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This weekend, I cleaned up the spare bedroom that seems to have become the dumping ground for “stuff” lately. I don’t have an attic and the basement has its own Nile, so what would normally end up in one of those places ends up in this upstairs room. I still don’t know what possessed me to organize it, though, since that’s not really me. Mostly, I set things down and forget about them. If I put things away, I’d probably never find them again.

So I’m cleaning up and found a box that’s moved with me three times and never been unpacked. Methinks it’s time to let go of whatever’s in this box if I haven’t needed it in five years, right? No! Turns out this box is full of my brief stint as owner and editor of the once mildly popular website called Short Story Writers Showcase.

SSWS was my baby for a few years back in the late 90s. It was a place where authors could have their short stories on display for anyone to read. Nothing fancy, just a huge collection of stories that I accepted, helped polish, and sent out into the world for everyone to enjoy. No one got charged or paid, but the site appeared in The Writer’s Market book a couple of times. By the end of its life, there were over a thousand stories online and over 400 waiting for me to read them. That to-read list is what triggered the end of SSWS because I started grad school in 2000 and couldn’t keep up with the reading and writing requirements of that and continue SSWS like I wanted to. For a little while, I tried to get some help in the form of associate editors, but my time was still in too much demand. I hated to do it, but I had to close it down.

I loved that little site, though. I miss it sometimes. I met a lot of really talented authors who I hope are still out there writing. And I know working that site was yet another step I took to becoming the author I am today. It was also good for my career since I edited the site in Notepad having taught myself all that code — before WYSIWYG editors even existed — and now coding doesn’t phase me at all.

Did you ever visit SSWS? Did you ever submit a story?