When did you first start writing?
When I was fifteen I sent an article to Outdoor Life Magazine about my father and I on a couple of big game hunts. The story was rejected as it wasn’t of the quality for their magazine. I was somewhat disappointed, but at least I tried. I didn’t write anything else until I was asked, as a licensed land surveyor, to give a presentation on surveying to a college class. Putting it all down on paper, re-reading, and editing seemed a fun and interesting thing to do. Before being licensed, I had thought about the different ways an individual could make money on an ongoing basis. I couldn’t sing worth a hoot to make a record, and had no interest in musical instruments. Writing was the only other potential I could think of. I started to write articles for the state surveyors magazine, telling of unusual incidents while surveying. I didn’t seriously consider writing a novel until I was in my fifties.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
I was semi-retired and was living in a motor home between Arizona and B.C. Canada, depending on the time of year. This full time motor home thing was because our house didn’t sell for three years. I had been considering writing a novel similar to an actual incident that happened to a U.S. Forest Service surveyor, who was killed on a mountain top in Montana by an escapee from a mental institution. While in Arizona I had the time; keyboard on my lap, the monitor and desktop on a board between the driver and passenger seat, and with the small television on, I wrote the complete story, which took place where I had surveyed in the Colorado mountains. That novel is titled, 'Third Man On The Mountain,' an e-book.
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