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Gary Gibbons
Gary Gibbons was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but spent time in at least eight states before settling in eastern PA, where he has spent the last 30+ years. The first piece of w...view moreGary Gibbons was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but spent time in at least eight states before settling in eastern PA, where he has spent the last 30+ years. The first piece of work I can remember was in tenth grade, but I already had my nose in a book from as long as I – or anyone in my family – can remember. That first piece was a poem, about my mother. Mom died two years earlier, and that changed the lives of all my brothers and my sister, not always positive.For me, this tragedy ended up mostly good, but far from normal. I ended up in an orphanage, but don't feel sorry for me – I probably ate better than you did for the next four years. That school gave me a roof over my head, food on the table, insight into other cultures, learning how to live with 18 other guys and two sets of houseparents, how to milk cows and set a dining room table, and some life skills that I didn't know I needed but proved useful for the rest of my life. Learning to live with (yes, literally live with) people from other States and cultures broadened my horizons a bit. It's also where I read a lot, and earned a partial scholarship toward college, where I received a bachelor's degree.That degree didn't help me much after I "volunteered" to avoid the draft (some of you might remember that far back in time), but it put me in a job where I discovered my writing skills and used them for four years. And for most of the rest of my life. I wrote for other people, mostly businesses. I wrote procedures, pamphlets, mission statements, goals, flowcharts, step-by-step, how-to stuff, and some marketing material. None of which made me rich nor fulfilled my ever-increasing urge to write something else.So I turned some of my insomniac nights into stories – stories about things I did, or things I saw, or events that made me sad or helped a friend overcome their sadness through thoughtfulness or words of encouragement.Dad always said I had an imagination. I could see a rabbit cross the road and by the time we got home it had turned into an elephant and we had been on safari with lots of other animal adventures in between. I couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler but I could imagine a fleet of hydrofoil boats rescuing people from sinking ships.Eventually I channeled my imagination into poems and stories. I tried self-publishing 25 years of Christmas poems (see Blame It On Santa Clause - coming soon) and at least four other stories. And that's where I am now. I read about Smashwords and now I am self-publishing thereby.If I have a genre, it is people who use their imagination to inspire young people to discover and pursue "what they could become." Some call this "young adult," but age has nothing to do with discovery. I just think that you don't need a bunch of sex and cuss words to get attention. As has been mentioned, "If you use cusswords to make a point, improve your argument – and your vocabulary!"Hope you enjoy reading my imaginations. If so, let others know. If not, let me know.Happy imagining.Garyview less