“The Temperament of an Artist” is an extremely early story of mine, written in middle school and sent out on submission without any revisions because I was a young idiot who just couldn’t wait to mail a new story to the editors I found in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Sigh. I still owe a lot of them apology letters for sending them so many bad stories those summers when school was out.

Most of what I published in the 1990s is dead and buried in a folder on my computer for good reason, but at the time I was just having fun and trying to sell short stories like my literary heroes.

“The Temperament of an Artist” was the second story of mine to see print, published in a little paper zine in 1995 that doesn’t even seem to have existed if you search the web for information now.

I revised the manuscript a few times in high school and college, but still, I was surprised to like this one as much as I did when I opened the dreaded “old stuff” folder while considering the contents for Walking With Ghosts.

It’s not great, but it’s kind of fun, I think. Especially if you put yourself into the head of the wildly optimistic thirteen-year-old kid who wrote it while believing his work could set the world aflame.

“The Temperament of an Artist” can be read over on Patreon where readers can access more than a dozen of my stories immediately for a pledge of just $1 or more.

Please visit my Patreon page to learn about the different rewards I’m publishing exclusively for my supporters. I’d love to see you there!

Thank you, as always, for your continuing support!