I wrote my first short story in the 4th or 5th grade.  I was home sick and I asked my Mother to bring me a yellow tablet.  I wrote a six page story about two cowboys and their adventures in the old west.  Then is then I first realized I wanted to write.

I wrote other things in my youth, including an attempt to put out a local newspaper.  As a senior in high school, I became a sports reporter on the school paper.  I remember my teacher, Mr. Studley, taught me the proper use of paragraphs and punctuation, something I sorely needed to learn.

It was during this time that I applied and was accepted to San Jose State, with my major listed as Journalism.  I was on my way, or so I thought.  I never wavered from my major and graduated with a BA.   At that time, I thought I was a pretty good writer.

During that time, I also took courses in photography, public relations, and advertising.  These were to play an important role in future years.  But  I had a bigger problem after graduation: When I got into journalism, I discovered I didn’t like it very much and quickly dropped it as my life’s work.

I was a bit mixed up in those days although I did eventually settle down to do various jobs and raise a family.  But that took me far away from writing.  I did take the occasional writing course to keep me from becoming too stale and continued to be an avid reader.

A turning point in my life is when I became fascinated with computers back in 1982.  I started writing again, but this time with a computer.  Now, understand before then, I used typewriters and long hand. I hated them both because you

 write, then rewrite, then rewrite again.  So part of the time I was a writer, the rest of the time, I was a secretary.

The computer word processor freed me to become a writer and an editor-on-the-fly.  I became very proficient in the use of computers and began to plan my life to be more involved in their use.

My big break came when I joined the firm of Huckaby Rodriguez, a major political consulting firm based in Sacramento that did state and federal elections.  I was hired because I had a head for business and  computer skills, which they sorely needed...and I could write. But could I write well enough?

With the help and guidance of Gary Huckaby, I did become a very good writer and turned out many printed pieces as well as TV commercial, letters for politicians and other famous people (including a couple for the President), speeches and other written documents.  I am proud of that work. Some of it will be included here in the future, but is currently in storage about 1,300 miles away.

From there, I continued writing in various ways, shapes and means.  Also turned into a bit of an editor, which I love to do...helping others out.  Currently, I write two blogs, one on technology for non-nerds, and my favorite, “Postcards,” which chronicles my adventures with words and photographs.  

Here then are samples of some of my work...good or bad, you decide.
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