Today’s Crossroads Journal, a biweekly newspaper serving Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs, published an article about me. (Basically, they just published a press release sent by the PR firm doing publicity for Writers of the Future.) (UPDATE: I just want to make clear that this is not about a new story I’ve sold, it’s about my first story sale, which happened back in February. WOTF is just starting their PR campaign for the anthology to be released in September.)
Here’s the text of the article:
EM man finalist in national writer’s contest
Dateline Communications
Press ReleaseHOLLYWOOD, CA — Eric James Stone of Eagle Mountain, Utah is a finalist in the international L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Contest, now celebrating its 20th consecutive year. As a finalist, he will attend the gala 20th Anniversary Hubbard Achievement Awards presentation ceremonies to be held in Hollywood later this year.
Mr. Stone will attend the famed Writers and Illustrators of the Future creative workshop and his story will also be published in the acclaimed L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future anthology, Volume XX (Galaxy Press).Born in the United States, Eric James Stone spent most of his childhood in Latin America and England. No matter where he lived, he read voraciously and, thanks to his father’s science fiction collection, he had a steady diet of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein.
While studying for his political science degree at Brigham Young University, Eric took several creative-writing classes.
During those college years, he wrote several science fiction and fantasy short stories. After two rejections he gave up and did not write another short story for over ten years.
During his writing hiatus, Eric went to Baylor Law School, passed the Texas Bar Exam, worked on a Congressional campaign in upstate New York and found a job doing research for a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. Four years later he returned to Utah and, at the height of the Internet boom, was hired as a website developer. He holds that job to this day.
James [This should have been Eric!] had never given up reading science fiction and fantasy, and one day in 2002 he was suddenly filled with the desire to write a novel. He again began taking creative writing classes and going to writing workshops. His skills improved and class assignments inspired him to set aside his novel to work on a short story. This will be his first published story.
The Writers of the Future Contest, now into its 20th year, was established by L. Ron Hubbard to discover and encourage talented beginning writers of science fiction and fantasy. The Illustrators of the Future Contest was established some five years later, to do for illustrators what the Writers contest has done for writers.
In his own 56 year writing career, Mr. Hubbard published more than 250 novels and short stories.
Among his most celebrated works are the landmark international bestsellers, Battlefield Earth and the 10 volume Mission Earth series.
Over the past 20 years close to 300 novels — including a number of New York Times bestsellers — and over 2,500 short stories have been published by Writers of the Future contest winners in the field of speculative fiction, as well as in other major genres.
For more information on the Contest, please go to: www.writersofthefuture.com