My writings show my upbringing. The small town I grew up near in Missouri was depression-locked by little money. My ancestors cursed their lives away in that culture, scratching for low paying jobs or hustling for a business to go into. My mother went with her boyfriend through it, until a judge convinced my birth-father to marry her or go back to prison. My kin struggled through it all by plowing, truck driving, waitressing, hamburger stands.... My father hustled the town with big ideas of night clubs and highway liquor stores to feed the family, and each one cycled out since he never clearly planned a way out. It has always left a taste of passion, somehow, and I have forever slept in it, with the rest of my people. But ever since, I have searched for rhyme and reason to then and now. So I turned to writing to fill the inborn void. I had to have answers for the younger ones coming along behind could catch a break when they go out into the world.