itten a few small books which have been published by a
reputable house, and which have been pleasantly received by both the
press and the public, and having just completed another which I
devoutly pray may meet the same fate, I feel that I may henceforth
deem myself an author.

I have been considered such for some time among my numerous
acquaintances ever since I made my literary bow with a short story
in a literary magazine, years and years ago. Being of the feminine
persuasion, I am usually presented to strangers as "an authoress." It
is at these times that I wish I were a man.

The social side of authorship is extremely interesting. At least once
a week, I am asked how I "came to write."

This is difficult, for I do not know. When I so reply, my questioner
ascertains by further inquiries where I was educated and how I have
been trained. Never having been through a "School of Journalism," my
answer is not satisfactory.

"You must read a great deal in order to get all those ideas," is
frequently said to me. I reply that I do read a great deal, being
naturally bookish, but that it is the great object of my life to avoid
getting ideas from books. To an author, "Plagiarist" is like the old
cry of "Wolf," and when an idea is once assimilated it is difficult
indeed to distinguish it from one's own.

I am often asked how long it takes me to write a book. I am ashamed to
tell, but sometimes the secret escapes, since I am naturally truthful,
and find it hard to parry a direct question. The actual time of
composition is always greeted with astonishment, and I can read the
questioner's inference, that if I can do so much in so short a time,
how much could I do if I actually worked!

This is always distasteful, so I hasten to add that the composition
is really a very small part of the real writing of a book, and that
authors' methods differ. My own practice is not to begin to write
until my material is fully arranged in my mind, and I often use notes
which I have been making for a period of months. Such a report is
seldom convincing, however, to my questioners. I am gradually
learning, when this inquiry comes, to smile inscrutably.

It seems strange to many people that I do not work all the time. If I
can write a short story in two hours and be paid thirty dollars for
it, I am an idiot indeed if I do not write at least three in a day!
Ninety dollars a day might easily mount up into a very comfortable
income.

Still, th