J Matthew Waters

I was born November 13, 1961 in Rock Island, Illinois, and grew up across the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa. In 1984 I graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in English. My first poetry collection, "Five Hundred Pieces," was self-published in 1997. My second collection, "In the Middle of Somewhere," was released as a Kindle edition in 2011. The poems appearing in my third collection, "101 Chances," were chosen from 500 plus poems published on my blog (jdubqca.com) over a 30 month period, concluding with an unreleased piece consisting of four haiku. A resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa since 1993, I'm employed as an executive in the financial services industry. My wife, Norma Jean and me, have been together for over 30 years and have four grown children. You can follow me on Twitter @jdubqca