As some of you may know, last week I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Appalachian Heritage Writers Symposium for the third year in a row. It was, again, one of the most fun, incredible and informative experiences of my life. In the last three years I have met a number of people who are incredibly happy and successful in the field that is my very dream. I am proud to call some of the highly esteemed members of the Appalachian Heritage Writers Guild very dear friends, and I am pleased to say that my own writing has drastically improved in respect of these symposiums, as has my drive to get my voice out there for the world to experience. I guess every writer feels that way at some point, but the long and short of it is that we do indeed have a story to tell, and we do have our own unique voice in which to tell it, so it makes sense that we do everything in our power to have it be heard. That may not seem important to some, but it is very important. Our voice is our life, is ourselves in essence and it deserves to be heard. Furthermore, the world deserves to hear it.  That is one of the best ways to look at it, I’ve found. We write because the words are in us, and the world deserves to hear what we have to say. Through the symposium I have heard very inspirational messages and have gained some very helpful tips, like starting this blog, for one. This year was no different. I read a story that is very much unlike anything I typically write and reveal, and the audience really seemed to enjoy it. I think that the story, which stemmed from a creative writing class taught by one of my favorite professors and most helpful mentor, Dr. Scalia, is something that I can pursue further, perhaps even turning it into a novel one day. Over the course of the last few days I have also found inspiration for number of other works, some older, one new, and I think that I will be working on them shortly. I hope to be able to place quotes and samples from these works either here, on Twitter, or on Facebook. I hope that you are all interested in these works and that you find this intriguing enough to check out my stuff that is on Amazon. As always, I welcome contact, suggestions and comments. Please feel free to get involved. This blog is intended to be interactive and helpful, after all. I want everyone to have both an insight into my life and work and to know they have someone to go to for any questions they may have about writing.