Story Trader: Return to Goat Junction (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781546577461)

When I was a young child, one of my Mother's nightly chores was to make sure I was not reading under the bed covers with a flashlight instead of getting some sleep. I was the kind of kid who loved being outdoors tramping in the woods, but at the same time, carrying a paperback stuffed in the belt of my jeans. My Mother was a registered nurse, my Father an aviator, having been a pilot in WWII, he started a flying business and built an airport in Liberty County. I had my first job in his business at 12. I played sports, worked, attended high school at a nearby college, and all the while I read, read and read some more. I was a missionary for my church in France for 2 1/2 years, and then became a paratrooper in the US Army. I married my wonderful, long suffering wife about this time. We had five children and a dozen grands. I operated a shrimp boat on the Texas Gulf Coast. I became a police officer in the Houston Police Department and retired as an investigative sergeant. All through these years I read, read and read some more. I had the goal of writing books. I wrote a lot and trash canned the production. I once wrote a novel while my wife and I lived in Costa Rica. Into the shredder it went. Finally, later in life, my writing began to satisfy me. While I'll always be seeking to improve it, I began to think the stuff was ready to share. So, now, paraphrasing Hemingway, I "open up a (writing) vein every day" and bleed it on pages to share with my readers.