10 Years of Return of Jetman Online

On this date in 2002, I posted this story on the very first "Return of Jetman" website. Therefore, despite the fact that the index page had already been active for a couple of months, I usually think of November 18 as the "official" launch of the web presence of Return of Jetman. That means today marks the 10th anniversary of this milestone.

My reaction to this is, "Where did the time go?" Frankly, it seems like just yesterday that I was trying to figure out how to upload these things to my ISP webspace. ROJ was one of my first opportunities to carve out my own Internet identity, rather just contributing to things maintained by others. I like to think it holds up reasonably well, even if it sometimes (many times) wears my growing pains as a creator on its sleeve.

Though the ROJ stories concluded in 2010, the site will continue. I still have bits and pieces that I would like to finish, even if the actual demand for them is minimal. Beyond that, I want to preserve the contributions made by everyone to this modest little enterprise. I am proud to not only showcase my own work, but work by many other folks I respect a great deal.

No acknowledgment of ROJ's legacy would be complete without the name of Lewis Smith. Lewis was the guy who created ROJ and formed the basis for everything I subsequently did with the project. He graciously gave his blessing for me to not only continue where he left off, but steer things in my own direction. In a very real sense, I owe pretty much every piece of fiction I've written since then to his generosity. Thank you, Lewis.

And thank you all, both contributors and readers. I don't think ROJ would still exist as a destination in 2012 if it weren't for the enthusiasm you folks have shown. It has at times outstripped even my own, and that blows my mind. It is not a part of my daily thought process like it was back in its heyday, but ROJ laid the foundation for a lot of things I do. If that's not a valuable learning experience, I'm not sure what would be.