78This is the part I don't really care for. When you have to introduce yourself and tell a little about your personal life. I always feel like I'm back in fifth grade and the teacher asks me to stand up and say something. You get looks from your classmates like you're a toad with worts, and if you step too close they might catch them. UGH! And yuck! But, I'll give it a go this once, and try not to spew viscous liquid everywhere. Just don't stand too close. OK?
Hi! My name is Roger Decker. I live in a small rural town in Oklahoma. A little burg called Braggs, nestled in the part of the state known as Green Country. It has a population of no more than 400 people. Quaint, ain't it? The type of place if you sneeze loud enough, your next-door neighbor, who lives a quarter of a mile away, yells BLESS YOU. Word travels. I've been here for more than 45 years and can't honestly say I've been to many places better. Yes, it's small. Very. But I like it. People can only get so close and I like the little space I have. And when I say little, 6.04 acres, that's in relative terms. I know many who would say that's a lot. And many more would say that's not enough. But it's OK with me. I've seen every state in the continental United States, and I've seen a lot of 'little places'. I was a truck driver for more than 20 years, so I got around a bit. I've been to a few parts of the country most have never heard of, and I can honestly say I still like home the best. I'm a strange duck I guess. At the age of 18, most young people would want to leave home and not come back. But, I like it here. Most people I've talked to across the country never heard of this small sleepy town I call home. And although that may be the case, it's known almost all over the world. That's the true definition of Irony. Even here.
Camp Gruber, a national army training base has been here for more years than I've been alive. The camp has been a training facility for soldiers who have fought in such places as Afghanistan, and Pakistan. At one time, during Hurricane Katrina, more than 2000 people who were made homeless were put in the camp as refugees. At the highest peak of the damage and relief efforts, there were over 2500 people here. So although many people haven't heard of Braggs, the rest of the world probably has. During WWI and WWII there was an army prisoner of War camp here. Every year, the survivors of those camps come back and have a reunion to celebrate how they were treated. I don't know many other places that can boast such a thing. Many prisoners didn't want to leave when the War was over. It's a very emotional time. How many POWs from Germany could say that?
Green Country is an area surrounded by lakes and rivers. From my front door to the nearest river is only two miles: the ARKANSAS River. The nearest lake, about the same distance: is GREENLEAF Lake. Which, when I think about it, is a good thing, water calms me. Just being near it, or on it, or watching it when the sun goes down, calms me and gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling all over. Maybe it's because I was born in Martinez, California, and lived the first nine years of my life just blocks away from the beach. Either way, I'm blessed. Plus, what I consider the best part, I love to fish and I go as often as I can. (For the last several years I haven't had much opportunity to do it though.) The photo that I chose for my profile was taken on just such an occasion. The one taking the picture is one of the few people in the world who take me as I am, and don't try to read anything into myself than they'd want me to read into them. He's one of only two lifelong friends that I have that I wouldn't change for anything. They're what keep me grounded and sane. If you can call a writer sane.
I'm a simple person who loves being with family and friends, and who is simply trying to make it in this big bad world. I have many things to be thankful for, and only one of them is what I have done for most of my life: Truck Driver; which is how I got to go to every continental state and three provinces of Canada in the first place. It's allowed me to do a lot of things most people only dream about. I've gone to Disney World in Florida! Yay! For someone like me, who thought they would never see it, let alone go in and call home from Future land, (Hey MOM! I'm here!), that's quite an accomplishment. That isn't a simple vacation for me, it's an adventure. I've gone to the Grand Canyon,(definitely didn't want to ride a mule to the bottom, looking at the Big Ditch from the top was enough), and I've seen Mount Rushmore (and I thought my head was big). And I've been lucky enough to go to the farthest part of the Eastern United States. If I have one thing to regret it's not being able to do it now. Through misfortune, fate, or just plain bad luck, my career as an over-the-road driver is over. I've gone through a few back surgeries and my doctors have suggested I never get behind the big wheel again. My body couldn't take the constant jarring and strain of driving for more than a few hours at a time. But the time I was on the road I'll never forget and never mourn. I loved what I did and would gladly do it again if I could.
I have an AA degree from a small college in Muskogee, Oklahoma: Bacone College. And I earned a BA from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in the field of Journalism. I've been writing for many years, and have been published in college papers and magazines, and had the distinct honor of helping to start one of Tahlequah's local papers. It may not sound like a lot, but if I had to trip my own trigger, I'd have to say I've done something most people in this country haven't. And no one can take those things away from me. But through it all, I'm a simple guy, just trying to make it. I want what most guys my age want; love, a little house with a white fence, your normal 3 kids, and a beautiful wife who adores me. In other words, I want the dream. But who doesn't, right? I just have to keep on keeping on to get it.
(Footnote: I did get part of the dream; I got the little woman who loves me and a house with a white fence. No kids; too long in the tooth for that part of it I guess, but I'll take what I can get. Two out of three ain't bad, right?)
I also realized another dream I've had for years. Finally, after so long I have self-published my first novel through Trafford Publishing: TARSUS. It's about a sleepy kingdom that gets a very loud wake-up call from an unlikely visitor, a dragon, brought to them by their very own princess. It's a story that takes you away and makes you wonder about the times of the knights. Oh, and did I tell you about the wizards, Gnomes, Elves, and Dwarfs in the story? Yeah, they're in there too. I'm hoping this is only one of many more to be published. I guess I'll have to do like the rest of you: wait and see.
http://www.slowpokevoyager.com
Plus, I've been accepted by a traditional publisher to have my children's works published. Just another way to get my work in front of people who are interested in the same things I am.
And don't think this is all vanity on my part. I know a lot of people think self-publishing is about being vain. But you could make the same argument about being traditionally published also. One way or the other, that author wouldn't have submitted their work to a publisher if they didn't want people to admire and eventually buy their work. When you come right down to it, any way you can build an audience for your work is a good way, from blogging to author websites to Facebook and Twitter. If you don't believe so, ask yourself why you're writing on such a forum as Hubpages. I have an answer for you, but you may not want to hear it: You want your work to be noticed and/or appreciated by like-minded people. Just as I do.
I guess everybody on Hubpages is vain, huh?
Well, that's about it. Not much for an old crotchety man like me, but it's all me. So, now I'll just sit back down. You probably want to say a few things about yourself. I'll just be here with my head on the desk, trying to get over the humiliation of having everyone stare at me.
Happy reading! Errr . . . Writing.
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