I’m always a little envious of people who always knew they wanted to be a writer and have written every day for X many years. Always a voracious reader, I had an image of being the next Ernest Hemingway (except for the part about being a jerk to women), but just never found a way to get started. In High School and College I was always too busy with jock stuff (4 state individual state championships in track and 1 in wrestling) and too insecure to even take a creative writing class.
I had a career as an employee of the State of South Dakota, working for the Legislature, lobbying for the Board of Regents and managing the State’s Information Service department. A change in Governor sent me off to find a new career.
I landed in the corporate world with a national food company in the Midwest. I rose through the ranks and was eventually put into the Executive Development Program. I had a variety of roles including being Company Spokesperson and a Regional Vice President. In the midst of negotiating the corporate ladder, my wife Molly was diagnosed with Stage Four Breast Cancer. We stood strong for four years, but lost her in 2007. I kind of lost my appetite for the corporate world after that and left in 2009.
With the love and support of my second wife Steph, I started a writing career at age 52. I quickly recognized the need to learn craft. I took a number of classes online and then went back to school to get a Master’s Degree in English Studies from Minnesota State University Mankato. I was thrilled to get some of my short stories published which gave me the confidence to pursue a novel. The Last Ram was accepted by a publisher and came out in 2013. It was followed by Murder Trial of the Last Lakota Warrior in 2014. I spent a few years doing the things you need to do to market books in this day and age.
I took a job as an Adjunct English Instructor at Southwest Minnesota State University in 2016 and found I that I really enjoyed teaching but didn’t have much time for writing. COVID took the fun out of teaching and I resigned in 2020.
Now fully retired, Steph and I moved to St. Paul. I happened upon a writing group starting at the Riverview Library in St Paul and slowly regained my interest in writing and developing my writing skills. The weekly meeting of The West Side Writers Group, along with the debrief and literary discussions / arguments at the Wabasha Brewery, provide a wonderful prompt as I’m reviving old projects and putting out new material.
Life is good.