In Notes From Underground, I get a three-month contract job writing training programs for the unemployed. It's an economic-stimulus-package, trickle-down grant administered by a defense contractor. I have security clearance issues at work, so I stop posting what I write at my web site, The Daily Bulletin (www.thedailybulletin.com). I don't want to get fired for blogging.

Then I get cocky and say what the hell. I post what I write online every day. Nobody notices.

My job ends. I have saved enough money to stay at the house and write a book of poems about driving around Florida, my native state. That grows into a two-part book. The second part is a memoir, like A Moveable Feast, about the writing life. The life of an underground writer, or beat poet. It's about combining writing, work, and family. For nearly four decades.

I celebrate my 38th year as a writer. And 70th birthday.

I attend Gulf Coast Writers Conference and give a presentation on writing as a business and self-publishing as an alternative. Two presentations. I answer questions at the plenary session. I am a subject-matter expert (SME).

In preparation for the conference I write several self-published pamphlets to hand out.