Boy, howdy! I may not be no ���double-naught��� spy, nor do I have the movie-star looks of any Dash Riprock, but sure as shootin���, I got me one fine mess of a story to tell.

As an adult, the letter ���K��� only represents one word, ���karma.��� When I was a kid, it stood for my absolute favorite breakfast cereal, Kellogg���s Corn Flakes (of Battle Creek, naturally), the official sponsor of THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, my most favorite TV show on the planet. Now, it���s hard for me to look at any part of my adult life without connecting it to my childhood family (the Clampetts). It���s all about our life���s lessons, where we come from and making sense of the two combined. I���ve never been no good at math, but I���ll do my best to add them two together. Just like Jethro, let me do myself some cypherin���...

1+1=2. 2+2=4. 4+4=...4+4=, 4+4 is...well, don���t you pay me no nevermind. Math never amounted to no hill o��� beans anyways. It all adds up to where you are now and how many friends you���ve got���online, I reckon���Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and then some���not to mention how many you can fit in your cement pond.

Seriously, I write this blog now for one reason (my first post as a former-writer): it���s all about storytelling, whether it be in the present or via retrospect. I sincerely believe that if we didn���t have a means to story-tell, to ���get it ALL out,��� we���d all be goners by now. Y���all agree? Well, that���s how I see it. That���s why I started STORIES ABOUT FACING FEAR, a student-led, after-school teen-storytelling program (here in the U.K.). Young-ins here, just like anywhere���s else, got somethin��� to say. Otherwise, if they didn���t, would all end up stone squirrely, just like the rest of us.

Their brains, sometimes, is like one big kettle o��� catfish set on high heat just waitin��� to boil over and explode. Instead of expecting to clean up the mess, I say, ���Let���s talk.��� If only Granny Clampett could have set herself down and chatted with Mrs. Drysdale, rather than takin��� the hickr���y switch to her, they could have been downright neighborly to one other. Don���t ���cha think?

Just like Granny and Margaret Drysdale, under any and all circumstances, communication���s the key. Even if it���s rather one-sided, I aim the get teens to tell their stories, to give them their turn���so they don���t end up taking the switch to nobody, especially themselves.

My STORIES ABOUT FACING FEAR test project begins (at two London secondary schools) in a matter of weeks now. I have high hopes. I aim to pass the possum at the fancy eatin��� table in peace.

I���ll make sure to write again, lettin��� you know how it turned out. Please login once more���

Y���all come back now, ya hear?

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This is syndicated from CLINT ADAMS BOOKS blog.

To learn more about Clint's recently-released occult crime novel for adults, THE SEVENTH RITUAL, his upcoming non-fiction book, STORIES ABOUT FACING FEAR: THE (TEEN) INTERVIEWS and his series of teen novels, please visit his website: Stories About Facing Fear.