“When a book, any sort of book, reaches a certain intensity of artistic performance it becomes literature. That intensity may be a matter of style, situation, character, emotional tone, or idea, or half a dozen other things. It may also be a perfection of control over the movement of a story similar to the control a great pitcher has over a ball.”

—Raymond Chandler

In As you Like It, William Shakespeare wrote:

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

I suspect that deep in their hearts writers actually believe this, or at least wish it were so. That’s why they spend their lives creating new and fascinating versions of the world, or different worlds entirely.

My literary journey is the journey of countless others for whom the written word is a doorway to entertainment, esthetic enrichment and intellectual enlightenment. The goal of every writer is to create the best literature he or she is capable of producing, no matter its inspiration.

In addition to webpages on myself and my work, I offer “A Concise Guide to Writing Fiction” and “A Concise Guide to Writing Poetry”, essays that represent my basic philosophy on writing in both forms. With almost sixty short stories and poems having been accepted by a variety of publications (and the writing of countless others), I sincerely hope my experience and training can offer some insights into the literary arts.

Lawrence Buentello