It was about here that I really decided I wanted to be a writer, I guess. I had published His Robot Girlfriend as a free ebook, and I put out Princess of Amathar as an ebook.
I realized that The Steel Dragon was way to big to ever be accepted by a publisher, so I split it into it’s three parts and sent them off, trying to get them published as a trilogy. The rejection slips started pouring in.
I was speding so much time sending out letters and queries that I didn’t have too much time to write, but I wanted to write something, so I made up a little story, inspired a bit by Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events. I set my story in the fantasy world I had created to play Dungeons and Dragons with my kids, and Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Elven Princess was done. I had so much fun that I wrote Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Sorceress, based on the play I had once written for the Brown JHS Thespian Club.
City of Amathar 
I read girlfriend then wife, great job. They were fun. Keep writing, one day someone will come along and publish your work. You have fans, keep it up.
I may have a book to submit to traditional publishers this summer, though quite frankly I'm enjoying my minimal success as an indy author. There is still quite a bit of prestige in being published by one of the major publishers, at least until they become extinct.