The desire to tell stories is rooted in human blood. For thousands of years the author’s tools were a speaking voice and a gathering flame. Later he’d scratch vellum, the hide of a sheep or goat. In a tiniest window of he has tied his aperture to the tips of his fingers and pecked word-for-word on the end of forged metal. As for me…

The Allegheny is my river

The Susquehanna is my valley

I am an Appalachian story teller

Story transcends time. It arrives in a thousands forms. But the process remains the same. A good novel is characterization, plotting and details. The finer the text the more time it takes to create. A writer wiser than me once said,

“I didn’t have time to write a short story, so I wrote a long one instead.”

If we enjoy a novel it’s because we connect. A novel only about ideas will bore; a novel whose plotting neglects sub-text remains at the surface, like oil on the sea. Good writing is specific, empathetic and inventive. The story teller is waving a wand over his reader’s head. The traces of pixie dust are ever-present.

*Process* is my gift to my readers, be they few or many. Inside you will find my approach to novel writing. It’s not unique, but it is personal. Should you find the site of interest, I shall be rewarded for my labor, the uncounted hours.

MUSES contain sources that inspire me.

COMMENTARY is my observations of the world.

AUTHOR is dedicated to describing me.

BOOKS are the end result of my labor.