Ben Winegarner

About me

Born a poor Chinese girl in a kitchen of a Mexican restaurant in Austria, I spent most of my childhood years battling my inner self. Even through the encouragement of my parents urging me to capitalize on being a Chinese / Austrian girl, I could not fight off this feeling of being someone or something else. Somehow I did not feel like a Susie Wang! At the age of 15 I took a job shaving sheep at a local farm near my house. I kept at it for little over a year and eventually developed a talent for it. People would travel from all over Austria to watch me shave sheep. However, I question now if they came because of my shearing talents or if it was the short plaid skirt and low cut white blouse I was wearing. I remember befriending a young boy named Gustav Steinheimer, A nice boy, with nice parents. Gustav would always come and visit with me while I was at work and sometimes he would bring a bowl of hot sour kraut to share during my lunch hour. There�s nothing like a hot steaming bowl of sour kraut to settle the stomach on a cold winter�s day. Gustav showed interest in learning how to shear sheep so I decided to give him some lessons. All was great with Gustav and me . . . until the accident. I don�t want to go into too much detail, but I can tell you that little Gustav Steinheimer will never be able to wear a wool sweater again. I started to travel once I turned 18. I learned how to speak and write in English, and that�s when my love for storytelling came to fruition. After traveling the beautiful countryside of Austria, Germany, and certain areas of Denmark, I somehow landed in Bangor, Maine, U.S. By this time the conflict with my inner self became too overwhelming and I finally gave in to what I felt was right. So I took what was left of the settlement I received after the accident and got an operation. Through the magical hands and visions of Dr. VonLossenbutter, I was transformed from Susie Wang, a little Chinese / Austrian girl, into R.O.C. Handwhacker a Caucasian boy. Unfortunately, I learned very quickly how mean society can be and soon changed my name to Ben Winegarner. I slowly made my way across the United States, taking in the beauty of this land, and the wonderful different varieties of cultures that exist here. I ended up in North Orange County where I started my writing career. After several years in North Orange County, I moved to San Bernardino County where I reside today. I now have a wonderful wife, a great son, and I have focused on finishing a piece of storytelling that I do not feel is crap!

My work

I'm a jack of all trades master of none. If I'm not writing, or painting, you'll find me participating is my geek techie stuff. Oh, yeah, I'm also an insurance compliance specialist!