Workshops... I workshop a great deal. They keep me in touch. Otherwise, I might fall off the edge of the world. Figuratively of course (I know the world is not flat). The problem with Workshopping is, well... there are a lot of things that are wrong with workshopping. Its supposed to be an educational moment, always keep that in mind. Keep an open mind.
When one leaves their writing confines and comes out into the real world (reality?), you leave your Creativity Freedom behind. It is like you have now been boxed up.
You are with several other people who are also in that box and in order for the instructor (who is also a writer, but considered to be a better writer) to instruct. You all need to be on the same page. Now, I'm not saying there is no creativity. Creative moments come in workshop when you are given an exercise and you are unleashed for 10, maybe 15 minutes to write something prompted. Then back in the box for organized sharing.
​I have to admit though, something happens to you during this period of time, whether it be for a weekend, a weeklong, or longer. I can't really explain it. Maybe it was that--out of all that crap that was spewed during that time period, someone said something that changed how you viewed some element of writing. Of the storytelling.
Then you are released from the box at the close. You return to your creative space. Away from the group. Away from the classroom. With you, came that one little thing that you are now going to be able to use. That one little obscure thing that can't be seen until someone who reads your stuff notices the change in your words upon some page that you diligently slaved over. Then your work blossoms. Like a flower that last year was only pink, but this year it emerged with its petals laced in crimson.
​There was evolution. There was growth. One little thing that changed, everything.

I have often entered writing contests. Mostly at my own expense. I have never won, or became 2nd or 3rd place. Always the kindly rejection notice. Sometimes the, "Well, you were one of the finalists, but..."

​This is, technically, writing for the market with a financial cost. Still, a slap in the face and one of the worst because you paid a fee. Yet, because I, as many others did, basically stood in a line, expecting just that. Its masochistic.
​So, never again.

​Rejection is hard enough to take without actually paying money for it. You have to deal with the tough skin rule that is so blatantly conveyed if you want to be published. So, yes, I will query and submit, going for the thick skin--just not with the 'All skin penetrating blade' that comes with paying fees.

Other than feeling the lion at the door, I am presently not in the mood to share. Hope you enjoy my new tale!

Submissions have been made and the waiting shall commence! Poetry and prose have been transmitted electronically. Two poems sent to 'Kind of Hurricane press' - So Simple & Memories Cascade Like Water Down My Day, for their Reflection Anthology and then there was the earlier rejection of Somewhere in the Neighborhood of My Childhood that was rejected for the Emergence Collection, but than accepted for the digital read: Pyrokinection ,TBA. Finally, to top it off, Harry's Predicament, a flash fiction piece for Fortyflashes (Whortleberry Press). So, other than being in the third rewrite of my 7th novel-My Summer of Kathy, a coming of age story, I take the time to pet my dog and nap, oh! and I think whiskey may fall in there, somewhere. Slainte!

The short story is up! It will be coming to you in three parts.
​Enjoy!

Am currently working on a new short for this webpage. Hoping to have something new for your reading pleasure by mid August! Please don't leave me now! Hoping everyone liked 'The last Time In Charlottenberg'. I am presently working on my 7th novel. Between trying to rewrite and revise that, and summer school for writers, I've been kind of busy!

I have submitted a new poem to our wonderful people at Kind Of A Hurricane Press. They had solicited me for something for one of their anthologies. I hope I have met the criteria and will soon see an acceptance notice in my E-mail! :) Slainte!
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The Iowa Summer Writing Festival is over for me. I took four classes this year and  It went from no.1 being the worst class ever to no.4 being the very best. The last class I took brought me to a turning point in my writing and once again it seems I have reached that point where two roads are diverging into a wood. Of course, I will take the one less traveled.

Well, I tried to write a real nice rant for you to enjoy, but due to circumstances beyond my control (as usual) I lost it in the saving process, so- moving on...
​     I have decided to move to only having one story at a time on my Story Page, so, all the others have been removed. I have to admit that these are not my best works, mostly because they come to you, free of charge. So, I will give you something, but not the best. If you would like to read those, I will gladly dispense them for a fee, just get in touch with me. I will attempt to post a new story sometime this month, just need time to come up with something.
​      My blog/rant was about that very thing-writing for free, so... to remain clear of the realm of hypocrisy, I go forth asking to be paid for my work. Sorry. When I recover from the madness that enveloped me at the loss of my blog, I will retry to write another. Slainte. 

Click here to I have been writing professionally since 2006. Along with my twenty something short story titles and about 200+ poems, I have written four novels. Of the four, I have only attempted to publish one. These four are:
1. ‘Agatha Out of Umbra’
2. ‘Just Another Dead Girl’
3. ‘The Wisdom Of A Teenage Boy’ and
4. ‘When Walls Fall Down’
Number one was shelved for legal reasons as it was a human interest piece based on a true story as dictated to me. After careful crafting and taking a great deal of poetic license, it became part of number four.

 Number two was shelved when I discovered a mini-series based on a novel by Jeff Lindsey, titled: Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Not wanting to be known as the copycat, I put this suspense/thriller on the back shelf and over time, lost interest.

 Number three was based on an essay/memoir. It was later dissected and pulled apart. Names were changed, and new characters added. It was then transformed into a collection of ‘coming of age’ fictional, short stories, centered around a main character which, also includes a novella at the end. It is now titled: ‘I had Such Friends’ Presently it is in the hands of my Beta Readers and my Editor.
 
Number four started out as a four page submission to a fiction writing contest (no, I didn’t win). Parts of number one were added, and it soon evolved into a 325-page, Adventure-Romance novel based in Ireland and Berlin, Germany during Reunification. It is presently being submitted to, and being rejected by, agents and publishers all over the USA, with the most eloquent response coming from the Cameron Agency, informing me that, their plate was so full of Nickolas Sparks right now, that there was no room for a helping of R.C. Davis. Thank you… moving on.
 
Now you know what I have been doing for the last nine years and in case your curious about the next three, I am presently fifty pages into novel number five. Slainte!
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