Safe Enough BY Lee Child

In the early 1990s, after fifteen years in TV production, I faced an abrupt career shift that pushed me to pursue a long-held dream: writing novels. With a deep background in entertainment—ten thousand books read and forty thousand hours of TV under my belt—I felt ready for this new challenge. My debut novel, featuring Jack Reacher, was published in 1997 and met with success. This led to opportunities in short story writing, a field I initially overlooked.

I soon discovered that short stories, while not lucrative, were an excellent playground for creative experimentation. I contributed to various anthologies, balancing Reacher stories with new, original content. The freedom to explore different styles, genres, and narratives without the pressure of long-term commitments was invigorating. Although I never mastered the elusive art of short stories, I found joy in their spontaneity and the absence of a looming, larger project. Each story, though a miniature novel in its own right, offered a unique chance to explore and entertain.