MY WRITERS SITE

Second best thing that happened to me today:

Second best thing that happened to me today: I was headed home and spotted these horses in a field...where else would they be... and stopped snap their photos. But, they thought I wanted to talk or pet them or something and I didn't because, while I'm not afraid of horses, I'm weary of them. I think if they suddenly became human they'd all be used car salesmen named Vinny. I don't trust them. So anyway, one horse came over and then his friend joined us and then two other guys at the other end of the field started to come over. I guess word got out that I was an easy pet or I had food, I don't know. But it was alright, every one was well behaved.

Our house

writer hint

Nothing that happens to you as a writer is ever wasted

writers hint

A writer is a person who pays attention to the world and everything in it

writers hint

Finish your first draft. You MUST do this.

writers hint

You will, from to time, hate your work. Welcome to the club. Keep working.

writers hint

Being a writer was never a choice for you and I. It was a compulsion.

writers hint

Victor Hugo said it best “A writer is a world trapped in a person”

Coolest thing I saw today

It took these cows like 9 years to walk across the field to see what I was doing and I felt guilty about making them walk that far so I waited for them to get there. We just stared at each other for a while and I took these shots.

writers hint

Listen to what others AREN’T saying and write about that

writers hint

What works for you as a writer? Figure that out and then exploit it

Writers hint

Carry a notebook everywhere you go because everywhere you go inspiration can happen

writers hint

Write under a time constraint, it will sharpen your mind and focus your attention

New word for you to use

Abyssal

uh-BISS-ul

1: of or relating to the bottom waters of the ocean depths

2: impossible to comprehend : unfathomable

Abyssal is a relatively rare word, though it's derived from the more prevalent noun, abyss. All four terms descend from the Late Latin word abyssus, which is in turn derived from the Greek abyssos ("bottomless"). Abyss and abysm are synonymous (both can refer to the mythical bottomless pit in old accounts of the universe or can be used more broadly in reference to any immeasurably deep gulf), but the adjectives abyssal and abysmal are not used identically. Abyssal can mean "incomprehensible" (as in "showed abyssal ignorance") but it's most often found in contexts referring to the bottom of the sea. Abysmal shares the oceanographic sense with abyssal, but it more frequently means "immeasurably great" or "absolutely wretched."

Pandora

Pandora’s box. In ancient mythology, Pandora was the first woman created by the gods, each of whom gave her a special gift, hence her name, which means “all gifted.” One day, Pandora naively lifted the lid on a box containing all the evils of the world. The myth was used to explain death and destruction; nowadays, it’s also a metaphor that suggests how small actions can have unforeseen consequences.

Imprecate

IM-prih-kayt

To invoke evil on: curse

Imprecate ultimately derives from the Latin verb precari, meaning "to pray, ask, or entreat." Precari is also the ancestor of such English words as deprecate (which once meant "to pray against an evil," though that sense is now archaic), precatory ("expressing a wish") and even pray itself (which has deeper roots in the Latin noun for a request or entreaty, prex).

Our first trip to Shepherdstown and we thought, "You know, we should move here" so we did

NEVER grow up, its a trap

1965, me and my brother Danny after school

We had to wear white shirts and green ties to school. I took the tie off firs thing everyday

Never another wirter

“I will be very careful the next time I fall in love, she told herself. Also, she had made a promise to herself that she intended on keeping. She was never going to go out with another writer: no matter how charming, sensitive, inventive or fun they could be. They weren't worth it in the long run. They were emotionally too expensive and the upkeep was complicated. They were like having a vacuum cleaner around the house that broke all the time and only Einstein could fix it. She wanted her next lover to be a broom.” ― Richard Brautigan, Sombrero Fallout

To my friends....

A referral point for my friends (personnel friends, meaning people I know in my personnel life) who want me to “Take a look at my stuff.” For years I’ve said sure, I’ll look at it, meaning edit it. But I have always forewarned them that I take the processes seriously and I won’t pull any punches and not to get angry with me. They always, always, always assure me that they want to a professional edit and that I shouldn’t pull any punches just because we’re friends. Then I edit their work and they get angry at me. So here’s what we’re going to do. If you want me to give my opinion on your writing or edit your work, the charge is $50.00 an hour with a four hour minimum. That should stop most of you from asking me to look at your work and while preserving our friendship.

Why this blog is here.

I am largely self-educated, and this blog is continuation of that education. I have an MFA, but that doesn’t have much to do with an education, not the kind I’m talking about. An advanced degree means I am able to follow instruction.

Never ending self-education means I adore knowledge and enlightenment of both the ordinary and the odd and that’s what this blog is about. It is by me, written for my benefit. You are more than welcomed to drop by as often and for as long as your heart desires.

John William Tuohy

I was born and raised in Connecticut and now live in rural West Virginia with my wife, Mary, and my dog Eli.

I hold an AA and MA in literature and an MFA in writing from Lindenwood University. I spent most of my career as a political consultant and hated every living second of it.

I am produced and award-winning playwright. (Cyberdate, The Hannigans of Beverly, etc.)

I am the author of 12 books on traditional organized crime, an autobiography (No Time to Say Goodbye) two books of short stories (Short Stories from a Small Town, Washington Behind the Monuments) a novella (Imago Summer, 1971) and several books on Connecticut history. I proud to be the historian of Ansonia Connecticut. I sit on the board of Mt. St. John's School.

I occasionally and reluctantly work as an editor but only when I need money to travel.

I am an accomplished amateur photographer, a frustrated painter and not a half-bad gardener and I cook. I collect coins, stamps and political memorabilia. I love film so much that I built a large theater in my home. (I also wrote "On the Waterfront: the Making of a Great Amercian film")