I'm a middle aged man trying to get the word out for everyone to read what they like and take the good along with the bad. I live in a small rural town in the eastern part of Oklahoma and love being here. It's quiet, and out of the way. I have to drive twenty minutes to get to the nearest town to do grocery shopping, and the one thing I've learned out of the many years being here: don't take any convenience for granted. When you have to wait twenty minutes for an ambulance to get to your door, you know for a fact you are 'out there.' But it's not all bad. The quiet and the distance from your neighbors means there isn't much distraction when I write. And the best part; one doesn't have to worry about 'urban sprawl'. They can only get so close. And, when I really think about it, being raised in the sticks gives me an advantage over many people who are used to city life. So, tell me, what would you do if you didn't have running water? Or air conditioning? I grew up with the possibilities of water not running and having to use a swamp cooler to stay half-way comfortable in the blistering summers. You learn to cope with a lot. I have a B.A. in Journalism from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and have been writing for many years. Through bad luck, or timing, you name it, I didn't get the chance to go into my chosen field. When I went to school, it seemed you had to have a friend in the industry before you could even get a foot in a door to sweep the floor. So, when life kept going, I had to go with the current, or be swept down stream and drown. I'd always been told, 'If one door closes, another opens.' Well, the door I wanted was, I thought, closed, so another one opened for me: truck driver. Yep, I drove a truck to make a living. For over twenty years. And to those who'd like to know, I don't regret it for a moment. It gave me the chance to see all of the United States, and three provinces of Canada. I got to see the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, and even go to Disney World in Florida. All of the things a kid from the sticks could only dream about. And I got to travel. Man, the things I could tell you; some good, some bad. But in the main, good. And the most important lesson I learned in all those years; people are people everywhere. Some good, some not so good. And I loved meeting them all. But through it all, I never gave up on writing. To this day I still have a notebook by my bed in case I get an idea so I can write it down. Why do I keep poking away at my keyboard? I hope anyone who reads my work enjoys it as much as I did writing it. Happy reading!
