A little history about my writing.

(Updated July 2004)

I've been writing now (or at least trying to) since as long as I can remember. I "wrote" my first poem around the age of 3 or 4, a very simple little 2 line verse that went like this

Pitter pat, pitter pat
goes the rain upon my hat.

Not very sophisticated, but hey I was only 4!

As a teenager I again got back into writing but only in the most haphazard manor, when something came to me I wrote, but more often than not I never seemed to get around to putting it down and then it just flittered away and was lost. Judging from the few fragments still in existence it's probably just as well that most of  my earlier attempts have been lost over the years as I moved around. Then came another long hiatus from writing, my marriage and kids taking up most of my efforts.

In 1999 I got back into riding motorcycles again after a 12 year sabbatical and with it my desire to write reawakened within me. Now though, it is more focused and I try to capture every idea when it comes. There is no doubt in my mind that two are directly related, I have found the greatest inspiration from my many adventures on the road since taking up motorcycling again.

While many of my poems and writings are about motoring, my writing has expanded over the last several years  to include other subjects. I've therefore decided to break everything up into the headings you see at the top of the page. 

Road Songs is a collection of poems about motorcycling. Other Poems includes all my non-motorcycle poems.  The heading Articles is pretty self explanatory, and Penny Lane is something I just added that will include articles, stories and such about some of my experiences from my life overseas, and hopefully capture some of the thoughts and impressions they have left with me. The newest heading Images on Words was added July 2004 and consist of poems combined with photographs. A more detailed explanation is provided on each main page as appropriate. I have also written two children's stories which I have not included here since they are still unfinished and I'm hoping to find someone to illustrate them. 

Besides writing for my personal enjoyment, I started writing a monthly column for a local Virginia online "e-zine" called Virginia Wind in the spring of 2002 under the heading "Byways". That has been a very rewarding experience and has helped my writing mature plus giving me an opportunity to expand my readership. The challenge of having a monthly deadline has also helped me learn greater discipline in my writing and has been a most rewarding experience. I have also had a few of my poems published in several club newsletters including an ABATE chapter and hope to expand my readership even more as time goes on.

RocketMan