One Decision Gained Me a Writing Career

By Mike Rumble, https://rumblesrumblings.wordpress.com/

I was serving as an assistant account executive at MarketSmart Advertising, working on the Subway restaurants account. Although I enjoyed my job, I was beginning to develop a passion for writing but needed inspiration and direction on how to take it to the next level. A coworker of mine named Lori noticed my talent and suggested I consider attending a writing conference called “Write Now!” by an up-and-coming group called Triangle Association of Freelancers (affectionately known to many as TAF) at the North Campus of Wake Tech Community College. I figured I had nothing to lose and made the trek to attend the conference and see what it was all about. Of all the Write Now! conferences I’ve been privileged to attend, my most memorable one was that first one back in 2008.

I noticed from the moment I walked in that this conference was different. Every single person was happy to be there, and I was greeted with the warmest smiles at every turn. Another incredible thing about TAF is the transparency of the leadership team. They don’t hide from the participants. In fact, they make every effort to get to know you, what your writing interests are, and how they can help you. It still makes me chuckle when I remember overhearing Nan Vaughan whisper to Mark Cantrell after I finished registering, “Go follow Mike. It’s his first conference and he needs a friend!” Mark then took over and helped me pick out the sessions that would be of benefit to me. To this day, Mark and I are still the best of friends.

At lunch, I found myself sitting next to one of the conference’s founders, Elaine Klonicki, who took an immediate interest in my desire to write humor one day. We discussed how important and vital humor writing is given how the world is these days and then discovered something else that we are both fascinated with…the sinking of the Titanic.

The sessions were simply amazing! The speakers were so passionate about writing and what they wanted to share that I just sat and soaked in everything I could. I enjoyed every minute of that day being around both established writers and new writers like me, and left that conference inspired, motivated and ready to write! I became an official TAF member not too long after that.

Shortly after joining TAF, my writing life changed forever. Another one of the conference’s founding members, Kristy Stevenson, came up to me at a meeting, handed me a piece of paper and said, “I found this writing opportunity and think you would be perfect for it!” It was a submission invitation from Chicken Soup for the Soul for a new book they were planning to release, entitled “Chicken Soup for the Soul: O Canada.” (I am Canadian by birth.) I put together a story of how my father and I would watch our beloved (and many times maddening) Toronto Maple Leafs playing hockey on Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night after our church meetings. I never expected my story to get too far in the selection process but was pleasantly surprised that not only did it make it to the final selection round, but it was also selected for publication! To this day, nothing brings a bigger smile to my face than to open that book and see my name in print!

That success led me to start my own blog, Rumble’s Rumblings, which gives me the ability to publish my own thoughts and stories whenever I want.

I also became a regular contributor to the TAF Omnibus books that the group publishes every year, featuring stories and poems written by the organization’s own members.

My association with TAF also inspired me to try my hand at magazine writing. I had the privilege to write articles on a monthly basis for 5 West Magazine, a regional publication, after the editor at the time was a guest at a TAF monthly meeting. Later, after getting an introduction to the editor of Videoscope magazine by TAF’s founder Don Vaughan, I began writing reviews of horror and science fiction movies that are being re-released in Blu-Ray and 4K UHD.

None of these achievements would have been possible if not for that decision back in 2008 to attend that first Write Now! conference. The amazing thing is that the planning committee still consistently strives to improve and bring value to every conference year after year!

Need some confidence and encouragement to take your writing to the next level? Join us! You’ve got nothing to lose…and everything to gain!

Mike Rumble has been a member of TAF since 2008. He has had stories published in Chicken Soup for the Soul as well as in the TAF Omnibus books. He has written articles highlighting local businesses that were featured in 5 West Magazine and is currently a contributing writer with VideoScope magazine.