The world is your oyster.  Eat it raw!

Writing Awards

2006 Margaret Reid Traditional Poetry Contest

Horses in the Mist
Highly Commended
and published in
anthology Sailing in
the Mist of Time

2007 Margaret Reid Traditional Poetry Contest

She Swish and Sway
Nowhere Passed
Commended

2008 Margaret Reid Traditional Poetry Contest

Starlight on the
Western Seas
Commended

Playing Polo
Primary Short List

How Is It...?
Secondary Short List

...........................

2006 Tom Howard/John Reid Short Story Contest

The Concourse
Commended

I, like most everyone else, was born to a woman.  As luck would have it, she turned out to be my mother.  A lifelong relationship has resulted from this strange event which neither of us discuss very much.

I was born in Maine.  Some would say that makes me a Mainiac, with or without an "e."  I say it makes me a native American, but there are some in this world that would disagree with the logic of that.

There are some in this world that defy ALL logic.

By dint of not making career plans early on in life, I have ended up in advertising, which is like the New Jersey of careers (yes, I've been to and through New Jersey a few times).  Some say it's a plum job.  In some ways that's true - I don't have to work outside in the cold rain or deal in any way with manure.  A drawback, however, is everyone is an advertising expert.  Most people wouldn't consider telling a brain surgeon how to do his/her job, but when it comes to advertising...

Let's see.  I've been a college student, a soldier in the US Army, a spy with a top secret clearance (technically an eavesdropper), a bodyguard, a janitor, a semi-professional artist doing shows, a Little League coach, a technical graphic designer in a drafting office, a salesman, a computer instructor, a security guard.  I've spent several years in printing and advertising.

It's difficult finding something interesting to do that will pay you.

I guess writing is the next thing in a long line of next things.  Hopefully, this will actually go somewhere (as long as its not New Jersey).  Did I ever say that I spent two months in New Jersey back in 1983?  Basic Training - Fort Dix, New Jersey.

If you get the opportunity, check out one of my books.  Or, better yet, all three.  They should be quick and easy to read.  The first book, From Here to Never, deals with hitting the age when one actually realizes that his days are numbered, when mortality stares him in the face.  It happens, and, to me, it's a strange phenomenon. 

I designed the cover for all the books, and did the entire layout for the second two (Falling from a Cloud and The March of the Turtles).  The titles for the books come from the last poem in all of them.

I am well past the time that I need to update this page.  There are two new books that I need to mention:  Of Trains and Other Things and Stop the Scrambled Eggs.

Of Trains and Other Things is a compilation of ten short stories.  It is a branching out of sorts.  Doing poetry books is nice and fun and all that.  But there are more readers of fiction, and I wanted to see if I had what it takes to carry through with longer pieces of writing.  I think I succeeded for the most part, especially for a first effort.  

Stop the Scrambled Eggs is another poetry book.  It's one that I used as a form of catharsis.  So many things had been piling up over the course of a year that I wanted to blow off some steam.  This book is the result of that.  I haven't taken to promoting it on my website, but it can be found on Amazon and CreateSpace if you search for the title.  Thanks for looking and reading!

Jeff Howe