Reynold Conger's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"
Greetings from Reynold Conger
Hello: The publication of my book Chased Across Australia prompted me to join goodreads. I feel it is appropriate to start this blog by introducing myself.
I am Reynold Conger, a retired scientist, engineer, consultant and teacher. At this time, I am an unpublished author. While I write for my own entertainment, I would like to get published, both to share my work and to earn a little money.
I grew up in Wisconsin. After earning BS and MS degrees in Chemistry, worked for 30 years in the pulp and paper industry. At the end of my career, I was an international consultant and made calls on every continent except Antarctica. I saw a lot of things and met a lot of different people. While I was consulting, I began carrying a laptop for business purposes. One of the downsides of international consulting is that frequently, I was stuck in locations with little TV I could understand, and few sources of wholesome entertainment. I ran a lot and learned to watch soccer matches with the local language commentary turned down. I also discovered I could write fiction on my laptop as a way to pass the time. Writing became a serious hobby that I now want to turn into a retirement career.
Eventually my wife and I moved to New Mexico for health reasons. Soon after, a bad global economy made my consulting practice unprofitable. With a demand for teachers, I taught high school science and math for 8 years, retiring in the spring of 2009.
My wife and I live on the northern fringe of the Chihuahuan Desert in rural New Mexico. (Note: Contrary to what many assume, New Mexico is a state of the USA and not to be confused with the country of Mexico.) We hike, garden, exercise and spoil our pets. Our two children are grown and have careers of their own.
My life has been enriched by a number of factors. I was a high school athlete who swam and ran. I continue to run. I have run a marathon. I have done some coaching. We have lived in several different part of the United States, and I have worked with different types of people making a variety of grades of paper. I have sung with a symphony orchestra choir. I have a private pilot’s license and flew a light plane for a while.
We are members of an Independent Baptist church. Both my wife and I were saved as teenagers. Through our married life we served in a variety of churches of different denominations as we moved from paper mill town to paper mill town. Currently, I am song leader and a substitute Sunday school teacher. My wife teaches a Sunday school class of young girls. While we are active members of that church, I see our greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God as the way we carry out our lives rather than in the things we do in the church.
I write from a Christian perspective because I have a Christian world view. Would that all the world comes to Christ, but the fact is that only a few people accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Thus when I write, I strive to portray the setting of a story as populated with a variety of characters, some Christian, some simply church members and others agnostic or perhaps antagonistic toward religion. I try to populate the story in proportion to the numbers of people in the setting. Most of the time I do not write stories that are Christian stories per se, but I strive to let my witness come through in the story. Perhaps some non-believer will be touched.
My short story, Grace, won 6th place in the inspirational division of The 2007 Writer’s Digest Short Story Contest.
I am Reynold Conger, a retired scientist, engineer, consultant and teacher. At this time, I am an unpublished author. While I write for my own entertainment, I would like to get published, both to share my work and to earn a little money.
I grew up in Wisconsin. After earning BS and MS degrees in Chemistry, worked for 30 years in the pulp and paper industry. At the end of my career, I was an international consultant and made calls on every continent except Antarctica. I saw a lot of things and met a lot of different people. While I was consulting, I began carrying a laptop for business purposes. One of the downsides of international consulting is that frequently, I was stuck in locations with little TV I could understand, and few sources of wholesome entertainment. I ran a lot and learned to watch soccer matches with the local language commentary turned down. I also discovered I could write fiction on my laptop as a way to pass the time. Writing became a serious hobby that I now want to turn into a retirement career.
Eventually my wife and I moved to New Mexico for health reasons. Soon after, a bad global economy made my consulting practice unprofitable. With a demand for teachers, I taught high school science and math for 8 years, retiring in the spring of 2009.
My wife and I live on the northern fringe of the Chihuahuan Desert in rural New Mexico. (Note: Contrary to what many assume, New Mexico is a state of the USA and not to be confused with the country of Mexico.) We hike, garden, exercise and spoil our pets. Our two children are grown and have careers of their own.
My life has been enriched by a number of factors. I was a high school athlete who swam and ran. I continue to run. I have run a marathon. I have done some coaching. We have lived in several different part of the United States, and I have worked with different types of people making a variety of grades of paper. I have sung with a symphony orchestra choir. I have a private pilot’s license and flew a light plane for a while.
We are members of an Independent Baptist church. Both my wife and I were saved as teenagers. Through our married life we served in a variety of churches of different denominations as we moved from paper mill town to paper mill town. Currently, I am song leader and a substitute Sunday school teacher. My wife teaches a Sunday school class of young girls. While we are active members of that church, I see our greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God as the way we carry out our lives rather than in the things we do in the church.
I write from a Christian perspective because I have a Christian world view. Would that all the world comes to Christ, but the fact is that only a few people accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Thus when I write, I strive to portray the setting of a story as populated with a variety of characters, some Christian, some simply church members and others agnostic or perhaps antagonistic toward religion. I try to populate the story in proportion to the numbers of people in the setting. Most of the time I do not write stories that are Christian stories per se, but I strive to let my witness come through in the story. Perhaps some non-believer will be touched.
My short story, Grace, won 6th place in the inspirational division of The 2007 Writer’s Digest Short Story Contest.
