About D.S. Mitchell, Author

I had the good fortune to grow up on Portland, Oregon's iconic S.W. Park Blocks. I was a kid of the '60s--everything from bouffant hair to mini skirts and the Beatles. Many of my stories are reflections on that time of innocence and discovery.   

  I have been telling stories since I was a kid. I am fascinated by how each person adapts language to tell the story of their lives. I hope each of my stories touches my readers in a small way.  Several themes carry throughout my work, whether a short story or full-length novel. Consistent themes include abandonment, survivor's guilt, coming of age, sexual discovery, family relationships, grief, violence, loss of innocence, and lastly, dementia.  

I am listening. Please provide your feedback on what you think of my stories. If you came to the site to read erotic suspense, I have it for you. However, there is a lot more here than just sex. I have posted all chapters of "Chasing the Spider"  ON my www.chasingthespider.com site. The novel is sexually explicit and appropriate for those over 18.  Enjoy!

I like to write short stories. When I get an idea, it is like dealing with an aggravating itch. I can't stop scratching until I get it on paper.  In such cases I'm a "seat of the pants" kind of writer. Usually within an hour to forty-eight hours, these stories have taken shape and are on paper.

 When I'm writing a novel or a piece of extended length, I use an outline, certainly, the most recommended and proven tactic. There is a backstory to the origin of my novel, Chasing the Spider. It follows neither of the previously described methods. It's interesting when a story is ready to be told it will take whatever route necessary.

I lived at the Oregon coast for many years and was a member of a  Cannon Beach writer's group facilitated by well-known Oregon writer, now deceased, Mike Burgess. All of us in the group were writing a book, and like me, wanted to come and talk about those specific interests. Mike however would try to separate our meetings from our projects-often challenging us to come to our next weekly get-together with something away from our regular projects, such as "write the first chapter of a book that will keep readers reading" or "write something scary-- not ghosts or monsters--just real-life scary." Well,  both those two 'assignments' ended up becoming part of my novel, Chasing the Spider. The only point I'm making is that stories come to life in a variety of ways.  In the case of Chasing the Spider, I needed to knit the chapters I'd written for the group together into an intelligent story, certainly different than my usual writing style.