A wire facial

When I was in my late teens, we'd play football on the field in front of the new elementary school. The softball backstop was in the corner of the field, and we'd use the edge of the backstop (with an imaginary line across the field) as the end zone.

One day, I went out for a pass, and no one hollered as I approached the backstop. I caught the ball with my right hand and immediately went WHAM! up against that wire backstop.

Remember, too, that I was approaching 300 pounds, so I packed a wallop against that wire.

I wound up on my back with the ball in my hand on my chest. Someone helped me up, and told me I had a chicken-wire pattern on the right side of my face. I hit that wire really hard, after all.

But the touchdown counted.

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

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• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

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BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

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(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

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• Wayne Auton: A life in racing