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Memphis Trace's Profile

Penname: Memphis Trace
Country: United States
Favorite book: Towing Jehovah (since 12 June 2011)
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
Aug 30, 201114828Novel

Good at Dying A look through the gauzy...

Apr 7, 20104896Novel

Leland Porter Crowe, III, has a vasectomy prior...

Jun 4, 201121953Novel

An exciting life of mostly sitting. I'd like...

Mar 10, 20113979Novel

Feedback on Jim Fiebig's whereabouts. (If he's...

Mar 28, 20105620Poetry

Reposted at Flowing Pencil's behest. Since...

Mar 10, 20117898Poetry

Feedback on Jim Fiebig's whereabouts. (If he...

Mar 11, 20113074NewPoetry

A reviewer of ¿JIM FIEBIG, APHORIST, LIVES?...

Jul 3, 20115739Poetry

Poem to be.

Feb 25, 201114306Short Story

Doing a final edit for including in a collection.

Oct 3, 201122516Short Story

The exciting conclusion of O P T I C

Feb 16, 201113606Short Story

A coal mining community is born of an Utopian...

Mar 8, 201115834Short Story

A pro football fan's letter to his son about...

Sep 26, 201126515Short Story

I'm trying to decide between three options for...

Jan 31, 201017384Short Story

Ambitious Romance muse seeks to secure his...

Oct 1, 201111516Short Story

¿Maybe a Foreword in the "Waking up with the...

Sep 24, 20119720Short Story

This is the title story of a collection of...

Jun 2, 200935115Short Story

The story of how Blue Ruby, Virginia, got it's...

Sep 30, 201147311Short Story

A Vietnam vet back home.

Oct 16, 201042310Short Story

The day I decided to write stories for a living.

Jan 31, 201015016Short Story

Looking for love

Oct 18, 201161010Short Story

Harold "Buck" Fields spends a year in Blue Ruby...

Oct 19, 20117169Short Story

Buck saves Raleigh Slemp's life, even though...

Jul 7, 201010288Short Story

Response to John Hamler's soccer editorial.

Oct 16, 201125815Short Story

In order to include this story in my "Mules of...

Jan 30, 201113256Short Story

Big time in a small town.

Nov 18, 201052810Short Story

A Vietnam veteran's battle with the bottle and...

Oct 4, 201116215Short Story

Doubling up on doing nothing. This story...

Dec 20, 201016254Short Story

Time travel

Oct 2, 201133112Short Story

Tips on how to become a star author.

Oct 10, 20117908Short Story

The leader of the muse team that won the bid to...

Oct 11, 20119477Short Story

The muse team who won the bid to inspire the...

Oct 20, 201117615Short Story

An alcoholic is reminded of a hopeful time.

Sep 29, 201110557Short Story

A Vietnam vet comes to grips with...

Oct 5, 201123313Short Story

This story will probably NOT be included in any...

Mar 6, 20117228Short Story

My version of the collaborative effort with...

Mar 10, 201119013Short Story

Feedback on Jim Fiebig's whereabouts, please....

Mar 12, 20117999Short Story

A story of manners: A father helps his daughter...

Mar 20, 201118923Short Story

Perfecting heaven.

Apr 29, 201118504Short Story

¿Brevity is the soul of wit?

Sep 28, 201112185Short Story

This is another story in a collection of...

Feb 7, 201247911Short Story

Dressing for success.



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