1976

Began teaching Language Arts. In and of itself, teaching writing does not strictly require that the teacher be a writer. However, it does, at least to some degree, require that the teacher have some working knowledge of the CRAFT of writing–that is, the nuts and bolts of what makes some writing better than other writing. So, I began to develop this knowledge ABOUT craft, but had not yet developed a sufficient interest in writing to the degree that I actually began APPLYING what I learned to my own writing. This was probably a good thing, in that the basic kind of writing I taught to high school students bears little resemblance to the kind of fiction writer I would eventually become. I hope my fiction doesn’t sound like it was written by a grammatically obsessed high school English teacher. I see nothing wrong with “ain’t.”

1981

The first “real” short story I wrote got published in Oregon English, a journal published by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English. It was called “Fear Walks a War-Worn Road,” about a paranoid U.S. soldier in Vietnam and his encounter with an old, kindly Vietnamese woman, a hootch maid. I used an Apple II-e computer. I think I got paid $50.00. I vividly remember how EXCITING it felt to sit down and write that story … the mental transport, the evoking, the struggle to find the right words and phrasing. I got hooked, not only from the adrenaline rush I felt from writing, but also the catharsis of processing my feelings about the year I spent in Vietnam as a U.S. soldier. For my latest Vietnam short story, go to STORIES on my webpage.

(Part III … later)