Soon, I will be doing a photo shoot for potential shots to grace the cover of my upcoming book. I have a dilemma in this area: I’ve never been the most photogenic person, at least in my opinion. I have, as the old-timers would say, “a face for radio.” This is not some statement of false modesty — I’ve honestly just never looked that great in photos (see my “about” page for evidence). So, as I prepare for this shoot, needless to say I’m somewhat hesitant.

My main concern is concealing my incessant double-chin, which, no matter how little I weigh, always seems to push itself outward in photos, making me look like a modern-day Boss Hogg. In addition, my eyes always seem to disappear in photographs, morphing into black lines that are almost indiscernable from the eyebrows above them. I’ve always been a little vain about my eyes, as I believe they’re better features of mine. And yet, pictures always seem to minimize them. Alas.

Finally, there’s the glasses vs. no-glasses issue: I wear glasses irregularly because I have only slight astigmatism in one eye. When I really want to concentrate or focus intensely, out come the glasses. But if I’m doing everyday tasks, the glasses are nowhere to be found. I suppose that if I want to look “writerly,” I should really wear them, but then, I’d be playing to a stereotype that I’ve worked hard to avoid. (Deep sigh).

I suppose the answer in the end is just to do what the photographer says and hope for the best. I have a lot of confidence in the abilities of this camera-artist, so I guess I’ll just sit back and let her do the work. Expect photos posted here in the next week or so, and wish me luck, good readers…

“Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” our teachers always told us. There is truth in that maxim, and most especially for writers. By looking back at where we’ve been, we have a better idea of where we’re going.

For instance, recently I was digging through some old press clippings from my hometown paper. These clippings heralded my appearance at venues like Florida Authors Day (many, many years ago) and chronicled awards I had won. At the time these pieces were written, I was a young man in my twenties, just poking my nose into the literary world.

But by looking back on them and gaining a sense of my own writing history, I was able to more clearly visualize the road before me as a more mature writer today: Completing my MFA, finishing my next book (this time, it WILL NOT be self-published), and gaining more impressive publication credits from esteemed literary journals are all goals I now possess. I have been better equipped to achieve these objectives by making some wrong turns along the writing path, and I’ve also gained some knowledge and and experience that have prepared me to hone my craft and perfect my unique writing voice.

An occasional walk down memory lane can be just the thing to motivate you as a writer, and perhaps it is indeed necessary to align one’s vision to the road ahead. I have no regrets about the moves I made as a younger man — they’ve been the impetuses that have pushed me toward greater things in the present, and hopefully, the future.