About

I grew up in a small town, and even though I became a city boy long ago, I still have a lot of country in me. New York and LA get enough attention already, so I write about the real people in the real world.

My writing career is long and storied, starting with a piano piece I composed when I was eight. Response from my siblings to “A Snowy Day” was unenthusiastic at best. Then there was the book I wrote and illustrated for my daughter when she was three. “Jimmy and the Jets” was meant to help her overcome her fear of jets, which sometimes flew low over our house on approach to the local airport. My daughter is no longer afraid of jets, so I would consider that book a great success.

I currently write a lot of extremely short stories on Twitter, much of it what I call Darwinian humor. Like this: “For Tim, taunting the chimps at the zoo had its pluses and minuses. There was all that blood, but Stumpy was kind of a cool nickname.”

My full-length books:

The Savior of Turk  “A porn store, 200 ft. Jesus and a fainting kid from India. Just another day in Turk, Missouri.”
at Amazon, BN.com and Smashwords.

The Storm before the Calm: The Early Lives of Venus and Hiro  “The wedding that Thanksgiving weekend 1958 in Chicago should never have happened. Venus Ballesteros should have been on her way back to the Philippines. Hiro Tanamachi should have died in the war. Somehow, the man who had trained to die as a suicide.”
at Amazon.

The Night Budda Got Deep in It  “Urged on by Blood Mama, a voice only he hears, 15-year-old Kevin ‘Budda’ Jessico takes off from St. Louis for Kentucky to rescue his former foster sister, Addie. Budda isn’t convinced Addie is really in trouble until he encounters her Oxy-running blood brothers. A drug shipment has disappeared and so has Addie. The brothers have a mess to clean up, and Budda is soon in the middle of it.”
at Amazon and Smashwords.

10 thoughts on “About”

  3. I too need “Jimmy and the Jets” for my cousin’s granddaughter. The little one sleeps upstairs and thinks the planes are thunder and tornadoes! BTW, any relation to Cruella DeVille or my cadi Louella Deville?

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  4. I’m also a “Lazy Liar” who is hanging up her expo marker next Friday. I’m considering a career at the track. Perhaps I’ll become a detective since these curiously untruthful teenagers have forced me to be an expert at detection.
    Then again, maybe I’ll cruise the world on that fat pension I’ve worked 38 years to receive. Whoo-hoo! Watch out, Europe!

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  5. I have severe technology challenges so I couldn’t find icon to like any of your posts (and I liked all of the ones I read!) I’m leaving a reply instead–because I know how to do that! Your blog is wonderful, especially the post about your lazy, lying teacher wife.

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  6. Me again. Hi, sorry to put you through this again, I really do feel your pain. nominated you for another award.
    Wordpress Very Lovely Blog Award. You may already been through this, it’s all new to me. If you’re not interested in participating – that’s fine but perhaps you’ll get a few extra well-deserved readers just from the nomination as I posted your URL on my WordPress site. Go here for an explanation.

    https://alotfromlydia.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/wordpress-one-lovely-blog-award/

    I do enjoy your blog.

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  7. I just read a” farmers goodbye”. This was a very good short story. It brought many of the feelings about dying alone I think many of us have had. I don’t usually read short stories as I like to disapear into books for hours at a time,but I’m glad I read this one. Thank bookbub for reccomending it..

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