I wanted to be a writer since I bought a Travis McGee novel in Mitchell, SD, for thirty-five cents. As I stood there on the sidewalk, the novel in my hands, I had an epiphany. Old John D. wasn’t writing for his health. He did this for a living. It took me a long time to learn how to write a novel, but that’s because I’m a slow learner. I always had a flair for stringing words together, and I was always confident of my ability to tell a story. I attended the University of Wisconsin, majoring in political science. And a fat lot of good it’s done me. But I did study writing with the great Jerry McNeely, who said, “You make ‘em laugh a little, you make ‘em cry a little, you scare the hell out of them, and that’s entertainment.
Great post.
Another McGee fan here, Mike! Part of my pulp experience.