As much I'm worried about next steps, I'm also relieved in two ways:
1) Fuller control over what I write. That's always nice.
And
2) Less need to worry about people only trying to get to know me because they see me as "connected". After I was first published in Analog, & Clarksworld, there were waves of people interested not in my work but my perceived access - and the same was true at OnlySky.
Now, when I have zero perceived access, is when the circle of superficials will thin out nicely. ๐๐ป
Five times in Analog, going back years so I'd have to check the editions, especially since I think the first three were under "Maggie" instead of "ML". (My first SF sale was to Lightspeed, where I was discouraged from using the name I wanted to, and being a newbie then, it took a bit of time to muster the courage to change back.) Ten times for fiction at Clarkesworld.
@MLClark
What editions of Analog & Clarksworld were you published in?