At one time or another, I’ve been a country grocery store clerk, an oil field roustabout, an infantry soldier, a graduate student, a paper-pusher for the government, and out of work, among other things. Along the way, I’ve managed to crank out a host of sports and general interest column, both online and in print, picked up a bachelor’s from LSU, a master’s from Louisiana Tech, both in history, and had academic work published.

My short stories have appeared in such otherwise respectable publications as: Rose and Thorn, New Works Review, Long Story Short, DeadMule, USADEEPSOUTH, Worker’s Write, Muscadine Lines, and Writer’s Resources.

Long Story Short ran an excerpt of my second novel, We Danced to Ray Charles, in a recent issue and named my short story, Willie and the Brain, Story of the Month.

We Dance to Ray Charles was named a semi-finalist (work-in-progress) in a recent Faulkner competition and a finalist in the Santa Fe Writer’s contest.

After receiving a Combat Infantry Badge and Purple Heart in Vietnam, I lived in New York City from 1970-1972, the time and setting for my second novel, A Brief Affair. It’s a love story about, trust, commitment, and the relationship that develops between a wounded, emotionally numb Vietnam vet from the south and the idealistic and very engaged Jewish nursing student he meets at a veteran’s hospital.

At last check, my personal inventory included three kids, two dogs, one wife, and a not-yet-paid-for house in Austin.

• Works by Bill Fullerton on Select Stories

Stories Space profile: storiesspace.com/rumple_dewriter