Author's Introduction

Author's Introduction

 
          My fourth grade teacher asked us to write a short story.  I wrote, The dog chased the bear, the bear chased the cow and the cow ran up a tree.  I asked "Why did you give me a "D" and she said, "Because cows can't climb trees."  I replied, "You asked for a short story, not a true story."  She made me keep the "D" so I retired from writing.

          My writing retirement ended when a beautiful young princess leaned on me at her grandfather's grave and I suddenly knew that I had to write.  These may not be short stories and you may question the truthfulness, but I must write them.

          This is a herky jerky frog-kissing book and doesn't fit into any literary genre; the closest category would be an epistolary novel, which is a series of letters directed to an undisclosed or fictional person.

          I call these letters to my princess essays, even though some people think of essays as true personal experiences.

Some of My Terms

          "Herky" means happy and humorous things that bring a smile to your face and a warm glow to your heart.

          "Jerky" means things that are tougher and might cause a tear.

          "Frog-Kissing" is helping people see themselves in a better light and to use their improved self image to become the prince or princess they want to be.

          "Highwire" is where I go each morning and evening to look up for guidance and then look down at the world where I must do my frog-kissing.

          This book isn't about religion or church, however, I was active as a layman for over thirty years; I then became a minister and served in that capacity for thirty years.  My writing has a mild religious flavor but my view is balanced between the pulpit and pew.

          I have retained all rights and have a generous policy with newspapers, magazines, and others who want to publish individual pieces.

          I have a dream of a Cypress Creek Kid column, a Barney the Barnyard Philosopher column, and maybe a Fast Food Gypsy column.

          I'm a happy and cheerful person even though some things I write about are sad or traumatic.  You will see from my treatment of these that I have enough toughness to help people through the fires, floods and storms of life and that's what frog-kissing is all about.

          To purchase or use my essays (I have a total of 56), or to send feedback, [e-mail] or Clint Brooks [phone].
 
See my bare bones website at  http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeoriij
 
          "I don't write about romance it is too much jerky and not enough
herky.  I could write over a hundred true essays about "busted love" but most
of them wouldn't reveal any unique truth.  However, it serves a useful purpose.
because it keeps the song writers in business.  It it wasn't for "busted love" they would be out of business.  However, I love the songs and know many of them by heart.