This is a picture of my friend, Jay Gaines. He was a great writer
and an even greater friend, and I was very sad when he died a few
years ago.
Jay always encouraged me to work harder at my writing, and also to be brave and try new things. That's one reason I like to encourage young writers now... without Jay, I'm not sure I would've kept going when I got rejection letters, or when it didn't look like things would work out.
So to you, my young friends, I'd like to pass on two bits of advice from my friend:
- You'll never get anywhere by just talking about writing--go write!
- Never, never start smoking. Jay died years and years before he should have because he got hooked on cigarettes when he was a kid. It's not cool, and it's not even "adult." It's just stupid.