Jim Rambo

I retired as a Deputy Attorney General and prosecutor in Delaware in August, 2005. A month later, my wife Linda and I moved south of the border to Mexico. The weather, low prices and friendly faces had all enticed us. Shortly after our arrival, I joined the local writers’ group that meets bi-weekly to read and evaluate each others’ writing efforts.

The writers’ group inspired me to put pen to paper in a creative way again, a desire that I had lost while writing far too many legal briefs in my earlier professional life. The facts aren’t handed to me now with directions to change them; now I make them up as I go. It’s invigorating in the wake of the legal grind.

A number of my short stories and poems have appeared in English language magazines in Mexico. Last year I was honored to receive a first prize for poetry that had appeared in Ojo del Lago, the largest of the English language magazines in the country. I hadn’t won a writing award since high school so I was “off and running.” The poem, titled “Walking the Plank at the Ajijic Writers’ Group” was also published in Ourecho.com..

Joining the Ourecho community has also been a rewarding experience. It is a warm and welcoming group that inhabits the site: generally warmer than I am. Their kudos are many and their criticisms constructive. Scott Lupo was particularly helpful in the early months and even sent me an award for another of my poems titled “For Bobby”. It was a poem about my efforts to gain the release of a man, whom I represented in 1978, who has been incarcerated in Delaware for thirty years, Robet J. Martin. Martin refused the state’s offer in 1978 of eleven years in jail if he would testify against his co-defendant, the victim’s killer. It remains an ongoing saga.

Finally, I’m working on a novel that is now one-third complete. They say you should write what you know so, obviously, it’s a murder/ mystery with a trial twist that will, hopefully, intrigue the reader. It also includes more than a few anecdotes based on my own thirty plus murder trials on both the defense and prosecution sides, beginning in 1977. I’ve changed the names to protect the guilty! At the same time, I will continue to contribute to Ourecho as I come up from the novel periodically for “fresh air”. I’ll also draw further inspiration from the contributions of the Ourecho community. I welcome contact from each of you because I am anxious to share in the wonders of the creative life.

Story ID:	2008
Written by:	OurEcho Admin (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	In The Spotlight
Location:	Ajijic Mexico
Year:	2007
Person:	Jim Rambo