I had a FANTASTIC time at the WVU Writer’s Workshop. Yes, that’s me sporting my saddle shoes and lookin natty. That’s David Hasslet to my left and Ethel Morgan Smith to my right. We had such an emotional panel. Tears were shed after I’d mentioned “The Telling Project,” and my work with Telling. There was a gentleman in the audience who was a Veteran and he started talking about his father, who was also a Vet. I recounted how when I worked with Telling we did short excerpts in several Baltimore City schools. We’d have a Q&A afterwards and when students spoke about a relative who’d be in the service “nobody ever asked them” about what they’d done.  

This struck a huge chord with the Veteran in the audience. And he started crying, as he recalled his father. And in responding to him I started crying too. It was the culmination of working with Telling and hearing their stories. Who knew all this would show up several years later at the West Virginia Writer’s Workshop.

From their blog, here’s a blurb about our readings:

All-in-all, I couldn’t have been more pleased about my contributions to the Workshop, and can’t say enough good things about Mark Brazaitis, Director of the Workshop and Professor of English at WVU, Renee Nicholson, Multi and Interdisciplinary Studies and Dominique Bruno, Graduate Assistant and Major Social Media Queen of the Workshop. All were particularly helpful and encouraging.

And reading an excerpt from “B-SideMan” was pure icing on the cake. I loved being on a panel where folks had questions about Playwriting as an art form, and also questions about the business side of Playwriting. I hope a few more of these are in my future. And I met two of the kindest people, Howard and Karen Owen. Howard Owen is a detective writer who wins awards faster than anybody I know. I was totally entranced by his latest book, “Grace,” coming out in October. “Grace” has that Walter Mosley/Raymond Chandler feel. And I find that a good detective story carries me away.