Too Poor to Afford a Pencil is a collection of unique, fictionalized short stories, encapsulating the sensitivities of love, heartache, and the triumph of the human heart. Each story explores the unforgettable conditions and challenges that are sometimes repressed in the sentimental journey we call our lives.

"Walk into the Light" is one man's voyage to find himself. "The Red Dress" is a story of a man's love that runs so deep that he is willing to put up with anything, and he does. "The Rainy Day" is about infatuation with a woman he hardly knows, yet he wants more than she can offer. "Hey, Joe" is an epic tale of a young man who forgoes wealth and love only to find the horror of war. In "Listen Deeply," the protagonist encounters hardship throughout her life and finds happiness with her own children. "About Last Night" is a man's travel into the world of lust. Finally, finding the truth and redemption.

The stories that lie dormant in our minds are seldom about the daily joys we experience, but about the hardships that we all endure one day at a time. And yet, on the other side of life, we persevere. And that is who we are for the world to see.

Jack Kerouac wrote, "I've written my stories, now it's time to write yours." Well, I wrote my stories. Perhaps it's your turn.