Miscellaneous Writing

It never fails; pick up the paper on any given day and take a look at all the trivial stuff people get themselves all worked up over, the silly scrapes they get themselves into, and then expect the government to bail them out. In the next breath, these same people will bitch about government interference in their lives.

Intrigued? Follow the link to my "Rants 'n Raves" to take a peek around. As long as there's silliness in the world I'll continue to expose and denounce it.

For those of you looking for something a little more uplifting, check out "The Lighter Side" of Oz. If your day has you looking for something relaxing, this might be the spot for you. (Author is not responsible for tears of joy, sorrow or excessive laughter.)

I have a list below that features some of the fiction I've played with here and there. It's hard to say what you might find - dark, funny, thought-provoking or just plain odd. Try it, you might like it.

And if by chance you're a newspaper editor, look here for columns and clips of mywork.

Come back often. I'll try to update this on a regular basis as time permits.

Creative Writing and Fictional Stories

Rescue - This was part of an exercise where we were to write about an event that had occurred in our life, fictionalizing some part or aspect of it. After reading it in workshop, the rest were to determine (mostly by guess) what was truth, and what was fiction. Can you tell where the truth leaves off and the fiction begins?

Search and Seizure on the High Seas - This was part of an exercise where we were to write about an event that had occurred in our life, fictionalizing some part or aspect of it. After reading it in workshop, the rest were to determine (mostly by guess) what was truth, and what was fiction. Can you separate the wheat from the chaff?

Maureen - In a 300-level creative course, we were given the following assignment: "Write a paragraph which shows, but not tells, that ________ was not the kind of girl you would want to marry." I had a little fun with it. Any resemblance to any of the girls I've ever gone out with is purely coincidental, of course...

Stories in PDF Files.

Cleansing Fire (10 pages) -  I wrote cleansing fire for a Creative Writing Workshop in college, and it received mixed reviews. The strongest came from one young man in the class who felt it an attack on Christianity - it isn't. It does contain a disturbing account of one man's use of his religion to commit murder. My wife was surprised at how dark the story was; she didn't think I had such a dark side...

Going Home, A Sea Story (15 pages) - This was the first short story I did in college, and I was immensely pleased with it. It didn't fair so well in workshop, though mainly no one liked the ending. My wife hated the ending, though I think part of it may be she saw too much of me in the story. Sea Story later ran in SIUC's Papyrus, the journal of the University's Honors Program.