Category Archives: announcement

I recently wrote a story that will be included in an upcoming story collection written by and for the reading pleasure of nudists. It is a story where the main character is naked for most of the story. It is a fantasy adventure collection.

And I have been asked to write a brief biography to accompany my story.

So, here goes…

Michael Beyer – a.k.a. Mickey – I was born during a November blizzard in Iowa during the Eisenhower Administration. I grew up in a small farming community.

My goal in life as a kid was to grow up to be a cowboy, an astronaut, or a comic book artist. Or maybe a clown. But I promised myself I would never be a teacher.

Well, God has a sense of humor. I would begin teaching in 1981 and would keep doing it for 31 years. I was introduced to nudism in the mid 1980s when my girlfriend’s sister lived in a clothing-optional apartment complex which we visited on weekends. But I was a teacher. There was a morals clause in my contract. So, I avoided actually becoming a nudist while I was teaching in Texas. But I got to be a cowboy. It was the school mascot at the school where I taught the longest.

But when I retired, I didn’t exactly get to draw comic books or be a clown. But I got to write funny stories. And draw lots of illustrations. And I joined the AANR SW (American Association for Nude Recreation, Southwest.) Some of my best novels have nudists in them, like Recipes for Gingerbread Children. You can find me on Amazon, and on my blog https://catchafallingstarbook.net/

Well, there it is. The most Mickeyness I can manage.

I am definitely getting older. And tomorrow is not guaranteed.

I have serious health problems, and I live in a land where Republicans and the corporate overlords get to tell us all that if we don’t have enough wealth to forfeit for it, even though they keep raising the prices to make higher profits, then I am welcome to die and make room for someone who works harder for less money.

I generally laugh it off and continue to work harder. I have avoided the expense of insulin, which is very expensive because Big Pharma knows that if my life is threatened I’m likely to pay every cent I own for what will save my life. I walk at least 7,000 steps a day, usually more, and I eat the best food I can manage in small quantities, just like the diabetes experts taught me in 2004, back when I could still afford health care from specialists. I will continue to fight to live and do it without paying all my money to rich Republicans and corporate overlords who are fat and need to walk more and eat better themselves.

I could easily be dead of heart failure or stroke by tomorrow. And I don’t fear death. A quick, surprise end would be better than lingering suffering that drains my family of resources and wealth, the way the Republicans and corporate overlords hope it does. But my 90-year-old aunt in Iowa recently pointed out that both of my parents were in their late eighties before they passed away, and two of my four grandparents lived well into their eighties. My Grandma Beyer lived to 95, and I had two great grandparents that fell short of 100 by two years or less. It is possible I have time to get more done.

I did already complete a career in teaching for 31 years which is my primary claim to a life well-lived. And I was a successful teacher, at least according to the many former students that told me I made a difference to them and they remembered my class fondly… they couldn’t all be lying, could they?

But with my retirement, I invested my time as a storyteller. I have already published 19 novels and two books of essays. My best work was in Snow Babies, Catch a Falling Star, Sing Sad Songs, Recipes for Gingerbread Children, and The Baby Werewolf. And my storytelling has produced some things beyond those 21 books that I hope to finish.

And I do not feel like I haven’t done enough good storytelling in my life. Teachers are professional storytellers after all. So, if I drop dead ten minutes from now, I have not been cheated in that category either.

But I am having trouble with wandering thoughts, diabetic depression, forgetfulness, and arthritic fingers that constantly make me go back and retype things endlessly. I have recently gone whole weeks without working on my various works in progress. And I have only kept my blog-posting string going by reposting old classic posts every now and then.

If I am going to make further progress, it will be slower. I have not given up. But I am slowing down.

I have now posted something on Catch a Falling Star for 600 days in a row. I have done this before, but maybe this time I can push on beyond two straight years of posting every day. Possibly three years? We’ll see. I’ve never done that before.