Hello. My name is Rod DiGruttolo, and I write stories; some are true, and some are fiction. I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced many things because I wanted to, not because I had to. As a kid, I was a paperboy; as a teenager, I worked at a Service Station and Newspaper. I even spent one summer working on a ranch as a cowboy. As
Hello. My name is Rod DiGruttolo, and I write stories; some are true, and some are fiction. I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced many things because I wanted to, not because I had to. As a kid, I was a paperboy; as a teenager, I worked at a Service Station and Newspaper. I even spent one summer working on a ranch as a cowboy. As an adult, I tried Radio Engineering up north for a while. I was raised in Florida, and the warm weather lured me back to the sunshine, where I followed my father into the auto repair business.
Law Enforcement always called to me. I pursued a secondary career after establishing myself as a premier auto technician. I became an Auxiliary Sheriff’s Deputy here in Sarasota County. After ten years, I sold my business and went to work for a friend in the automobile repair field. I then began dabbling in writing.
I’ve produced many short stories and had seven published. I’ve also published four novels and a short story book exploiting my friends’ adventures and growing up on Florida’s Suncoast. Using the nickname “Skeeter” for myself, in Snakes, Spiders, and Palmetto Bugs, I relate stories of events enjoyed by a group of preteen friends experiencing the joy of living in a growing coastal city in Florida.
My first published novel is Need to Know. A retired Marine Lt. Colonel, Charlie Bascomb, is recruited by a DEA Senior Agent to contact an informant who has infiltrated a Drug Cartel operating out of Miami. Charlie recruits three others to help him set a plan in motion.
The second in the Charlie Bascomb series is Capitol Terror. Bascomb and team come up against an embedded cell of Middle-Eastern terrorists in Washington, D.C.
The Shattered Mirror is a story about a Detective Sergeant from a small town in Georgia who tracks down a professional killer. His adventures take him to Atlanta and other parts of the state. His investigations also lead him into a relationship with a beautiful woman.
Action and Adventure abound in my books. Some situations come from my experiences, while others come from my dangerous mind. I hope you look into my work and like what you read.
To read a softer side of my work, check out www.Tales2Inspire.com.e of my work,
A large part of life is dealing with people. We observe, critique, and emulate the actions of others. Seeing someone in trouble makes us wonder, “How did they get into this mess?” If we help, we feel good about it and about ourselves. If we can’t help, we worry, “Will they get the help they need?” If we don’t help, do we feel disappoint
A large part of life is dealing with people. We observe, critique, and emulate the actions of others. Seeing someone in trouble makes us wonder, “How did they get into this mess?” If we help, we feel good about it and about ourselves. If we can’t help, we worry, “Will they get the help they need?” If we don’t help, do we feel disappointed in ourselves?
I watch people a lot. I see foibles and eccentricities exhibited by individuals almost daily. Often, I see opportunities for a good story. I have hundreds of first pages in my files, many of which offer ideas for tales. The actual persons would never imagine participating in such circumstances, but the writer’s eye does.
Taking twenty or more unrelated incidents and turning them into a gripping tale is the realm of a writer. I invite you to join me and follow my writings.
Anyone who has a dream can appreciate my story, Pappy and the Bandleader. I lived in a time and place where it was possible to help fulfill a desire of a man who meant everything to me, my Grandfather. Read Pappy and the Bandleader in the Sapphire Collection of Tales2Inspire.
I believe in writing groups. Few groups, if any, fulfill the wan
Anyone who has a dream can appreciate my story, Pappy and the Bandleader. I lived in a time and place where it was possible to help fulfill a desire of a man who meant everything to me, my Grandfather. Read Pappy and the Bandleader in the Sapphire Collection of Tales2Inspire.
I believe in writing groups. Few groups, if any, fulfill the wants and needs of every writer. Established authors more often than not prefer to associate with those who have skills better honed and suited to extensive discussions on the craft of writing. Budding authors strive to better their work. Some want to make it saleable or appealing to agents and publishers; others write for themselves and family. It doesn’t matter; writing is writing, and we want it to be succinct and the best it can be. One way of doing that is to work with other authors with credentials and ideas more finely tuned; find a mentor.
Being open to different genres and subjects brings a better understanding of how much work and skill it takes to produce a story, poem, or article. The more you understand, the more you can appreciate developing an idea and begin the writing process.
Groups such as the Florida Writers Association, with whom I belong, strive to bring writers of all experience levels and genres together. Our membership is fluid in that we live and work in a near-resort setting in Sarasota, Florida. Members spend some winter months here and return to northern climes like Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, New York, and many other places in the summer months. Some retreat from the summer heat in mountain resorts, others at the shore, some, like myself, stay put. But one thing we all do is keep on writing.
At our last meeting, the attendance numbered nineteen writers, with two of them being first-time attendees.
We follow a loose agenda. Unless we schedule a speaker or program in advance, we often take off on a tangent addressing a problem or problems one or more attendees face.
The motto of the group is WRITERS HELPING WRITERS, and we do just that. At a recent meeting, one of our writers introduced a new character and had some difficulty making him seem real. The author was female and was unsure how to address some issues in a way a male might. In that instance, approximately twenty writers were in attendance. The inquiring writer received suggestions from nineteen sources, ten of them male.
At most meetings, we set aside time for writers to read portions of their work. The group offers suggestions, asks questions, and gives a review for the writer to ponder. When we have a guest speaker, we usually have the reading session in the meeting’s final half-hour. In better than ninety percent of the time, the presenter, often a publisher, an agent, established writer, or an editor, will stay and give professional critique and offer suggestions for bettering the piece.
Our group is somewhat unique in that many of our members are published authors, poets, and journalists. We have two instructors from local colleges who attend regularly and offer great insight into the work presented for review. We have email and critique groups that do extensive critique and editing for no charge. Almost all the members give their time to help an aspiring author. Some of us provide professional services such as copy editing, content editing, and staging your stories for modest fees.
Look for a group in your area if you need help. Don’t forget the numerous online groups that can help you, but be careful of scam artists.
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