Hi! I’m Rawge! I’ve always been a storyteller, especially when it comes to the wild twists and turns of my own life. Since I was young, I’ve told my true stories to family and friends and anyone that would listen. Even at my work as a professional wildlife biologist, I’d occasionally find an eager audience when I led nature tours, and we would stop for a break. But later in life, I found my true audience – crowds!
My wife and I used to put on these fun old-time Gospel concerts with raucous music and finger-licking BBQ dinners. During breaks in our music, I’d entertain the crowd with my hilarious tales. I loved telling my precious stories to a few hundred smiling faces! But, as luck would have it, the pandemic hit and wiped out my gig, leaving me with no audience. Still, fate wasn’t done with me yet. Just a few weeks later, I ended up in the hospital for a whole month, and part of it with a tube down my throat!
Through all of that, something hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d been putting off writing a book for years, but the pandemic and coming off that ventilator shook me awake. All those dreams I’d been saving for “someday” suddenly became urgent. I realized I came within a few heartbeats of running out of “somedays.”
So, I’m no longer waiting for “someday.”
Someday is today!
I travel.
I hug.
I say I love you.
I WROTE ANOTHER BOOK!!
Don’t Tell Mom
a Farm Boy Memoir
We all have our shining moments—those times when we made great decisions or acted heroically or graciously. Those are days that make us proud. The stories in this book are not those moments. This collection of true stories captures many of my failings.
I’ve been told that bad decisions make the best stories. That’s true, but even more, bad decisions can produce the deepest self-reflection and the most growth.
I hope that these short chapters will allow you to share in my mistakes and cheer my accomplishments. Follow along as a young boy gets his first bow and arrow well before he’s developed much common sense. Experience how a perfect morning can wash away the emotions and anger of a bad day. Laugh out loud as a couple of foul-mouthed farm kids narrowly dodge a bullet or when a beautiful butterfly nearly proves fatal for a sick boy in bed.
Love, family, humbleness, and just plain silliness are what you’ll find as you turn the pages. Laugh, cry, or just shake your head. But, please, whatever you do…
DON’T TELL MOM!!!
Just Minding My Own Business
A Hybrid Memoir
This collection of short stories will take you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. From laughter to tears to heartfelt “awws,” the stories within will have you feeling it all. The pages are filled with a cast of colorful characters, including a kid jumping off a moving train with a goat, a buxom fortune teller, a midnight lover, and a tree-hugging idealist. Each chapter is a fresh take on life, from making mistakes to finding love, facing challenges, and embracing change. With each turn of the page, you’ll be whisked away on a journey that leaves you thinking long after the ride is over.
Rawge Jones 