I am a librarian by trade. Unlike "success as a writer," my "success as a librarian" is in some casual simple corner of my ego, so it's easy for me to publish in library related journals and anthologies, and I've published a little bit of poetry in magazines. Still, I've been writing fiction since I was four years old, since before I could write a word. I told my mother a series of stories about a duck and she dictated the spelling of each word, letter by letter, so I could put those stories on paper. My undergrad degree was in English with a focus on creative writing. I've workshopped in school, at The Loft in Minneapolis, at the Iowa Summer Writer's Festival, with friends, and at my own library. Still, the process of submitting fiction for publication freezes me. But I've been working daily on several short stories and more than one novel for the past few years and if any of that work will ever have an audience I've got to start treating the publishing process more like I treat my job--more systematically, and less like it's some precious piece of me.