My advice for aspiring writers is threefold.First, read as much as possible, both within and outside the genre you arem working in. By reading you hone your internal ear for style. Second, write. Everything comes down to it; unless you write, you are not a writer. Third, submit your work. But - stop chasing every seductive new market out there, and stop trying to write for the tastes of specific established professional markets and editors. That way lies mediocrity and eventual dissolution of your true voice, no matter how embryonic or pronounced it may be now.
There's a difference between playing and playing games. The former is an act of joy, the latter — an act.
The heartland lies where the heart longs to be. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to find the true place to plant it.
Why does every road eventually narrow into a point at the horizon? Because that's where the point lies.
