Despite rejection from the graduate programs she applied to, Hamilton kept writing in her spare time. In 1983, her short story, “My Own Earth” launched her career when an intern pulled it from a slush pile and passed it up to Harper’s Magazine editor, Helen Rogan. The publication of “My Own Earth” was soon followed by more success when her short story “Aunt Marj’s Happy Ending” was published by Harper’s Magazine in December 1983. "Aunt Marj's Happy Ending" later appeared in "The Best American Short Stories 1984"