HOW MY POETRY BOOKS CAME ABOUT

I GUESS MY STORY REALLY BEGAN IN 1990 I WAS INJURED IN A TERRIBLE OIL- FIELD ACCIDENT ON A PRODUCTION RIG. I WAS CRUSHED BY A SET OF BLOCKS WHILE WORKING DERRICK ON A RIG. I WAS CRUSHED IN THE AB AREA REALLY BAD.I HAD SEVERAL INTERNAL INJURIES I HAD 5 TEARS ON MY ABDONIAL WALL AND THE FATTY TISSUE PULLED AWAY FROM MY BOWELS. THEY HAD TO DO SURGERY AND REPAIR THE DAMAGE. I WAS OFF WORK FOR 12  WEEKS THEN I WENT BACK TO WORK FOR THE SAME OPERATOR BY THE NAME OF TROY RANSOM.I FORGAVE HIM LONG AGO FOR HURTING ME. I CONTINUED WORKING FOR HIM AND SEVERAL OTHER OPERATORS FROM 1990 UNTIL 1995. THAT'S WHEN THE REAL TROUBLE BEGAN BUT IT WAS ALL GODS DESIGN. WHAT THE DEVIL INTENDED FOR HARM GOD TURNED INTO GOOD.IN 1995 I HAD A VERTIAL HERNIA DEVELOP ON THE SURGERY SITE IT RUPTURED AND WHEN THEY DID SURGERY ON ME AGAIN THEY DISCOVERED I HAD THREE HERNIAS INSTEAD OF ONE. WELL THEY TOOK ME OFF OF WORK FOR 5 YEARS. EVERY TIME THEY REPAIRED A HERNIA ANOTHER ONE WOULD RETURN I WENT THROUGH 4 HERNIA SURGERIES IN THAT SPAN OF 5 YEARS. BUT PRAISE GOD  DURING THAT DISABILITY I DISCOVERED A  LITTLE STORE CANNED FOOD WAREHOUSE WHERE I WAS WALKING THRU ONE DAY AND SEEN AN ADVETISMENT FLYER LOOKING FOR LOCAL POETS TO SUBMIT POETRY TO A LOCAL POETRY PUBLISHER BY THE NAME OF JIM DURIGA WHO OWNED A COMPANY NAMED SENECA- SECOR BOOKS. I CALLED HIM AND SPOKE TO HIM AND SUBMITTED 5 OR SO POEMS. AT THAT TIME I ONLY HAD WRITTEN ABOUT 21 POEMS TOTAL. IT WAS ABOUT A MONTH AND I HEARD NOTHING SO I CALLED JIM BACK AND HE SAID HE HAD LOST MY POETRY AND MY NUMBER AND AS AN FORM OF APOLOGY I RESUBMITTED MORE POETRY. ABOUT A MONTH LATER HE WAS GETTING READY TO PUBLISH THE BOOK SANDSTONE AND STARSHINE AND NEEDED MORE POEMS SO I TURNED ALL I HAD OVER TO HIM A TOTAL OF 21 POEMS. I WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN THE BOOK THAT SUBMITTED CHRISTIAN POETRY. WELL JIM SAID CHRISTIAN POETRY WOULD NEVER SELL BUT I TOLD HIM  YOU DONT KNOW ME AND I SOLD 100 BOOKS FOR 5 DOLLARS APIECE THE FIRST MONTH. NEEDLESS TO SAY HE WAS QUITE IMPRESSED. WELL JIM THEN OFFERED ME THE OPPURTUNITY TO WRITE MY OWN BOOK. I ASKED HIM HOW MANY POEMS DO I NEED TO DO A BOOK AND HE TOLD ME AT LEAST 150 OR MORE. I SAID WELL THEN LET ME PRAY ABOUT IT. I ONLY SHARED MY PRAYER WITH MY WIFE STEPHANIE AND NO ONE ELSE. I ASKED GOD IF I AM TO DO THIS I NEED LOTS OF POEMS AND REAL FAST IN THE FORM OF ONE BIG MIRACLE. ABOUT TWO WEEKS LATER TWO WOMEN IN MY CHURCH CALVARY FULL GOSPEL SPOKE TWO DIFFERENT PROPHECIES OVER ME, AND MIND YOU THEY KNEW NOTHING OF MY PRAYER SO I KNOW IT WAS GOD USING THEM.THE FIRST LADIES NAME WAS PEARL PATTERSON SHE SAID GOD WAS GOING TO DUMP SO MUCH MATERIAL INTO MY MIND THAT I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH POETRY FOR SEVERAL BOOKS. I SAID PRAISE GOD WOW! THEN THE NEXT LADY SPOKE OVER ME HER NAME WAS DONNA JOHNSON AND SHE TOLD ME I WOULDNT BE ABLE TO SLEEP UNLESS I WROTE 5 POEMS A DAY, AND TWO  WEEKS LATER IT BEGAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT I WAS WOKE UP AND STARTED WRITING AND BY NOON THE NEXT DAY I HAD MY FIRST FIVE POEMS WRITTEN FOR THE BOOK. AND FOR THE NEXT 9 MONTHS MY FAMILY THOUGHT I HAD LOST IT BUT I WROTE ENOUGH POEMS FOR MY FIRST BOOK 150 IN TOTAL AND 75 PERCENT OF BOOK TWO. GOD ALSO GAVE ME TITLES FOR BOTH BOOKS. THE FIRST BOOK WAS TITLED THE CHRISTIAN POET-- THE SECOND WHEN FINISHED WAS TITLED " A FISHER OF MEN". THE FIRST WAS PUBLISHED IN 1997--THE SECOND BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN 1999. MY BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP ENDED WITH JIM DURIGA AROUND 2002 0R SO. I CONTINUED WRITING WHILE WORKING AND REALLY STARTED WRITING TOWARDS MY THIRD BOOK AND COMPILING ENOUGH MATERIAL UNTIL 2009.IT TOOK NEARLY 4 YEARS TO FINISH THE  BOOK MY THIRD BUT I COULDNT FIND A PUBLISHER UNTIL I FOUND PUBLISHAMERICA.COM ON THE INTERNET THEY PUBLISHED MY THIRD BOOK WHICH HAS ABOUT 270 POEMS IN IT. IT IS TITLED "IN MY SAVIORS HANDS". IT HAS BEEN QUITE A RIDE AND NOW I AM PREPARING NEW POEMS FOR MY NEXT BOOK NUMBER FOUR NO TITLE AS YET. A LONG STORY BUT I PRAY IT INSPIRED YOU THE READER OF THIS BLOG ALWAYS REMEMBER NEVER LET GO OF YUR DREAMS GIVE THEM TO GOD AND HE WILL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YUR HEART IF YOU SERVE AND FOLLOW HIM.  GOD BLESS UNTIL LATER----ERNIE TRUSSELL