• Replies 11 replies
  • Subscribers 94 subscribers
  • Views 457 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Introducing Myself

Tom444

Hello, everyone!

My name is Tom and I live in Washington, USA. I hold a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Washington and, throughout my career, I owned and operated a custom-design fine jewelry business specializing in rare and exotic gems.

My interests include composing and recording songs, writing short stories, flash fiction, and poetry, as well as hiking, nature photography, and panning for gold.  I also like to read books dealing with historical subjects, both non-fiction and fiction.

On a more personal note, I'm married and self-identify as Autistic. At this stage in my life, I see little value in going through the hassle and potential expense of seeking a formal diagnosis.

Since I tend to be quite verbose, I’ll pause here and say that I look forward to reading your posts in the forums.

Parents

  • Hi Tom and welcome to the forum. 

    I am also married and self identify as autistic, and I recently retired in my early sixties. You talked about your career - which sounded interesting - in the past tense, so I guess you are retired now too?

    I also enjoy reading, although I don't know what flash fiction is? Is it an American thing? I like a lot of genres and I occasionally read historical fiction - it's interesting to get an idea of what it was like living in a certain period.

    My two favourite historical novels are by Ben Elton - "The first casualty" is set in WW1 and explores the idea that the first casualty of war is truth. "Two brothers" starts in 1920 Berlin and continues through WW2 - it tells the story of two boys, one born to a Jewish couple and the other a non Jewish baby born the same night (whose mother died) and adopted into their family as his "twin". They are both very gritty stories, but extremely well written.

Reply

  • Hi Tom and welcome to the forum. 

    I am also married and self identify as autistic, and I recently retired in my early sixties. You talked about your career - which sounded interesting - in the past tense, so I guess you are retired now too?

    I also enjoy reading, although I don't know what flash fiction is? Is it an American thing? I like a lot of genres and I occasionally read historical fiction - it's interesting to get an idea of what it was like living in a certain period.

    My two favourite historical novels are by Ben Elton - "The first casualty" is set in WW1 and explores the idea that the first casualty of war is truth. "Two brothers" starts in 1920 Berlin and continues through WW2 - it tells the story of two boys, one born to a Jewish couple and the other a non Jewish baby born the same night (whose mother died) and adopted into their family as his "twin". They are both very gritty stories, but extremely well written.

Children
  • in reply to Pixiefox

    Hi Pixiefox! Thanks for the welcome.

    Yes, I'm retired. After 20 years it was time for a change.

    I don't think flash fiction is particularly an American thing. The one writing group I was in that concentrated on flash fiction was run by a fellow in Great Britain. The genre is also known as sudden fiction or short-short stories. There is no set word limit for it, but it usually runs from just a handful of words to not more than 1,000. It's fun but also challenging to fit a complete story into such a short format.

    One of the history books I enjoyed a short while ago was Hidden History: The Secret Origins of the First World War, by Gerry Docherty and Jim Macgregor. The authors present evidence that the war had its origins some ten years prior to the event most people have been taught was the trigger and the perpetrators behind the war are not those we were told. Altogether, it's a fascinating and well written account full of food for thought.