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I spent most of 40 years working in fields of science – first as a computer program analyst in air defense and military satellites and then as a wildlife biologist. I wrote on a daily basis, but all was technical writing – documents and memoranda (by the thousands), My interest in creative writing began after I retired and my wife and I moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma, in 2004. There I met D.J. Russell, a member of my church. Even though he was the age of my children, we hit it off right away. He was interested in creative writing, so we attended a local writing group together. The group did not meet our needs, so we decided to start our own group. The Red Dirt Writers' first meeting in March of 2007 was a success. We had rounded up 15 people. Many were friends from church. I became the program chair and planned and led many of the meetings. Our membership changed through the years but held at 10-12 active members. At some meetings we spent time on a writing task. Some of my stories came out of these meetings. Eventually the group decided to have annual contests on short stories, very short stories (my personal focus), poems, and essays. More of my stories were written as contest entries. Other stories came out of personal challenges between D.J. and me. It was my intention to wait to publish these stories until I had a larger number. But I decided I would publish these now and future editions later if I write more. Although I’ve used the names of some friends and relatives (for example, Aunt Vi and Uncle Lewis), none of the stories are based on actual events – all are totally fictional. I hope you enjoy them and find some food for thought. A Small Collection of Short Stories is only available from the author. |
