A Writer's Tale

The Spring, 1966 issue of Willamette’s literary magazine, Jason, contained my poem, “Complaint.”

The Spring, 1967 issue of Jason contained my poem, “One More Crucifixion,” and my short story, “Beast.” (About a teenager who keeps a dead mouse for his pet.) I attended summer school, 1967, at the University of Iowa, where I took courses in literature and creative writing.

Three of my poems, “Night on a Lake,” “Some of Us,” and “Today I Could Have Lost” were published in the 1968 issue of Willamette literary magazine, Jason’s Phantasy.

In 1967 and again in 1968, I received $20.00 for winning second place in the Willamette University Creative Writing Award contest.

Though I’m officially in the Willamette class of 1969, I piled up a lot of credits by going to summer sessions at various institutions. I received my B.A. a year early, and spent my fourth year (Fall, 1968-Spring, 1969) working on an MFA degree at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Two of my poems, “Today I Could Have Lost,” and “Some of Us” were published in the December, 1968 issue of Tongue, which appears to be the literary magazine of the University of Arizona.

While in Tucson, I took a driving trip into the desert with a friend who intended to steal a cactus. This incident inspired my first professionally published story “Desert Pickup.”

In 1969, President Richard Nixon started the draft lottery.

I had lost my student deferment some time earlier, had gone for my pre-induction Army physical, and had made preparations to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. When Nixon held the lottery, however, I came up with a fairly high number. Thus, I never served in the armed forces. And I lived on to write my fiction.

1970

After one year at the University of Arizona, I dropped out of the MFA program and moved to Los Angeles. I enrolled in Loyola University of Los Angeles to pursue a Masters Degree in English literature.

April 10 I received a contract in the mail. My short story, “Desert Pickup,” had been bought for $75.00 by Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. It would be published in the magazine’s “Department of First Stories.” I went crazy wild with joy.

September I got a job teaching ninth grade English to girls at Bishop Conaty High School. (A teaching certificate wasn’t required for being a teacher at private schools.) I experienced a real life version of The Blackboard Jungle. I also started working on a Masters Degree in English literature at Loyola University of Los Angeles.

1971

I experienced my first major earthquake, a 6.6 that struck at 6 a.m. on the morning of February 9. Not knowing whether school would be in session at Bishop Conaty, I hopped into the car and drove downtown to Pico and Normandie. Traffic signals were dead. Fire hydrants were shooting water into the air. I used some of this experience, years later, when writing Quake.

At the end of my first year of teaching at Bishop Conaty, I resigned to publish a pamphlet called Smoker’s Blend, which I thought would be sold by the thousands to pipe smokers and make me rich. It didn’t. I published four monthly issues (July-Sept., 1971) before going out of business.

The issues contain articles, tips and jokes for pipe smokers mostly written by me.

December 27 I began working on my novel, Dark Road.

I worked as a library clerk at Mount St. Mary’s College in Brentwood.

June 17 I received a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Loyola University of Los Angeles.

Summer I took classes in Library Science at University of Southern California, working toward a Masters Degree in Library Science in order to become a certificated librarian.

In October and November, I published Smoker’s Blend II, two follow-up issues of my original periodical.

1973

March 5 I joined Mystery Writers of America. Soon afterward, I was invited to attend a meeting of the Pink Tea writer’s group. I ended up belonging to the group for about a decade.

September I quit my job at Mount St. Mary’s and took a good job as the library assistant at John Adams Junior High School in Santa Monica.

While working at John Adams, I attended USC and UCLA in my spare time (night and summer sessions). Over a period of about four years, I took teacher training and worked on a Masters Degree in Librarianship. I came out of it with a lifetime California teaching credential. I am permanently licensed in this state to teach secondary school and junior college English, and to be a secondary school and junior college librarian. Nice to have something to fall back on.

1974

April 25 My second story, “Roadside Pickup,” was bought by Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.