I started early. In fourth grade I won a prize for a story I submitted to  a contest sponsored by the local  SPCA. With the money I won I bought some new clothes and a Brownie scout pocket knife . From there, I taught creative writing as a summer camp counselor in college and was briefly a creative writing major in college--the story of that disastrous episode is included in this collection .  These pieces that can be read in one sitting--perhaps in the few minutes you have left in your lunch hour or before the kids come home from school or as you're falling asleep at night. You'll find both fiction and nonfiction here. I have hoped to capture what I learned from the incidents and places I've experienced as well as those I've imagined.