I'm retired and home is Orlando, Florida. I started writing a number of years ago just before the internet came into our lives. I was very serious about developing my writing skills. Even though I ...view moreI'm retired and home is Orlando, Florida. I started writing a number of years ago just before the internet came into our lives. I was very serious about developing my writing skills. Even though I was writing mainly for my own pleasure and satisfaction, not as means of making a living. After a few feeble attempts at getting published, I soon lost interest. A recent gift was an ebook reader which I've enjoyed immensely. This got me thinking about the stories and poetry I wrote years ago. Reading my old stuff, I felt that that mine compared favorably. So, I decided to try publishing in ebooks and see if any readers are interested. I intend to submit a book of my short stories and a book of poetry. Over the years I've had a number of interests in addition to writing. I became interested in gems and minerals after some family members retired and moved to Franklin, North Carolina. During visits there I became aware of the gem mining in that area. My interest in North Carolina history developed while working on my family's genealogy. I discovered that my ancestors arrived in North Carolina from Scotland in the late 1700's. More recently I've done nature photography, some of which I smugly call "Art Photography". (Maybe, maybe not!)view less