Dynamic Fiction Writer

The Author’s Story

J. Gordon is one of those less common personality types that is pretty left/right brain balanced. He worked for 35 years in a highly technical environment as a mechanical designer for a number of corporate engineering departments (there’s the left). Early in his career (back when engineering drawings were still being done on the drafting board) he often got comments about how nice his drawings looked. “Are you an artist?”. Before that, he was a guitarist in a rock band and still plays in his local church (there’s the right). He’s always been known as a reliable guy by friends and coworkers. “Good old Woody” (that’s a nickname – yeah, another story), a friend would say. He puts a 100% effort into just about everything he does, down to the little details.

Harkening back to the years he lived in Colorado Springs as a kid, J. Gordon has always loved the outdoors. Back in his early twenties he spent some time in Montana hiking, camping, etc. (that’s where the nickname comes in – again, another story). He even climbed Granite Peak, Montana’s highest mountain, with some friends. Nowadays he takes daily walks on a nearby trail where he lives with his wife in Elk River, Minnesota.

One quirky thing about J. Gordon is his affinity for wearing socks with his sandals (the short ankle ones – but only white, black would be nerdy). “Hey, it keeps my feet from getting dirty.” His wife and two daughters (and probably some friends behind his back) are always on his case about that.

Other than English and grammar classes in school, J. Gordon had no formal education or training in creative writing. So when he first seriously considered putting down the ideas swimming around in his head, he didn’t know how to make it happen. After writing a few lines, he gave up and thought little about it for years.

One day, while on one of his walks, an idea came to him that he couldn’t resist exploring. Early that evening, he sat down at the computer and began to write. As he did, the story took on a life of its own. It was a revelation to him to see these things coming out. Sometime after midnight, he finally finished writing. He’d completed his first chapter as a writer.

Gordon’s first completed piece is a novelette, Offering. Reader comments have included “wonderful”, “it brought tears to my eyes” and “I didn’t see the end coming”. Subscribers to the mail list have the option of downloading the story for free. People who know J. Gordon and have read his works have remarked how they didn’t seem written by him. “You have a gift” has been a common sentiment.

The writing journey for J. Gordon has been filled with ups and downs. He considered giving up the effort after a number of negative critiques of his work. There’s something inside of him, though, that won’t go away. In his daily walks, driving in the car or waking up in the middle of the night it stimulates his mind and encourages him to keep with it. There must be more to this than just a guy who thinks he can tell stories. “It feels like something has been put there that doesn’t belong to me and I have to let it out.”

Highlights

Hope to have something here soon.

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