Memphis Trace's Profile
| Penname: | Memphis Trace |
| Country: | United States |
| Favorite book: | To Kill a Mockingbird |
| Member type: | Author |
| Member Since: | Feb 4, 2009 |
| Bio: | To Whom All it may concern: I'm Memphis Trace and semi-retired. I say semi-retired because when you've been dodging work for as long as I have, it’s hard to know when you’re retired or just resting up from a long weekend. I was born in the fictional Appalachian town of Blue Ruby, Virginia. At the age of 13, or so, I was born again as a story teller. Storytelling on the front porch in the utopian town of Blue Ruby is done orally by moonshiners, oral historians, and assorted other liars. I tried to break into the circle after I was baptized, but was told to hold my tongue ’til tomorrow. Tomorrow never came, so I moved on. I learned to read and write at college and then went to work for the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office at Washington, DC, to put my early sitting-on-the-porch experience into the service of my country. After being caught shirking a lot early on in that job, and between shifts, I've talked a lot to myself, read a lot to myself, and listened patiently to others – with my mouth moving but no words coming out. I worked when I couldn’t dodge it for as long as I could stand it so I could retire comfortably to sit with my wife on the front porch to tell stories and talk about good books, the practice I picked up from my forebears in Blue Ruby. To my everlasting surprise, when I started practicing for my renaissance as a storyteller on our front porch in Washington, DC, my wife told me with five words and a comma to shut up. I won't tell you the four clean words because you'd be able to figure out the cuss word and it would get back to her that I was washing her dirty laundry in public. Instead of holding a grudge, and in order to perpetrate my legacy, I tried for a while to talk to a tape recorder out of her hearing, but felt unappreciated. I whistled awhile but couldn’t carry a tune. Words were spoken. Now that I know how strongly people feel about my oral storytelling I've turned to the written word to find my voice. Read my written stories on The Next Big Writer and you’ll see I’ve pretty much mastered the English language. If you all will just go ahead and read some of my long stories or chapters and write reviews filled with unstinting praise, I will promise to sit silent on my porch and imagine your voices as you read them to your patient spouse. Write on, Memphis |
User Writings
| Title/Name | Date | Ranking | Reviews | Type | |
| Mar 26, 2010 | 144 | 112 | Novel | ||
In the deep woods around Blue Ruby, Virginia,... | |||||
| Apr 7, 2010 | 668 | New | Novel | ||
Leland Porter Crowe, III, has a vasectomy prior... | |||||
| Aug 11, 2010 | 387 | 13 | Novel | ||
An exciting life of mostly sitting. I'd like... | |||||
| Mar 28, 2010 | 71 | 16 | Poetry | ||
Reposted at Flowing Pencil's behest. Since... | |||||
| Mar 12, 2009 | 671 | 9 | Short Story | ||
I posted this story with an original title of... | |||||
| Mar 12, 2009 | 318 | 13 | Short Story | ||
I’ve modified this story to make it a... | |||||
| Jan 31, 2010 | 1741 | New | Short Story | ||
Ambitious Romance muse seeks to secure his... | |||||
| Jun 27, 2009 | 1557 | New | Short Story | ||
I'm considering this as a third prologue for... | |||||
| Jun 2, 2009 | 252 | 15 | Short Story | ||
The story of how Blue Ruby, Virginia, got it's... | |||||
| Apr 22, 2010 | 1119 | 6 | Short Story | ||
John L Porter's plan to save his niece Cleo. | |||||
| Jan 31, 2010 | 1263 | 5 | Short Story | ||
Looking for love | |||||
| Mar 21, 2010 | 237 | 18 | Short Story | ||
A story of a visit to an adult care center for... | |||||
| Mar 11, 2010 | 148 | 20 | Short Story | ||
The story of a refractory alcoholic. | |||||
| Mar 20, 2010 | 984 | 6 | Short Story | ||
Harold 'Buck' Fields of Washington, DC, saves... | |||||
| Mar 29, 2010 | 1551 | 3 | Short Story | ||
Harold "Buck" Fields spends a year in Blue Ruby... | |||||
| Apr 2, 2010 | 1489 | 4 | Short Story | ||
Foolproof method for becoming a star author or... | |||||
| Apr 2, 2010 | 1490 | 4 | Short Story | ||
Foolproof method to become a star author or... | |||||
| May 3, 2010 | 1123 | 6 | Short Story | ||
This is a pitch I wrote and presented in New... | |||||
| May 25, 2010 | 1449 | 3 | Short Story | ||
The Creation... of creativity? This is the... | |||||
| Jun 15, 2010 | 1577 | 3 | Short Story | ||
This is the story on which I've based the novel... | |||||
| Jul 7, 2010 | 905 | 7 | Short Story | ||
Response to John Hamler's soccer editorial. | |||||
| Jul 8, 2010 | 1239 | 4 | Short Story | ||
Response to John Hamler's review of Futbol,... | |||||
