I had issues with the editor (she would not proofread the final result before printing, saying she didn’t have enough time, so there were constant weird punctuation and spelling errors in everyone’s articles), so I quit–without warning–and did not look back.

However, the articles that were published were some of the most popular the paper ever printed. It’s a tiny paper in a small town, and (at the time) I earned $10 per finished product. I wouldn’t expect much more in the pay rate, but I’d like to get some well-printed clippings for my file.

Then, perhaps, I can work my way up. Meantime, it’s still fiction for me.

P.S. Your description of the woods brought to mind the forests of my childhood–the leafy, dense mystery of the forests in the Pacific Northwest, and the tall, spare pines of the High Desert. I think that’s where I first fell in love with fantasy and history.