Confessions of a Lifelong Writer

I am a writer. It’s not a new thing. I’ve always been a writer. As a child I once wrote a silly little poem/song to tease my brother. In school, I wrote short stories and tried to draw comic strips. In college, I wrote poetry. In my golden years, I’ve written several novels and even published one of them. So, I confess. I am a writer.

In fairness, it’s just another label I attach to myself. Father, husband, brother, friend, enemy, teacher, coach, singer, actor, doer of many things. So, I am a writer, a person who writes, but aren’t we all? The question then becomes, what do we write? My wife is a list maker. (I used to think that was funny, until I reached the age of needing to make lists myself.) After college and before we married, we wrote long detailed letters to one another, the kind of old-fashioned courtship that doesn’t really exist anymore. My son and daughter are both excellent writers having composed songs, poems, essays, and stories that are original and creative far beyond anything I had written by that age.

So, what do I write? My first novel is about a man who wishes he could go back in time and change a particular past event. It’s a bit of light fantasy that I hope encourages readers to accept their past and not let it control their present or their future. My second novel is a modern retelling of the story of the prodigal son. The theme is forgiveness and the ways in which we are affected by giving and receiving forgiveness, or withholding or rejecting it. My third novel is a collection of short stories about a small town in East Texas and the people who live there. The book serves as a somewhat fictionalized memoir of my life as a teacher, coach, and principal and includes stories about the schools, the church, and the local drive-in.

Currently, I am trying to prepare my volume of poetry to publish within the next few months. And in the midst of writing, editing and revising, I am still trying to promote the first book! Honestly, I enjoy writing. I guess that explains why I’m still doing it after all these years.