I’m fortunate enough to make a living as a writer. Most of it is for legislative and political purposes, which isn’t always fun, but it pays most of the bills and I get to ply my trade.

From time to time, I also author concert reviews for a newspaper and that is not a drag. I derive a great deal of personal fulfillment from writing about music and it’s something that, while I can’t make a full-time living out of it, I enjoy exploring as often as possible. It’s more than just describing music; it’s the art behind it of choosing the right words, setting a mood, telling a story.

That’s writing at it’s best and it’s great reading things by people who also strive for that, which is how “The Beat” came about.

I wanted a place to stretch out, expand upon ideas and discuss things that interest me. But it’s not just about me; it’s about the cool shit other people have going on as well. It could be short fiction or a poem. It could be a review or an essay about whatever. Literally, nothing is out-of-bounds. Except politics. There’s enough shitty political blogs and sites around that we don’t need any more of that cluttering up the internet.

So, welcome to “The Beat.” We’ve got a bitchin’ cadre of excellent writers with a wide range of interests. And it’s free, so there’s no reason not to check it out. It should be pretty cool.