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, 2011 | 14 | 828 | Novel | ||
Good at Dying A look through the gauzy... | |||||
| Apr 7, 2010 | 489 | 6 | Novel | ||
Leland Porter Crowe, III, has a vasectomy prior... | |||||
| Jun 4, 2011 | 219 | 53 | Novel | ||
An exciting life of mostly sitting. I'd like... | |||||
| Mar 10, 2011 | 397 | 9 | Novel | ||
Feedback on Jim Fiebig's whereabouts. (If he's... | |||||
| Mar 28, 2010 | 56 | 20 | Poetry | ||
Reposted at Flowing Pencil's behest. Since... | |||||
| Mar 10, 2011 | 789 | 8 | Poetry | ||
Feedback on Jim Fiebig's whereabouts. (If he... | |||||
| Mar 11, 2011 | 3074 | New | Poetry | ||
A reviewer of ¿JIM FIEBIG, APHORIST, LIVES?... | |||||
| Jul 3, 2011 | 573 | 9 | Poetry | ||
Poem to be. | |||||
| Feb 25, 2011 | 1430 | 6 | Short Story | ||
Doing a final edit for including in a collection. | |||||
| Oct 3, 2011 | 225 | 16 | Short Story | ||
The exciting conclusion of O P T I C | |||||
| Feb 16, 2011 | 1360 | 6 | Short Story | ||
A coal mining community is born of an Utopian... | |||||
| Mar 8, 2011 | 1583 | 4 | Short Story | ||
A pro football fan's letter to his son about... | |||||
| Sep 26, 2011 | 265 | 15 | Short Story | ||
I'm trying to decide between three options for... | |||||
| Jan 31, 2010 | 1738 | 4 | Short Story | ||
Ambitious Romance muse seeks to secure his... | |||||
| Oct 1, 2011 | 1151 | 6 | Short Story | ||
¿Maybe a Foreword in the "Waking up with the... | |||||
| Sep 24, 2011 | 97 | 20 | Short Story | ||
This is the title story of a collection of... | |||||
| Jun 2, 2009 | 351 | 15 | Short Story | ||
The story of how Blue Ruby, Virginia, got it's... | |||||
| Sep 30, 2011 | 473 | 11 | Short Story | ||
A Vietnam vet back home. | |||||
| Oct 16, 2010 | 423 | 10 | Short Story | ||
The day I decided to write stories for a living. | |||||
| Jan 31, 2010 | 1501 | 6 | Short Story | ||
Looking for love | |||||
| Oct 18, 2011 | 610 | 10 | Short Story | ||
Harold "Buck" Fields spends a year in Blue Ruby... | |||||
| Oct 19, 2011 | 716 | 9 | Short Story | ||
Buck saves Raleigh Slemp's life, even though... | |||||
| Jul 7, 2010 | 1028 | 8 | Short Story | ||
Response to John Hamler's soccer editorial. | |||||
| Oct 16, 2011 | 258 | 15 | Short Story | ||
In order to include this story in my "Mules of... | |||||
| Jan 30, 2011 | 1325 | 6 | Short Story | ||
Big time in a small town. | |||||
| Nov 18, 2010 | 528 | 10 | Short Story | ||
A Vietnam veteran's battle with the bottle and... | |||||
| Oct 4, 2011 | 162 | 15 | Short Story | ||
Doubling up on doing nothing. This story... | |||||
| Dec 20, 2010 | 1625 | 4 | Short Story | ||
Time travel | |||||
| Oct 2, 2011 | 331 | 12 | Short Story | ||
Tips on how to become a star author. | |||||
| Oct 10, 2011 | 790 | 8 | Short Story | ||
The leader of the muse team that won the bid to... | |||||
| Oct 11, 2011 | 947 | 7 | Short Story | ||
The muse team who won the bid to inspire the... | |||||
| Oct 20, 2011 | 176 | 15 | Short Story | ||
An alcoholic is reminded of a hopeful time. | |||||
| Sep 29, 2011 | 1055 | 7 | Short Story | ||
A Vietnam vet comes to grips with... | |||||
| Oct 5, 2011 | 233 | 13 | Short Story | ||
This story will probably NOT be included in any... | |||||
| Mar 6, 2011 | 722 | 8 | Short Story | ||
My version of the collaborative effort with... | |||||
| Mar 10, 2011 | 1901 | 3 | Short Story | ||
Feedback on Jim Fiebig's whereabouts, please.... | |||||
| Mar 12, 2011 | 799 | 9 | Short Story | ||
A story of manners: A father helps his daughter... | |||||
| Mar 20, 2011 | 1892 | 3 | Short Story | ||
Perfecting heaven. | |||||
| Apr 29, 2011 | 1850 | 4 | Short Story | ||
¿Brevity is the soul of wit? | |||||
| Sep 28, 2011 | 1218 | 5 | Short Story | ||
This is another story in a collection of... | |||||
| Feb 7, 2012 | 479 | 11 | Short Story | ||
Dressing for success. | |||||
