Why submit?

I answer "life's most difficult calls."

I'm a call specialist which primarily consists of answering phones for funeral homes. Perfect for a horror writer/editor, right? For the sake of this blog: "Hells to the yeah!"

Three days a week I sit in a near-windowless cement block in a suburb of Philly. Our cubicles are diced like a Rubix cube that had just fallen to his doom from the top of the Eiffel Tower. My soul is connected to a headset, it's cord crawling around a Mac the size of a baby elephant. And I talk to widow's who just want to pick up their husband's ashes. Did I mention he died three years ago? It really isn't that bad, but that isn't how I want to be remembered.

J.K. Rowling said that she'd like to be remembered as the girl who did her best with the talent she has. Good answer, Jo! This is where you come in:

I don't care what anyone says: everyone has at least one talent. Maybe you can make a mean grilled cheese sandwich or write a Best Selling novel. Perhaps you make a mean grilled cheese sandwich while writing that novel! Whatever it is, you're talented. And if you're an artist you have to share your work. It should be a law.

How else are you going to be recognized if you don't put your work out there? When your story is published or your art piece is printed anywhere, you just left a legacy. You are forever archived and when humans are nothing more than babbling, technological fools hovering in their metallic Lazy Boy hooked up to oxygen, you will still have a place on earth.

And, although I'm not sure if it's scientifically proven, getting published boosts your confidence. I know when I see my name in print I gleam. Someone thought my work was good enough to be showcased!

So do it.

I dare you. Take a swig of Tainted Tea and live forever.