nt Hi, I'm Stroke, formerly Diviner. I just decided to revamp everything I had on this site. I deleted everything that was posted, and now I'm starting fresh. Everything up here, I've written within the past year. Whether they show any progression, I can't say. I'd like to think they do. My AIM sn is up on the page, so if you're a dedicated reader and you want to talk, hit me up. I'd like to hear from you. It
beats homework.

I'm not of the opinion that we should reveal too much of ourselves in an effort make readers like us. I don't expect anyone to like my writing because they like me, nor should you like me for the sake of my writing. Nevertheless, if you can start to understand the artist, then you can get a better hold on the world he's grasping at. I'm 19, I'm a sophomore at the University of Dallas, which is not a community college, but a very small, very difficult Catholic liberal arts university. I am Catholic myself, but I don't think it tends to figure much in my writing. I have a lot of trouble reconciling my writing with my personal life, so I don't write about things that are happening to me. Hemingway said the best place to write about Paris was Michigan, and vice versa. Writing, to me, is fun, but terribly difficult. I have enough trouble just sitting down to do it without trying to figure out what to put. Blank pages are the worst place to begin, nevertheless, we have no other choice. Besides, there's something beautiful, not just in the creative aspect of writing, but in the fact that it takes a thousand different things that are sludge in your brain and turns it in to people, and where they are, and what happens to them. Books are a great place to meet people. They come in, they stay with you and inhabit your life, and when it's time for them to go, they go. But if you ever get lonely or depressed, they're waiting right there with something they want to tell you, and sometimes it's just the right thing. It's beautiful.

I can take constructive criticism, in fact I consider it the bread and butter of writing, and I don't care if you flame me. If you're full of crap, I'll just delete the review and it won't matter. If you aren't, I will accept your review joyously. If you want to correspond concerning my writing, or if you have any suggestions beyond what you would write in a review box, email me. I'll probably respond.

I don't add lightly to my favorite writers. It's more fun to look through the piles of stories yourself and find a gem than to have it recommended anyway. I won't add you just because you review me, but if I like your stuff, I might. Who knows?

Looking ever forward to our next meeting

Stroke