I have been writing poetry & prose for over twenty-five years, but it has only been since 1993 that I have been actively involved with the poetry scene in Los Angeles.  I write under the pen name: RD Armstrong or Raindog.  I live alone in a place somewhere near the L.B. Harbor and rely heavily on the kindness of the strange and wondrous people who believe in me.

I started the Lummox Press in 1994.  In the beginning it was primarily for self-publishing purposes, but in 1998 I began to publish other writers & poets.  In 1999, under the imprint of The Little Red Book series (or LRB), I began to publish (at least) a book a month by various poets from the alternative small press.  My next project was The Little Red Book Master Series, which kicked off in January, 2000, with the publication of Rick Smith’s The Wren Notebook (Rick is a former participant in the Venice Poetry Workshop -–the grandpa of the current poetry workshop at Beyond Baroque).  This is an occasional “showcase” publication.

The LRB project gives unknown poets, as well as established poets, a chance to be published without going through a vanity press.  Not everyone has the means or access to do this on their own.  I hope to be the best publisher that I never found (not a typo). 

I have also been publishing the Lummox Journal, since late 1995.  It is a small-press digest that examines the creative process involved in the making of art (visual, musical, and oral/written). Until December of 2003 it was published monthly.  Since then it has been published bi-monthly.

Using interviews, essays, poetry & illustrations to explore the obstacles to, as well as, the rewards of that creation, I hope it has contributed to a better understanding of the creative mind.  The Lummox Journal currently prints 150 copies per issue with 90% of each run going to subscribers who live in 41 states and 7 countries world-wide.