The New Life

When I moved to New Zealand in 2012, I moved with no job, no leads, and basically no friends. I took a leap of faith. A month before deportation I finally released the reigns that I was afraid to let go of. I was trying to do everything on my own. I made space for my faith and trust to take a place in my life. Two weeks before I was to be kicked out of the country, I landed a job…after 8 months of searching. Fast forward to now, when I moved to Colorado, I saw some striking similarities. With no job, no decent leads, and only a few friends in the state, I packed up everything I owned. I am happy to say that after spending three and a half months in this state, I have landed a job. And not just any job, but the job that I was hoping to always get! Continue reading “The New Life”

How Moving my Life to New Zealand for 3 years Changed Me

I came to change New Zealand. After 3 years, New Zealand changed me. Cliche I know, but this ended up being the truth.

This post has been written over the past 18 months. My thoughts, my observations, and my feelings have obviously morphed along the way, but let’s just start at the beginning.

With 50lbs of luggage, a working knowledge of left hand driving, and one solid contact, I packed up what I owned and moved my life to New Zealand. I kissed my parents, hugged my niece, wished my siblings well, and flew. In my luggage was an optimistic, slightly naive, monstrously unrealistic idea that I was going to get a job, in my field, in the first few months. With…one…solid…contact. Yeah. Right. Continue reading “How Moving my Life to New Zealand for 3 years Changed Me”

The Adventures of Booker & Bishop

Hello again. I am writing to let you know that I have written a short story. ANOTHER ONE!! I have really loved writing these stories and I thought I’d share this one with you. This is a long one. Yeah. Still. If you have some time, and like my writing, I would encourage you to check it out. This is like Indiana Jones meets The Hardy Boys. I loved writing the characters and jumping into their world. I drew from my love of this genre in story and in film. So. That’s all. Have fun. Here is an excerpt from the story, but for the full story, click the link below the excerpt.

“Do you have the key with you?”

“Yes we do,” Bishop said without making an indication of its proximity.

“May I see it?”

The two looked at each other hesitantly, but ultimately, this was why they had come to Zurich in the first place. Bishop took the box out of his pocket and handed it to the professor. Griffin took the key to a room in the back of the apartment. He turned on a light connected to a slanted table and began to work. Booker pulled on Bishop’s arm,

“Hey, if those guys find out where this guy lives, and I’m sure they already know, then we may be out of time.” Griffin seemed to have heard them,

“I received that email at work, not from my home address, but yes. We don’t have much time.”

A short time later, Griffin returned from the back room with the key in his open palm,

“Do you know what this is?”

“Are you asking or do you know?” Booker tried to be funny.

Bishop responded to Griffin’s question, “Professor Hyland told us that it was very old and might predate the Greeks.”

Griffin smiled, “He was right…but he was only half right,” Griffin’s eyes widened as he walked to the empty chair. Booker and Bishop followed him. Griffin started up again,

“I have to admit, I have never seen anything like this before. The key is reminiscent of some of the earliest cultures ever documented, and yet it is unique unto itself. It is almost as if culture and civilization’s Genesis were from this very artifact,” Griffin paused to let this sink in, “After some digging and cross-referencing, I noticed the key’s designs were similar to a set of Spanish hieroglyphs found a very long time ago.”

“Professor…” Bishop started

“Stop that, call me Griffin.”

“Sorry. Griffin, the Spanish never had hieroglyphs. What civilization ever existed in that region that used hieroglyphs?”

“Ahh. This is where books are no use to you and where myth plays a very heavy role.”

The Adventures of Booker & Bishop: And THE LOST DOOR

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Writing for Another Part II

So, some of you know that I write. Yeah, I know. Shocker. Most of you know that I like to write different kinds of things, not just blogs. I enjoy branching out creatively and experiencing the joy when writing in an untested medium…at least for myself.

Not many of you know that I write for another blog, called How We Lost the Moon. There, writers, experienced and novice find a voice. You can write whatever you want. If you’ve been wanting to write a short story, but didn’t feel confident publishing it, this site will publish the work and the audience will accept it. It’s a safe place to experiment in your writing. I started writing poetry when I was a teenager, then in college my good friend David started a writing group where we shared our writing. Then I got into blogging and loved that format. HWLTM was the first place that I tried to write a short story. Once I tried it, I loved it. I couldn’t get enough of it. The stories I write are getting longer and longer now, ha. I am a huge advocate for the cathartic release that writing can give a person, and I will always encourage people who are shy about their writing to take a step of faith.

This month on HWLTM, they are running a contest. It’s a Blue Moon Contest. The rules are to write about a famous painting. My piece is called “A Self Portrait in Retrospect,” written on the painting “The Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog,” which happens to be my favorite painting. The rules are also this: Like the post you want to win. The Like button is located at the bottom of the post and is a button with a star in it. Mobile versions of the website might have more trouble, I hear, so sorry.

Thank you for reading my blog and for enjoying what I do here. If you enjoy my post that I mentioned above, keep an eye on the website for a new short story that I will be publishing within a few weeks called, “The Adventures of Booker and Bishop: And The Lost Door.”

Thank You.

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Time of my Life Pt.2

Hey everyone! I’m pleased to be releasing Part 2 of my short story today. Writing short stories is something I’ve only recently started doing, but I enjoy the process. If you like writing, but never tried writing a short story, I recommend it. Diving into a story, making it your own, creating characters, and giving them life is really quite cool.

You can find the story on this site, and this link will take you directly to it. If you missed part one, the link is also there. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2