I had this great moment about this time last year. I have a pair of friends who are embarrassingly more successful than me. One is a high priced oil and gas lawyer, and the other is one of the city's best surgical techs. We all went to the Renaissance Festival together, and while they were paying I just walked up, said I was Jef With One F from the Houston Press and boom, in I walked looking for things to write about while my friends looked on with envy.

Sure, they could have bought my ticket five times over, but that's not the point. The point is signing up to work in this industry means that you are officially afforded access. Writing on Art Attack has led to honest-to-God dreams coming true. John Waters took my calls, Peter Murphy answered my emails, and Neil Gaiman retweets my work sometimes. The people I worship as titans know I freakin' exist.

See also: 9 Tips on Being a Paid Freelance Writer

It's not easy, of course. You don't just waltz in and land an interview with whatever A-list star you want. It takes a lot of work to really get good at this job, and most of all you have to learn to be consistent. You can only turn in a story a week, but they won't care as long as they know that they can count on you to do it every week.

I never wanted to be a writer until I was one. I was just killing time until my next band when I saw an ad by Houston Press Music Editor Chris Gray asking for Rocks Off writers. Over the past five years I've gone from maybe a story every couple of weeks to one of the highest producers of content. I meet artists from around the world in a variety of baffling and wonderful disciplines. I get opportunities and acknowledgements coming at me every day.

Did I mention that I got tapped to host classic screenings of Doctor Who from this job? Personally approved by BBC America and everything. I. Get. Paid. To. Watch. Doctor Who.

And trust me when I tell you I'm nothing special. This is a shot for some of you to enter a world where you explore art and pop culture like you never believed you could. You may think you can't, but you're wrong. If I can, anyone can, and believe me, a writer is an amazing thing to be! Do think about joining up with us, won't you? Instructions found here.

Jef has a new story, a tale of headless strippers and The Rolling Stones, available now in Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds. You can also connect with him on Facebook.