It wasn’t long ago that Scott William Carter, Instructional Technologist at Western Oregon University, received “the call.”

After years of submissions, one of his novels had been accepted. His first book "The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys," is to be published by Simon and Schuster in April 2010.

“It’s a rip-roaring adventure about two teenage boys who steal their principal's '67 Mustang and end up on a life-changing road trip. I tell people it's a cross between Catcher in the Rye and Thelma and Louise. The primary audience is probably teenage boys, but it's not bad for grown men who were once teenage boys too," Carter said with a smile.

Carter has described the moment he received the call as a moment of fulfillment.

“Yes! I’m a real person now," he said, remembering how he felt then.

A sentiment easily understood by other struggling writers.

“It was said mostly in jest,” Carter said, “because of how much of our self-identity serious writers invest in our work, but there was a bit of truth in it too. When you get that call from an editor who wants to buy your first book, there's so many emotions that come boiling to the surface, but relief is one of the biggest. In your heart of hearts you may know how seriously you take the craft, but it sure does help to have the validation from major publishers.”

He keeps a high public profile with his own Web site because he finds it a necessity in today’s technical world, but also to help struggling writers.

“I've had a number of very good mentors over the years who have helped me," Carter said. "Since it's hard to pay back people farther down the road than you, the best way to pay them back is to pay it forward.”

Carter attributes his success to two qualities: productivity and process.

“When I decided to treat my writing seriously, I realized that I had to practice at least as much as a serious musician. That means four to five pages a day, every day, either in short stories or in novels. It always astonishes me, though, how many people say they want to be writers but don't make the connection that writers, well, write. A lot.”

The process is just as important.

“It can be boiled down like this: I finish a manuscript, I put it in the mail to someone who might pay me money for it. If it comes back, I mail it to someone else who might pay me money for it. People often ask me what the secret is, but really, if you write a lot and keep mailing your work to people who can pay you money for it, you'll probably succeed."

The response Carter hopes for when people read his book is straightforward. “I hope they say, wow, that was a great read. When can I buy his next book? Really, when it comes down to it, that's all that a writer can hope for -- it's the only the critical review that really matters.”

"The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys," is available for pre-order at Amazon.com. For more information about Carter, his book and his methods, visit his website at www.scottwilliamcarter.com.