What is "One Story Per Week"?

In high school, I had a reputation as a storyteller and poet.  I wanted to be a writer, but virtually everyone talked me out of it.  Few writers got published.  Fewer still made enough to survive solely on their writing.  Eventually, I put aside that dream and followed another passion - computers and technology.  Today, I'm probably better off.  I own a home and car.  I have health insurance, and a retirement fund.  By most accounts, life is good.

Something is missing, though... the storytelling!  

I miss the joy of an audience connecting with something I've written and seeing them moved to laughter, tears, or a new point of view.

I'm a realist, though.  I'm not ready to make a living at this.

My storytelling skills are rusty.

Even if the skills were solid, there's no audience.  My meager reputation vanished long ago.  If I wrote an incredible story today, would anyone read it, not knowing who I am?  Probably not.

That brings us to One Story Per Week.

First, I need to share someone else's story with you.

In 2006, a man named Jonathan Coulton began a project called "Thing a Week."  Every week, he published an MP3 file of a song he performed.  A few weeks into the project, he uploaded a folksy cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot's song "Baby Got Back". It became a viral sensation. Soon, he gave up his job as a computer programmer to make a living as a musician.

Coulton's Thing a Week project forced him to practice his songwriting, singing, and musicianship. At the same time, it helped him find an audience for his unique brand of "geek rock."  Over ten years later, Coulton's still out there making and selling music.  (It's good stuff, too.)

You've probably figured it out by now.  Coulton inspired me.  This site is my Thing a Week.

Starting on Monday, March 7, 2016, I will begin posting a new story here once a week for a year.

If you read one of my stories, please post a comment.  Tell me whether you liked it or not, and why.