Hello, my name is David and I live in Tucson. I have been writing (starting with comics) since I was 12 or so--I am 60 now - I am retired, but still working as a pilot, and flight instructor. I have taken some classes in Tucson at Pima Community College here and have taken a few online classes through the Gotham Writer's Workshop - I really enjoyed my classes at the Community College as I had some great instructors and some good interactions with others reading each other's work and critiquing it. I do better with someone driving me to do better, instead of writing in silence with little or no feedback. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a writers group here in Tucson other than "Shut Up and Write" groups, who don't read but just write for an hour. 

I was fortunate enough to have one of my short stories published--a piece about two Russians over in Afghanistan before the Russians were forced out. It was called Running to Termez. Since then, I have written some novel-length stories, and most recently, I am working on a story about a former illegal migrant woman (the protagonist and hero) who must make a decision between love and what is right. 

My former life work includes 21 years as an FBI Agent, Marine Pilot, Air Ambulance Pilot and now Flight Instructor. I have lived in Tucson since 2006 am married and have three almost grown children. 

I am looking for a critique of my writing and hoping to learn from others as well in our journey. 

Thanks!

David French

Hello! 

I'm a senior in highschool, and I really love journaling every time I feel a strong emotion, and it takes form in poetry. I began sharing my writing with my english teacher, and she recommended that I share some of my work with a writing group! 

This is becoming a hobby of mine, and I would love and appreciate any feedback from my work!! I would love to know any initial thoughts, overall feel for the piece, things you like or notice, and things I could do better! 

My poetry has been published by AvantAppal(achia), Defenestration, The Ekphrastic Review, Superpresent Magazine, Backwards Trajectory, and by SEZ Publishing. I have work forthcoming in OyeDrum Magazine and Yellow Arrow Journal.

Instagram: @heatherbrownbarrett

About three decades published writing in the non-fiction world of freelance (e.g. health, travel, interviews, general interest) and of community journalism (yes, the excitement of stop sign-and-sewer permit-reportage from selectmen's meetings, but also the telling of stories of ordinary people doing interesting things). A few published poems here and there, the most recent in The Journal of Undiscovered Poets. About a half-decade as adjunct leading courses and workshops, my favorite being Writing to Heal and Rock & Write.  

Now interested in writing cultural/personal stories of Acadian/Quebecois/Francos, mainly in the Northeast, but, as with most things, that's likely to morph/evolve/expand. Interested because I want to read these stories but they seem only sporadically available. This has been a long haunt of mine. If you're still with me, here's a life snippet that continues to grate:

Some years ago, during a trip to visit a writing pal in NYC, she, my older younger-brother, and my brother's BF took me to a Soho bookstore that purported to have A Million Books available. Surely I would find some gems in that abundance. One of the clerks brought me to the section marked  Canada/Canadian History. Side-by-each in a two-by-three foot section on the lowest shelf, along with my crushed enthusiasm, were several rows of mostly travel books and superficial histories. Not even a French sounding something among them. 

As we drove back to Massachusetts, I mentioned this to my brother. Did this mean an untapped market? An opportunity to tell stories that weren't mainstreamed in the US? To which he responded, "Maybe  no one's interested in that." I considered for a moment, then thought and likely said something along the lines of: wait one damn minute. I'm someone, and I'm interested. I know I'm not unique. Surely others would be interested, too. 

During the ensuing years, I've read anything I could find that dovetailed with the largely unarticulated interest that niggles at my soul and sometimes -- metaphorically -- hits me with a two-by-four. Time to tell a story, if even I am the only reader "who is interested in that."

Looking for a group of older/old soul writers to share ideas/commentary/observations/insights about works-in-progress, especially if a wonder is how our personal and cultural histories managed to shape the people we think we are today. Meeting monthly online (I have mobility "issues") would be ideal, but, that too, could morph/evolve/expand. 

I've written casually (fiction, nonfiction, poetry) but need acountability partners. I've procrastinated long enough and would love to get together in a small group weekly to write and critique each other's work in NYC. Lived, learned, and worked in three continents and hoping to bring that experience to the table.