Writing Samples

I enjoy writing paragraphs and pages that keep readers asking for more, starting in the first few sentences.

The first sentence of my current book is “You have every reason to think you’ll live longer than average.” The working title of that book is “Long Ride: Cycling 4,000 miles with stage 4 cancer.” My previous book was Walking Out of the Dark. The tagline is “Bad luck took his sight. With hope and humor, my brother didn’t let it take more.”

My stories come in a range of sizes, short-stories, blog-posts, and books. All of them are based on real events. I love telling the story of people who face tough times and keep inching forward—especially when it involves the outdoors. Tough times can make for some sad stuff, so my writing balances that with humor.

The rest of this webpage shows a range of my work. The stories are in chronological order and range from 341 to 2,450 words.

 

Name & Link Starting & maybe ending a cross-country ride on your birthday
Source Blog post at cycleWriter.com, May 6, 2018.
Word Count 355 Words.
Summary On her 60th birthday, my friend Marie started a 4,000 mile bike ride across the US. On the first day of the ride, she cracked her arm, but she still hoped to continue. Marie asked her doctor to put on a cast she would ride with, even though she was riding a fully-loaded touring bike over the hardest hills of the entire 4,000 mile ride.
Name & Link Blown Away in Kansas
Source Blog post at cycleWriter.com, May 8, 2018.
Word Count 315 Words.
Summary Cycling across Kansas doesn’t conjure up images of excitement, since the state is known for flat fields that stretch to the horizon, for about a week of cycling. But Kansas can get very exciting, too exciting, when a thunderstorm shows up. They can blow tents down. I was inside my tent when that happened, even recorded some video.
Name & Link Done: Cycled across the US
Source Blog post at cycleWriter.com, August 24, 2018.
Word Count 548 Words.
Summary I wrote this post after cycling over 4,000 miles across the US with stage 4 cancer. I was also close to raising a dollar mile for cancer research, a goal I eventually exceeded. This post describes the tears, smiles, bad weather, and most important, the very good people that were part of the ride.
Name & Link Chapter 33: Bad Dog – Good Stranger.
Source (Upcoming Book) Long Ride: Cycling 4,000 miles with stage 4 cancer. May 24, 2022
Word Count 2,450 Words.
Summary This book shows my response after being diagnosed with cancer, which included cycling across the US. This chapter shows a relaxing day of cycling that was interrupted by a dog chasing me. Later in the chapter, a generous stranger showed up, who had her own surprising story.