My letter of introduction

My name is Mike Jaynes. I've been interested in writing for a long time - I've always loved reading and when I was a kid, I used to write short stories. Well, tried to at least. However, I never really liked academic writing or English classes in high school. I liked the reading part, but papers were my worst nightmare. Of course I waited until the last minute to do them, which only made matters worse. I studied Computer Science when I started college, but soon realized I hated Calculus more than English. I started getting involved in writing creatively again after I left my first college, and switched to a degree in English & Creative Writing when I went back to school. Short stories, poems, personal essays and of course academic papers - I realized that putting effort into a paper could be rewarding. I graduated with my BFA in English and Creative Writing, the BFA meaning I had to write a book-length work of poetry to graduate. I tell you this not to toot my own horn, but to give you an idea of how much writing I've had to do in my time.

I'm from Texas and have lived there most of my life. I grew up in Houston, went to school in New Orleans for a bit, then finished my degree at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Pronounced Nack-oh-dough-chess. It's taking some getting used to living in a place with actual seasons. I'm working now on my MA from this lovely university, and eventually plan to get a PhD in English or an MFA in Creative Writing. After that, who knows? Maybe I'll make a career out of teaching, or maybe I'll get a book deal and live off my writing. Probably more likely that I'll win the lottery.

My favorite book is The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. It's dense, difficult to follow, and full of allusions to Indian and Islamic culture that are confusing, but I love it. It's such a cool blending of realistic fiction, magical realism, folklore and religion. Plus, Rushdie got a price put on his head by the Ayatollah for it so you know it's gotta be good.

As far as family goes, I've got an older brother and an older sister. My parents are divorced; my pops still lives in Houston with my sister, while my brother and mom live in Las Vegas. Visiting family since they moved out there has been pretty fun. And costly. I have no pets currently - sadly, I had to leave my cat George Washington in Texas. I saw him over break and he's doing great. In my free time, I read and write as well as play video games, watch TV - typical red-blooded American male stuff. I'm a big fan of travelling and road trips, as evidenced by the fact that I drove to Texas and back over break.

My goal for this class is to help you improve your writing, teach you some things that will be useful throughout your college career, and maybe, just maybe, some of you will like writing a little bit more after we're done.