a quarterly magazine. Before I was even through celebrating, the magazine arrived, a contributor's copy that was to be my only payment. Unfortunately, whoever sent it neglected to put a stamp on it, so I had to pay 76 cents for the postage.
I decided to write for the Sunday Supplement of the local newspaper. My first article was accepted. I was paid $15. This seemed to be a much better market for me, until the newspaper arrived with my story above the fold, an ad for Preparation H below.
My first mystery story, which had this absolutely wonderful twist at the end, (I thought) was returned by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine with a note attached. "Were we supposed to be surprised?" it read.
Undaunted, I kept on writing, finally finding success with short stories at Good Housekeeping (1200 words, 1200 dollars!), then children's books, and then mystery novels with first Ace, then Pinnacle. Along the way I acquired an agent, who died fairly soon after. I was inherited by another agent at the same agency. Big mistake. He'd hated my previous agent and didn't send out anything I sent him.
But I kept on writing and found another agent, who is still my agent.
Meg Chittenden has published over 100 short stories and articles and thirty-seven books in several genres. Many of her books have been reprinted overseas, and several have appeared on bestseller lists, though not (yet) the N.Y. Times list. (She did spend one heady Thursday on the USA Today list, way, way down.) Her most recent publications are standalone mysteries: More Than You Know and Snap Shot, for Berkley.
