The Dinosaur Chronicles (26 page)

The RichWriters, as we call ourselves, have existed in Richmond, Virginia’s Willow Lawn area now, as I write this, for 516 biweekly meetings.

Good grief, that’s twenty years.

And T. Rex feels old!

For the past twenty years, members like AA, AB, AH, CH, CL, DG, DP, DS, HM, JH, KC, LLB, LR, MP, PKK, RH, RT, RZ, SH, and others have put up with the dinosaur’s writings, good and bad, and offered their sincere suggestions. Good and bad!

I’d like thank each member by name, but some members haven’t been published, and some publish under
noms de plume
. I would, however, like to take a few lines to pay homage to our late published novelist and retired detective, Robert E. Bailey.  His novels, including
Private Heat
,
Dead Bang
and
Dying Embers
are still available in electronic form from a certain popular on-line retailer (wink-wink), and are worthy of a read. Bob’s major gift to me was the concept of adding
trope
to a story. “Trope” can mean many things, but essentially it is the use of simile and metaphor to add color and texture to prose. Without trope, prose just lies there, dead and ordinary. It
does
take some talent to insert trope without making it looked forced. Bob was a glad hand at that.

Bob’s final novel,
Deja Noir
, is currently making the rounds of the publishers. I hope to see it in print soon.

From the Dept. of Shameless Self-Promotion:

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Thank you.