Author Description

Wannabe writers are unknown in the literary field. No one has ever heard of them and they are not represented by agents. Their manuscripts are usually submitted to publishers over the transom; that is, submitted without being specifically requested. It seems that everybody today wants to write poems, song lyrics, essays, magazine articles, books, and biographies. <P>People have suddenly leaped up as if they were touched with an electric prod to proclaim, "I want to be a writer!" <P>From where did this urge originate? Did someone start spreading the news that there is a lot of money in being a writer? Pity the poor soul who believes such fantasy for he is certainly headed down the garden path toward frustration and disillusionment. For every beginning writer who actually succeeds in seeing his byline published on a regular basis, uncounted others are standing in the wings awaiting their big break. One doesn’t become a writer overnight and if everyone who ever wanted to be a writer were placed end to end, the line would probably stretch from O. Henry to Hemingway and back again. <P>The experiences of aspiring and successful writers alike are similar and often amusing to share. We all have to start someplace and just so there is no misunderstanding about what beginners can expect in their climb upward, I have compiled many of my own published articles and essays into an informal guide for new writers. They were carefully chosen and presented here to help smooth the pathways ahead and to make things easier for the wannabe who decides to step out onto that avenue of dreams. <P>Believable or not, the chapters of this book are filled with whimsical absurdities intermingled with truly serious lessons to be learned as readers are introduced to Limrik (the caveman poet), Honey Bun Singletary (everyone’s sweetheart), Wilbur Lovelylocks (proprietor of Ye Olde Poetry Shoppe) and Henry Wadsworth Matsumoto (writer’s club president). We will whimsically delve together into the lite