Approaching the Bonfire (memoir? autobiography? nonfiction novel?) explores my transformation from criminal to creative writer. That which made me a criminal later made me a writer, driven by the need to work alone, where plans can change instantly, solutions are provisional, risk vital, and failure devastating.
After novels and stories and plays and poems—decades of this—I’ve chosen to use my tools to create myself in a clothing of words. Another way to lie: Look how I’m dressed!
But finally I’m visible.
Samples:
“The Outlaw He Wanted to Be” in Home Planet News
“My Islands” in Creative Wisconsin Magazine, reprinted in True Stories Well Told
(The latter received a sweet comment from an anonymous reader: “Great story! Rich with detail and meaning. I was just scrolling my emails but couldn’t close this until I got to the end!”)
