One of the first stories I ever wrote was inspired by an antique postcard from Russia dating back to the early 1900s. I was ten. In the years since, a star-shower of visual, experiential, and other stimuli have been my muse. The published results include a book on a socio-linguistic feature of Arabic, a chapter on global English, contributions to works on poetry, a secret stash of poetry, a blog, and articles for EssayHelpOnTime.
The Peace Corps led me into teaching, an advanced degree, and more teaching. A U. S. State Department program offered the opportunity and challenge of delivering teacher-training workshops to university professors in India. Rarely has a work assignment been so enthralling. Later, after years teaching a range of courses in California public schools, from Drama to AP English, I pulled the plug on my tenure and took a leap back into university instruction. Why? If you work too long in a crazy-making situation, you run the danger of becoming crazy yourself.