Scott Cheshire explains that he started flirting with the woman who became his wife by telling her he had a novel coming out. Twelve years later, it did. Today, he is a published novelist with a graduate degree, but back then, Cheshire hadn’t even been to college. Over at the Huffington Post, Cheshire explains how he went from tending bar to releasing his first book:

Within a year of meeting, we moved to New York City, where I went through a series of crappy bartending gigs, while writing less and less terrible short stories, as she continued to advance an already successful career. More responsibility. Better and better pay. All accompanied by less and less motivation to explain her boyfriend’s life-choice of serving margaritas at an Applebee’s in Queens. One day, she wisely stated the obvious: You need go to college.