About Justin R. McManus

Justin R. McManus: I started writing when I was in high school. I actually first started writing because I played the guitar a little bit and had ideas of starting my own band in which case we would need our own songs. Well, I never started a band but I continued to write. I was on the quiet side (a little) and never really told anyone about my writing. I kept it a secret from family and friends. Over the years I have filled notebooks and numerous pieces of scrap paper with my thoughts and ideas. A few lines here and few more there. I am now 27 and work as a teacher and thought maybe it is about time that I start to compile my work and try submitting it places to see if anyone else likes it and can enjoy it. Most of the themes that I write about are love, lost love, feeling like you don't fit in, isolation, faith, religion, trying to find out who you are. I feel that most of my themes are universal to many people. I write as a way to try and put my thoughts and feelings down on paper to try and figure out this riddle we call life. There are a number of classic poets that I myself enjoy. Poets such as Poe, Langston Hughes, Wilde, Frost, Dickinson, Thomas. While I am an avid reader I try to write in my own style. I don't try to copy or rewrite what someone else has done. I try to find my own voice and say what I want, the way I want.