LITERARY ENDEAVORS
In 1978 I undertook my first attempt at writing a novel - Bad Timing. I spent several hours per day, every day of the week, on a portable Olympic electric typewriter, The novel was finished in 1981 and gracefully rejected by publishers. My personal accomplishment overpowered by rejections received.
When moving in 1984, that manuscript was packed and literally lost for thirty-four years. In 2018 that manuscript was rediscovered in an unopened moving box as I began my retirement related downsizing. Reading through the manuscript, I gained a new appreciation for words typed on beautifully textured cotton-bond paper. I also determined that the novel's content had merit but needed to be revisited and edited to correct all the errors I had made in the original; I now understood the reasons for all of the rejections. In a subsequent move from Holladay to Moab, the manuscript was misplaced again. As before, when unpacking moving boxes in 2023, after returning to Holladay from Moab, I found the manuscript once again, read through it once again, and recognized that the story had meaning and merit, but needed refining. That novel, Bad Timing is going through a major edit and rewrite, 2024 - 2025, and I intend to have it published in late-2025.
That novel provided needed confidence in my ability to write. During the same period of writing the novel, 1978 - 1984, I penned numerous articles for local and regional publications to garner by-lines. For the Salt Lake Tribune I wrote travel articles; occasionally garnering the front page in Sunday's Travel Section and gaining recognition for my writing and photography. Utah Holiday Magazine published a number of articles I penned. Expression Magazine provided me my first interview-based article focused on Utah artist; Margret Card. Utah Business asked me to pen a piece on Salt Lake City's economic loss when the proposed Rolling Stones concert at the University of Utah Football Stadium was rejected by our civic leaders. I traveled to the Stone's concert in Boulder in 1981 to gather data related to the acclaimed economic loss and enjoyed a great concert. In December 1993 I had the honor of interviewing Chip Davis, founder of Mannheim Steamroller for The Event Magazine. I believe that was the best work I created during that period. It was published in The Event and in Penthouse. Chip Davis sent me a very complimentary letter of thanks. Most articles published included my photography.
During this same period in time, I began ascending the corporate career ladder. It was not difficult to comprehend which provided a greater return on my investment of time. In the corporate world I enjoyed all the writing experiences one could ask for; press releases, business related articles, company directives, manuals, memorandums, etc., I wrote prolifically as I scaled that ladder, and realized my writing skills were paying off in a much different way than I had previously desired or thought possible, and I did not have to schlep my books.
The outcome of writing and creating management training manuals resulted in the creation of material I relied on in 2014, when I wrote and published my first commercial book, Successful Management 101; The Manager's Manual, available on Amazon. The revised, second edition is scheduled for release in 2025.
I am in the final stages of finishing a book of selected poems and prose, LOVE & HATE, which has a current scheduled release date of August 2025.
Setting aside time to write has changed, and inspiration often takes control when I sit at the keyboard which caused me to note: "I do not summon words, they come for me."
"Inspiration knows not how to tell time.
she comes when she wants....."
- Raymond Cannefax
Medicine Man Revised March 2024
This recounts an actual event in 1973.
NEWS! Revised March 2024
Successful Management 101
Available on Amazon
Second Edition available in late-2024
RIGHT OR WRONG?
LITERATURE
Most of my life I labored at becoming an accomplished writer. Having had no involvement within the literary community and having studied only the required English courses in college, I ventured out on my own, knowing I could overcome obstacles encountered. English is not my first language but is my preferred language.
LOVE & HATE
Select Poems and Prose
2025 Release
LIZARD KING - JIM MORRISON
MARGRET CARD - Interview
(A link to all my literary material on this site.)
Below are examples of the material in PROSE.
Copyright @ 2014 - 2025 Raymond Cannefax
