a little about... David Ackley

David contributed the story "In the Woods," which previously appeared in LitSnack.


What inspired your story?
Thanks for the opportunity to write further about the story's genesis:

"In the Woods," is taken from an actual incident, much as described in the story. Nothing really happened as nothing actually happens in the story, which is entirely founded on observation, and assumption with no way of knowing whether what is assumed--that is that a child is about to be assaulted--is true or not. Yet both characters feel that it is so, and can not--or fail to--act on the assumption. The story means to ask questions which lead to difficult places, both for the characters, and, I hope, for the reader, having to do with the nature of evil, how it manifests itself, and what we are supposed to do about it.

What makes this cause important to you?
The cause is important because abuse of children is truly evil. And ubiquitous. Nearly every one I know suffered some kind of molestation or abuse as a child. I'd like to try to contribute to the protection of children from this pandemic in hopes of at least easing the threat against those who come after us.

Tell us a bit about yourself and where to find more of your writing.

I've been fortunate to be able to live the better part of my adult life with my family( my wife, Ann, and our daughter, Reid, and son, Dake) in our home in a beautiful little mountain town in northern New Hampshire. I came here orginally to teach Writing and Literature in an alternative college which folded after eight years. I had an MFA in fiction from UNC-G and though it sounds odd to say so, that and my writing background has served me pretty well through various subsequent jobs/careers in the social services and education, including starting and growing an offcampus center for the University Of Maine System in western Maine, which I ran for 17 years. Now I write fiction and poetry and teach creative writing part-time for a local community college. Recent work has appeared in Prick of the Spindle,THIS, A-Minor and Litsnack. And, because I'm fairly lazy about sending pieces out, many things I've written lounge about at Fictionaut.com One piece was nominated for the Story South Million Writers Awards and another has been recently nominated for The Best of The Net. Given that earning a living has taken up a lot of my time heretofore, having the time to write is all I care about, and as Ray Carver said, "the rest is gravy, sheer gravy."