I don't know if any of my old advertising bosses remember this sentence from my interviews with them: "I'm not in advertising because I want to be a writer."

I loved ideas. I loved solving problems. That's why I got into advertising. In fact, I thought (sometimes still do) I was an art/design guy. I didn't care if I used Photoshop or Microsoft Word—I just wanted to create!

So I was thrilled—and kinda surprised—when I saw the feedback for my first real short story, "Caw!"

People liked it. My impostor syndrome? Not so much.

So now what, Mr. Big Shot. Mr. Oooh-my-story-sew-goood. Huh?

I wrote. Whenever I felt like. Whatever I felt like.

Worked my way into another short story inspired by events in my own adolescent life. That little idea steamrolled into a neat little book called "A Boy Called Dustbin."

In this section, you'll find stories, essays, rants that started me off on that path.

And new ones as well.