Look and Listen

Biography

In the beginning, actually the earlier years, Raymond Grant practiced Engineering and Applied Science. As a professional researcher, project manager, and program manager, he wrote numerous technical reports – some as long, if not longer, than contemporary novels. In his spare time, which he had little, because he was a married man with three growing children and a large mortgage; he wrote poetry for his own enjoyment. Now that he’s retired, he writes short stories and poems. He enjoys writing flash fiction, very short stories, because they require careful selection of plot and wording –a process very similar to writing poetry – clarity of meaning and exactness of word choice. For samples of his short stories and poetry, visit http://tri-studio.com/RaymondGrant.html.

Inspiration

As Moderator of the MuseItUpClub’s Flash Fiction Group, Ray Grant dreams up writer’s prompts, suggests publishing venues, and comments on members stories to help improve their techniques and sharpen their stories. Along the way, he creates plots, characters, and unexpected endings for his own stories. Over the course of a year or so, he discovers he has a sufficient number of stories to create a book. Voila! A manuscript is born soon thereafter! Incidents of family and friends, politics, the nightly news, and the movement of the planets spark the creation of his fictional stories. He says, “it’s a challenge to write a compelling, terse story in a couple of hundred words (or fewer) that readers not only enjoy but think about afterwards.”