Origins Story: Where the Writing Began
Like a lot of writers, I can trace the moment the writing bug bit me.
I was a teenager in a mental health retreat. One of the case workers there encouraged me to start writing down how I felt. At first it was just journals—fragments of thoughts, emotions, questions that didn’t have anywhere else to go.
Then I discovered poetry.
Writers like Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and Edgar Allan Poe opened a door I didn’t know existed. Their work showed me that language could carry emotion, darkness, reflection, and rhythm all at once.
My journals slowly transformed into poetry.
Rhyming always came naturally to me. Since I was about fourteen, words seemed to fall into rhythm almost automatically. Poetry became the place where I could process things that didn’t make sense any other way.
Years later, in 2010, life shifted again. I was a stay-at-home dad and began researching self-publishing. That curiosity turned into my first book, Pages Full of Memories. It was the beginning of learning how publishing worked from the inside.
Then came Rodeo Dayz, a collection of stories from my travels on the rodeo circuit in upstate New York, including stories from friends who lived that life with me. It was the first time I explored narrative storytelling beyond poetry.
I even experimented with a pseudonym—Shotgun Bo Rivers—writing Letters from the Grave, imagined letters from famous outlaws to the men who gunned them down.
But poetry remained the core.
That’s where books like Shattered Glass and its sequel Speaking to My Depression came from. Those collections explored pain, mental health, and survival while experimenting with different poetic forms and techniques. I continued that journey in Silence From the Darkness: The Story Goes On.
Later, I began working on my memoir, The Quiet After the Sirens, exploring life, trauma, and the experiences that shaped me.
I also experimented stylistically. Whiskey and the Autumn Wind pushed toward minimalist poetry inspired by the spare prose style of Ernest Hemingway and influenced by the mood of Kenny Chesney’s song Hemingway’s Whiskey. It was also a tribute to my late father, who loved Hemingway’s writing.
Alongside all of this writing, I pursued formal education in craft. From 2020 until July of last year, I attended Southern New Hampshire University, earning my BA in English and Creative Writing with a fiction concentration and a minor in professional writing.
I graduated with the highest Latin honors—Summa Cum Laude—and was inducted into the international English honor society Sigma Tau Delta. For me, that wasn’t just a résumé line. It was proof that discipline, craft, and dedication matter.
During that time my writing expanded into a new direction: espionage and thriller fiction.
I recently completed my first espionage novella, Ghost Asset, and began work on the larger thriller project I’ve been researching since 2012—The Gemini Project. That story will become the centerpiece of my MFA work as I continue my studies in Creative Writing and pursue a certificate in teaching writing online.
Through that MFA program, I’ll produce a full 75,000-plus word novel within the contemporary fiction track, specifically espionage and conspiracy thriller.
Looking back, the path makes sense.
What started as a teenager writing poetry in a notebook to survive difficult moments slowly evolved into books, memoir, experimentation with voice and form, and eventually long-form fiction.
The genres changed. The techniques evolved.
But the reason I started writing never really did.
Writing was the way I learned to turn chaos into language.
And I’m still doing that today.
If you are interested in any of my poetry, you can get a copy of my latest book, Whiskey and the Autumn Wind
Join the March of the Writers
March of the Writers is a month-long celebration of creativity, connection, and storytelling. Each day in March offers a new prompt designed to help writers engage with readers, reflect on their craft, and share their journey.
There are only two rules: be respectful and have fun.
Whether you post daily, weekly, through video, podcast, or blog format—participation is entirely your own. The goal is simple: connect and create.
To view the full list of daily prompts, visit J.D. Estrada’s blog here: March of the Writers 2026
Use the hashtags #MOTW2026, #MOTW, and #MarchOfTheWriters to connect with fellow writers and readers throughout the month.