“You can make anything by writing.” – C.S. Lewis
Writing is, and always has been, my first love. As early as sixth grade, I remember writing down stories. Most were silly stories; adventurous tales of wonder and excitement, mostly involving UFO’s and other wild subjects. I guess it was my way of letting my imagination run wild. All through school and into college, I wrote for the school papers and enjoyed both the journalistic parts of reporting and the more creative parts when needed.
Vocationally, I chose not to be a writer. While a part of me regrets this, a part of me is glad because I think it would have been hard for me to provide for my family if I was a full-time writer. Yes, there are many people who have made careers as writers and many of them are successful. For me, I chose to get into the Computer field when I went to college and I have had a successful career doing computer programming and IT management.
Over the years, I have had many writing projects on the side. I’ve written 4 technical books, 2 fictional plays, countless skits/dramas and some select poems here and there. It’s been very hard to find time to write over the years. My home life, my career, kids and other things have always taken precedence (with good reason). I don’t regret putting things on pause when I needed to, nor do I regret turning down projects I could have participated in. For the most part, I’ve really enjoyed participating in any writing project I’ve been involved in – especially the creative writing. Technical writing is OK, and I was even the editor of a technical magazine for a while, but my real passion is writing fictional stories.
Cast photo of my first play, produced in 2004. 
Cast/crew of “An American Christmas”
In late 2018, after spending 30 years in the computer business, I was ready for a change. I sought out the help of a life coach, and she and I worked on putting some goals together. She asked how many writing projects I had started but not finished. I came up with 15 off the top of my head. Since then I’ve recalled about another 15 stories I’ve worked on but never finished. I initially set out to have a plan to start a career change within six months. Through a series of events, that plan got accelerated to three months. Long story short, I downgraded my job duties. I left my IT Management career and went back to doing software development – at home. This newfound flexibility will allow me to spend more time writing and less time managing people and projects.
So here we are. It is the beginning on spring in 2019 and I’ve spent a lot of time in the past month writing. I’m trying to do it every day and get into a rhythm of writing. I have three primary projects that I’m focusing on right now:
- Another Mulligan: This is a play that I wrote a few years ago with my friends Rick Drumm and Wes Mathias. It’s a comedy about second chances. What if life had do-overs? What would you do over? What would you keep the same? I am putting the finishing touches on this, re-writing some of it and editing/cutting some of it to be shorter and require less roles. This is going to be produced for the Indy Fringe Festival from August 15th – 25th. Stay tuned for exact dates/showtimes.
- Bedtime Stories Volume 1: This is a collection of short stories that I have come up with over the years. These are 10-15 pages in length and suitable for a short reading session before turning out the light at night. At least – that is the idea. I have heard from many people that they find it hard to read a whole novel these days. For you, there’s this collection of stories that you can get through one at a time. I am planning on having this half finished by July and entirely done by September. Stay tuned.
- The Steeplewood Chase: Jack and Mary Steeplewood are residents and the primary financiers of Steeplewood, a retirement home named after them. When Mary passes away after a long illness, the very handsome – and former Marlboro man – Jack is left with no shortage of female suitors who wish to take Mary’s place as Jack’s next wife. Hilarity ensues when Jack is surrounded by dozens of women who try to one-up each other to gain Jack’s affection. Who will win his heart in the end? I’m planning on having this finished by the end of 2019.
Do you like to read? Are you a writer? We should talk! I’ll be participating in more and more writing-related activities in the near future including taking writing classes, going to writing workshops/conferences, and more. Let me know if you share my love of writing!
Hi. I'm Lloyd. 