Born and raised in east central Illinois. I have always enjoyed telling my children stories from my past and especially of my childhood. As my daughter grew older she started wanting me to write them down so that she would always have them. I never thought much of it until I met my dear friend Smoke Martin. I loved reading her stories and poems and it wasnt long before she was encouraging me to write. I started writing and really enjoyed it. After I had written a few stories and poems of my own, I told her that I was trying to figure out what people liked to read so I would know what to wr more...