I am now a published author.

So today I got a book in the mail.  This came as a surprise because I didn't order a book.

Then I opened it.  And all made sense.

I wrote a short story for an anthology called Shifting Hearts for which I will be (when the check arrives) be paid $30 (that'll make me a professional author) and was given a complementary copy of the book, which now sits beside me.

Mine is one of seven stories, I haven't read the others.  Probably should at some point, now that I have the book and all.

Shifting Hearts is an anthology of real world based (no magic and such) otherkin romance stories.  My contribution, beginning on page 95 is called "Looking the Real You in the Eye".

Since I was paid a fixed price financially it doesn't matter to me whether the book sells seven billion copies or zero, but I'd like it to do well.  Also, if you buy from Amazon through my site (links coming) I should theoretically make pennies.

The Kindle version is here.

The Paperback version is here.

[Added] Link to Amazon UK page for the book. [/added]

That's all the versions there are.

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As part of the deal I retain copyright on my story but agree not to release anywhere else for a certain period of time.  Six months as I recall but I'd want to double check the contract before doing anything.  Point is: if you don't want to wait half a year or more to read my story, you kind of have to buy the book.

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Oh, about the 11th commandment.  The 11th commandment is, of course, "Don't get caught."  This can be used for good or ill.  But the thing is, the only reason it can ever be used for good is because we live in an imperfect world.  Very imperfect.

On the way to my psychiatrist's office I pass a historical marker about the underground railroad.  These were people who lived by the 11th commandment to the betterment of many.

Closeted people live by the 11th commandment.

And we come to levels of wrongness.  Using the 11th commandment isn't bad unless used for bad things.  There's nothing wrong about the 11th commandment when looked at on that level.  But the fact that the 11th commandment ever has to be used for good things is wrong.  If what you're doing is not wrong then there should be no reason that getting caught is a problem.  And so the need for the 11th commandment points to a wrongness in our world.

And so I believe in the abolition of the 11th commandment, but not by taking aim at it directly.  Instead by improving the world to the point that it is no longer needed.  A world where, "Don't get caught," is something that's absurd to say about good things because getting caught would produce a response of, "Why were you trying to hide that?  There's nothing wrong with that."

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The first rule, Rule 1 (which is so basic often times I forget it is Rule 1 and call it Rule Zero), is, "Try not to be an asshole."