Doug Bowie

Doug Bowie is a lifelong Maine resident, now on 'extended sabbatical' in Puerto Rico. Technically he moved there over 4 years ago, but has not officially relinquished his Pine Tree State membership card, though he does go through 'extra screening' now at the local lobster roll shop before being served upon his visits back to New England. His current residence is a hilltop house in Western PR, with nearly 360 degrees of panoramic beauty, including a distance view of the ocean and Desecheo island. This 2 1/2 acre paradise contains a small Airbnb rental oasis that he is co-host of with the wildly talented visual artist/healer/Shaman Hildi, and is accurately billed as 'Inn Paradise,' featuring both beautiful sunrises and sunsets, a wide variety of fruit trees, tropical flowers, and a rotating cast of about 40 species of birds, not including the time-challenged roosters and turkeys that roam the hilltop freely oblivious to the natural order of the 24 hour day. When not tending to guests or the jungle-bordered property, or languishing in the outdoor shower, he can, at least occasionally, be found writing on the back deck under the shade of the mango and avocado trees. More often than not he is seen scratching his head vigorously, trying to coax out the numerous pages he has 'written' in there, composed while mowing the lawn or pruning trees. He affectionately refers to this as 'Zen mandala mowing creativity,' as it may allow him to write profusely in his brain but he must be at peace with the fact it may also disappear just as easily once the tools have been put away. When those words actually are retained and can be extracted onto a page, they sometimes make their way onto his Facebook writer's page, "The Sherpa Writes" or onto his blog "How I Left the Mainland and Found Myself as El Gran Chucho."

His photos and words appear on the usual social media suspects; Instagram and Twitter, his poems in the Kubili Cafe poetry society, and, hopefully, in the upcoming completion of two books he is currently working on. His muse is fickle and a bit demanding, with a poor sense of humor, and insists on a lengthy courtship before actually committing to him so it's all a 'work in progress.' Despite having no formal training, and often working without a safety net, he somehow has lucked into being included in the company of a wonderfully talented group of writers in the anthology "Breathing Words: A Year of Writing Together" now available on Amazon. He previously co-produced and published a monthly magazine in New England called Seacoast Living and has a smattering of poetry and essays published in various online 'magazines/sites' and the 'never-to-be-admitted-in-public' frequent chalkboard restaurant/bar bathroom wall. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and his blog, but preferably not in public, as that still makes him nervous. Please keep to your side of the beach, gracias. Buen Provecho'!