I got my first writing audience as an investment officer with Wheat First Securities as the author of a stock market newsletter in 1989-1990. As a mechanical engineer on the road selling 1990-2002, I began writing stories on legal pads in bars & taverns.

One proprietor in Marietta Ohio approached me after frequenting his tavern, sitting at a high-top writing for a year. The conversation went something like this:

Proprietor - What are you writing?
Yours Truly - Fiction.
Proprietor - Lemme see.
Yours Truly - Okay.
Proprietor reads my legal pad for a few pages, then smiles and extends his hand.
Proprietor - I'm Bill. It's a pleasure to meet you. All this time, I was afraid you were FBI getting ready to bust my sportsbook operation in the back.
***

Novels published - Wise Fools 2001 Writer's Club Press, Risk, Return, and the Indigo Autumn 2006 Apple iBooks.

Screenplays written - American Money, Punters (lost in the ether when my laptop crashed), Padre Guns (first draft), Peace Of Mind (first draft needs a ton of work)

Sportswriting gigs - Hard Rock Sports (2001 defunct) The Football Network (2001-2002) Lindy's (2002) Bleacher Report (2007-2012)

Other gigs - mechanical engineer for 33 years 1980-1982 then 1990-2020, stockbroker for 7 years 1983-1990, school janitor/teachers' aide for 1 year mid 2023-mid 2024.
***

My working career is characterized by Never The Boss. I've spoken often with friends who wish they had never been the boss, but they were, in my words, trapped by the Golden Handcuffs. My comparatively low lifetime earnings is a bookend to the personal satisfaction I have felt serving as Key Staff Member also known as Sixth Man

As a mechanical engineer, I worked in design, sales, and research & development. My talent is - by my own observation - the ability to utilize my NQM Intelligence (Not Quite Mensa) to understand brilliant people and convey their brilliance. By name, those "brilliant people" are: my father, my brother, my sister Anne, Union Carbide associate Joe Pastuzyn, investment strategist Jeffrey Saut, PresSure Products associates David Ollom, Frankie Holestein, Darrell Thaxton, North Myrtle Beach educator Samantha Cotton, writer/doctor/inventor/CIA operator Norman Wood, and my good friend poet/teacher/3-time candidate for West Virginia governor Charlotte Pritt.

Socrates believed every human has a responsibility to live up to his/her physical potential. I therefore try to eat well and stay in shape with weight training and sprints. In January 1972 as a 15 year old I began a quest to become a stronger & faster player of American football. It worked, albeit every athlete plays his final game; mine was November 2, 1973. My decision to forego genuine interest in me as a college football player by two small colleges and the United States Naval Academy was initially made with regrets. An ember of fire still glows and manifests through writing and staying fit. Living in my late 60s with excellent mobility is a huge benefit I have realized after a lifetime of following Socrates.

Despite my fundamental belief that the Roman Catholic church has severe systemic problems, namely the continued cover-up of pedophile priests, the influence of the mean-spirited apostle Paul, and the subjugation of women since The Church's inception in 33 AD, I have strong faith in the divinity of The Holy Trinity and The Holy Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus is love, but his worldly followers too often act out of hatred. I just try to ignore them and keep my eyes on the prize: we are on this planet just getting acquainted for forever in paradise. May peace always be with you.