writing

Discovering an old new friend

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Memoirist Matthew Douglas Perry

I am a military brat. My dad was a career Marine Captain during the Vietnam era, and I grew up in military culture.

Reading Perry’s memoir of his father, the Master Sergeant, was both like finding a new friend and discovering an old one. The book’s title is You Are So Far Behind, You Think You Are In Front which is one of the Master Sergeant’s many sayings. The Master Sergeant served in the Army. Though of different ranks and different branches, the Master Sergeant reminds me of my dad in some respects–primarily in the sense of duty they both felt to their country and their refusal to tolerate nonsense.

Perry’s memoir of his father provokes both laughter and tears as many military stories do if told well.

Perry has brought his father back to life on these pages and oh how I wish I had had the opportunity to meet the Master Sergeant. Matthew Perry tells his father’s story very well.

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Cover Reveal

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For the past 18 months, I’ve been one of two Writers-in-Residence for the Museum of the American Military Family. With other folks, we have crafted a book that looks at gender, religion, race, identity, culture, and ethnicity in military environments. We did ourselves proud. The book is still in press, but the cover is ready and I’ve been given permission to share. I can’t wait until this is out in the world!

Julien Conrad

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He stole my heart even before birth.  I have been so excited to meet him.  To hold him.

Julien and me. Together forever.

I learned of him last September.

As the pandemic wore on well into its second year, we were all weary of daily life. Chef Boy ‘R Mine, however, had taken a job offer in his dream city of Chicago and was there scouting out apartments when he called me.  His life was dynamic and moving forward.  He had married the love of his life two years earlier. I could hear him breathing a little heavy as he walked, fast as always, the streets of Chi-Town. 

I can’t remember how he led up to it, but something like “So, I’ve got the news.”   And then, “Vanessa is pregnant.”

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West Virginia Writers Annual Summer Conference 2022

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Literary Citizenship and Feats of Derring-Do

If you had told me when I attended my first conference in 2018 that I would be presenting at the conference four years later, I would have scoffed.

But here I am.

It was heaps of fun. Really. More fun than a box of puppies. I love this conference and it was so rewarding to contribute to it. I am grateful to the organizers for allowing me to participate. I cannot wait for next year. If you want more information on the organization and the conference you can find it here.