I have been writing for the better part of my life since I was around seventeen. My grandfather who basically helped raise me had died in 1994, which brought out surprising poems of grief that I had no idea where they came from. In 1996 my father passed away in a tragic car accident on his way to see my sister graduate part of nursing school. Shortly after that I found writing to be the avenue for my grief, pain, love and other emotions that it had hinted to being in 1994. Since then I have written tons of everything from songs to poems to short stories and even started playing with novel ideas. Presently I am focusing more on short stories and novel ideas. I hope being a member of this site, which I found through "The Writer" magazine, can help improve my skills as I travel this winding long path to hopeful blessed publication.