I didn’t come to writing through classrooms or workshops, but through years spent in the field—on mountainsides, in remote camps, and in places where stories were told because there was nothing else to do but listen.
I worked as a field geologist, traveling across the United States and abroad, often in rugged and isolated environments. Along the way, I learned that the most memorable stories rarely came from official records, but from the people who lived just outside of them.
Much of my writing draws from that world—family history, lived experience, and the kind of stories passed down around campfires rather than written down in books.
Across the Grain of Time and Citizen of the World reflect different parts of that journey—one rooted in generations past, the other shaped by a life spent moving through distant places and unexpected paths.
I write to hold onto stories that might otherwise be lost.
John Rietman 