Summary

Paul G. Barnett, a seasoned writer known as P.G., introduces himself to the Illumination writing community, sharing his journey as a storyteller, his personal life, and his accomplishments, including his series "The Gifter’s Ring Saga" and his presence on the Medium platform.

Abstract

Paul G. Barnett, who prefers to be called P.G., extends a warm greeting to his fellow writers on the Illumination platform. He humorously reflects on a photograph that adds a few years and pounds to his appearance, taken in Las Colinas, Texas. P.G. modestly discusses his life achievements, emphasizing his successful marriage and fatherhood, rather than his three gold medals in lying from the 1972 Olympics—a tongue-in-cheek nod to his storytelling prowess. He admits to a disinterest in poetry, favoring storytelling since childhood, which he has transformed into a career. P.G. has self-published three novels in "The Gifter’s Ring Saga" and actively engages with the Medium community, where he has garnered recognition as a top writer in several categories. His publication, "Dark Sides of the Truth," shares its name with the magazine featured in his Henry James series, showcasing his meta-fictional approach to writing. Collaborating with his wife, who contributes ideas fueled by wine-induced creativity, P.G. continues to weave tales and develop characters that resonate with his readers. Despite modest financial success, P.G.'s passion for writing remains undiminished, and he embraces his identity as a writer to the core.

Opinions

P.G. values his marriage and family life as his greatest accomplishments.
He views his early tendency to "lie" as a precursor to his storytelling ability.
P.G. is critical of the poetry genre, preferring the narrative form of storytelling.
He finds the feedback loop with his readers on Medium both validating and motivating.
P.G. takes a humorous approach to his physical appearance in an old photograph.
He considers himself more of a storyteller than a classically trained writer.
P.G. expresses pride in his self-publishing efforts and his writing achievements on Medium.
The collaboration with his wife is a significant and enjoyable aspect of his writing process.
Despite not being a financial windfall, writing is an intrinsic part of P.G.'s identity, and he remains committed to his craft.

Paul Barnett Here But You can Actually Call Me P.G.

A Shout Out To New Friends On Illumination

Hello to all you writers on Illumination. It’s me, P.G. Barnett, and this is my humble/not so humble introduction.

I know. Most photographs add about twenty pounds (maybe in my case thirty), so think of this shot of me in front of a fountain in Las Colinas Texas taken three years ago as a memento of pounds gained.

Uh, of fond memories of the past.

Not a whole lot to say about my accomplishments aside from the three gold medals I won in the 1972 Olympics for lying. Oh, and actually being smart enough to marry and stay married to a wonderful woman who brought four simply delightful daughters into this world.

About this writing gig of ours. I wouldn’t say I’m classically trained in writing. Unless you want to count those creative writing courses, I dropped out of because the teachers always wanted me to write poetry.

Hey, I’ve been known to coin a poetic phrase or two. Of course, most of them come across like a dirty limerick. In my head, they just gotta rhyme, or I can’t take the time.

But writing stories, now there’s a horse of a totally different color. I’ve been a storyteller and writer of stories since the tender age of twelve years old. Back then, my parents called it lying. Nowadays, I get paid to drink coffee and make stuff up.

So, not a whole lot has really changed in my way of thinking. At least when I do it now, my pants don’t catch on fire.

Over these last fourteen years, I’ve had the self-aggrandizing and utterly frustrating opportunity to self-publish three novels of a four novel series The Gifter’s Ring Saga. For some reason and I still haven’t figured out why, the fourth manuscript is sitting in a draft folder on my computer gathering cyber dust.

I guess when I discovered this platform three years ago and realized I could really turn it on every day and actually get a little feedback (and make more than my books were making) on what I write, I got hooked.

Haven’t we all.

That said, I’ve managed to wrack up a few accomplishments here. I’m a contributing writer to several publications such as Illumination, Rogues Gallery, Dark Sides of the Truth (which I own), Creative Humans, No Crime In Rhymin, Out of Ideas Out of Time, and others. I’m also listed as a top writer in fiction, short story, satire, and this happened to me.

I don’t know how top writer in this happened to me happened, but it happened. Really.

Speaking of happening, my publication, Dark Sides of the Truth, happens to be the name of the magazine, my character Henry James writes for. Yeah, I thought that was clever.

Okay, maybe not.

Anyway, my storytelling is centered around my Henry James series. In a lot of ways, I’m like Henry. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Most days, even I get confused as to which is which.

I guess that’s called getting “in character.”

What? Okay, I thought it was funny.

Speaking of fun, what’s so much fun about the Henry James series is the introduction of new characters into the stories and getting feedback on how much the reading community likes or dislikes the character.

What’s even more fantastic is that my darling, wonderful, sweet, beautiful wife co-authors a lot of the Henry James stories.

Yeah, she just authored the above sentence, sorry about that folks.

But it’s true. All I have to do is pour two or three glasses of wine (happy juice) for her, and she’s off to the races with ideas about the next Henry James piece. I can’t even count on both hands (if I could actually count that high) the number of pieces she and I have collaborated on.

It’s a beautiful thing to see her eyes light up as she details a comprehensive, almost blow by blow outline of the next adventures for Henry James and Sunny Alexander-Johnson. And wow, does she rattle it off.

Then she sits back, takes a sip of wine, looks me in the eyes, and says, “but you’re the writer, not me. I gave you the story. Now make it happen.”

Yes, dear.

I’ll say this, we make a h*ll of a team.

So there you have it all my brand new friends here on Illumination. I’m a Texas boy/man/child who has been writing for the better part of fifty years. I’ve had very few “over the top” moments with my writing and even fewer financial successes.

But as long as I can get these fingers of mine to stay connected to the thoughts in my heart and my brain, I’m going to write. I may look like a dumpy old coot, some hayseed cowboy, but truth be told, I’m a writer.

Always have been, always will be.

Peace Out,

P.G. Barnett

Thanks So Much For Reading

Let’s keep in touch: [email protected]