‘Back in the day’ I had a pretty good gig going with Star Magazine when it published fiction in its weekly publication, which it no longer does.

A thousand word article earned you $300.

Not bad.

I was cranking out formulaic love stories left and right.

Every Monday night I would scamper down to the grocery store to sneak a peek at Star Magazine, which had just been put on the news stand, to see if one of my stories had been published. There were times that I was so broke that I didn’t have the fifty cents, or whatever the price was, to buy the magazine.

I decided that I would get my stories matted and framed, because I was deliriously proud that I was finally in print and getting a paycheck.

I trotted off to the local frame shop and explained to the owner that I wanted my articles matted and framed.

The owner was a big buffoon of a guy. Nice but I doubt if his IQ hit triple digits.

He looked at my article and snarled, “You get paid for this?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“How much?”

That’s kind of personal, isn’t it?

I answered, “$300.”

“Three hundred dollars!” he exclaimed.

Obviously, he had a problem with that. He was acting as if I’d just been paid for getting up in the morning. Ironically, I didn’t question the ridiculous amount he charged me for matting and framing my articles.

“Well,” he sputtered indignantly, “I might have to write me one of those.”

I had to suppress a grin. Yeah, and I’m going to do brain surgery in my spare time.

Like I said, everyone’s a writer …

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