Every cent of the money generated from the articles I publish on this website is a designated donation to Katrina's Angels, a charitable organization dedicated to assisting communities affected by disasters. Every article that you read helps fund their important and life saving work. On their behalf, I would like to thank you.

I write as if my life depended on it, because it does. I am a freelance writer working for clients around the world , which has given me a unique perspective, especially for the South.

At 35, I've earned every last premature gray hair on my head and don't care who knows it. I think my plants understand me better than most people do, and I strive to embody the same unconditional love that my dogs have for me.

My passion is ...

children, love, the written word and Jelly Bellys.

I know too much about ...

loss.

My parents always told me ...

what they thought would make them sound the best.

My childhood ambition ...

to work with the Peace Corps.

My favorite memory ...

9/10/2001 - it was the last day the world was still "ok".

Why I write ...

I write because I don't have the option to not write. There are people and stories inside my head that demand to be told.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

"Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou,

My first job ...

grocery stocker

My best moment ...

working with teen suicide prevention

My inspiration ...

children are my inspiration, period. I plan to become a father before I am 40.

Relationships & Family > Gay & Lesbian The importance of "coming out" and the difference it makes

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The youngest of five boys from Warren, Michigan, Bill recalls that for any kid growing up in the 60s and 70s, cocksucker' or queer' were "the worst things you could be called and they were thrown around a lot." Having lost two brothers to suicide while he was still in his teens, Bill, who always knew that he was attracted to men, came out to his mother at nineteen when she asked him point-blank if he was gay.

"She asked why I hadn't told her, I responded, because I don't think it matters'."

Bill isn't the only gay member of his family, either. His uncle Jamie, author of the book "...

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Writing:

• 2Marketplace Articles Sold
• Marketplace Premier Writer
• Creative Writing Bronze

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