As you may know, I recently performed the wedding of my daughter and newly minted son-in-law. It was an honor and a privilege and a blessing not just to be a part of the wedding, but to be allowed to speak from the heart as they started their voyage through life together. I was told […]
West Virginia Writers Conference Report
It’s a surprisingly cool morning here at my house for this time of year. I’m just praying the temperate conditions hold out until Saturday for my daughter’s wedding. As life is about to get pretty crazy for about 48 hours, I thought I’d take a few minutes and talk about the West Virginia Writers Spring […]
My Best Day As A Teacher
I retired from full-time teaching the minute I could. In fact, I kind of retired a couple months before I technically could by burning sick and personal days. But that had nothing to do with a lack of love for the job. Getting to know and love my students was a joy that never faded […]
Habitat For Humanity is Amazing
If you are one of the handful of folks who read my blog, you know I’ve been sharing short stories for the last several weeks. I’ve shared all I have for the moment. I’m working on one, but it’s still quite early in the pen-and-paper stage. The story is complex enough in my mind that […]
The Watch, conclusion
STOP! Before you read this, you should go back and read my previous post, which is the first half of this story. Otherwise, you’ll have questions. He again surprised himself by being excited to find the treadmill beside hers vacant. Doing his best to neither stare nor walk too fast in an effort to impress […]
Short Story #4, Part 1
It’s week 4 of my series of short stories. This week is a little different in that it’s part one of a longer story, which I’ll complete for you next week. It does come to somewhat of a conclusion on its own, but stay tuned for, in the words of the late great Paul Harvey, […]
A Different Kind of Story
In week three of, I think, four weeks of sharing short stories, I am sharing something a little different. This is really brief and it’s an entire story made up of a series of questions and answers, one leading to the next. It’s a response to a writing prompt I found online. I really enjoyed […]
Another Untitled Story
As promised last week, here’s another short story. This one is about a guy whose birthday gets ruined–or does it? I’d love to hear your input. And if you think of anyone who may enjoy this story, please consider sharing. “Will you just move, already?” I tooted my horn. “It’s not gonna get any greener.” […]
Untitled Short Story
I’m at the end of the road with my new book and am in the process of working up my query letter, so there’s not much news to share on that front. So I thought I might share a couple of stories I’ve written in the last year and haven’t shared anywhere. This story is […]
The Next Step In The Process
The final draft is written. It’s been edited and proofread and rewritten and edited and proofread again. I’m ready to make a decision. Do I want to send this book off to agents and publishers, or do I want to bite the bullet and self-publish? I’ve tried the self-publishing route and it didn’t go well, […]