Author of St. Michael Poker & Drinking Club and Baxter's Friends
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to my readers and visitors alike. I reside in Southern Illinois, just across the mighty Mississippi River from St. Louis. I have an eclectic educational background—I received my first degree from St. Louis College of Pharmacy and practiced pharmacy in both the retail and clinical settings for over twenty years. In the late 1980s I went back to night law school and received my law degree in 1991. I’ve practiced intellectual property (patent, trademark, copyright) law for over twenty years. In between I studied writing at Washington University-St. Louis, Webster University and Southwestern Illinois College.
My diverse professional interests and life experiences have colored and shaped my writing. None more so than growing up in the Midwest. My chapbook Prairie Shoutings and Other Poems was published by The Spoon River Poetry Press, Bradley University and contain a number of poems that pay homage to unique aspects of rural life. My novel Baxter’s Friends, which will be released June 1, 2013 by Coffeetown Press, is a work of literary fiction set in St. Louis.
My short story “The Amazing Doctor Jones” recently appeared in Cigale Literary Magazine, Summer 2012 and another, “The Boston Tar Baby’ will be published by Prism Review in Spring 2013. Both are set in middle America. My poems have recently appeared in a number of literary publications such as The Spoon River Quarterly, Circus Maximus, Seven Stars Poetry, Poydras Review, Emerge Literary Journal, Barnwood International Poetry Magazine, The New Poet, Hamilton Stone Review and Four Ties Literary Review.
Please visit my blog often for discussions about writing, publishing, and other observations. Thanks for visiting.
Down Cemetery Road is the much-anticipated prequel to the unforgettable Baxter’s Friends. Ned Randle raises the curtain on the formative years of Billy Bright’s life, revealing a formula for his adult years that is at once both intoxicating and utterly sobering. Down Cemetery Road delves into the disillusionment of adolescence sadly often shot down by mid-life.
Read more.