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I absolutely LOVE reading books.
When I pick a book it’s as if I am transported into another reality...a reality of children solving mysteries...a
reality of dragons and hobbits...And when I’m finally through with the book I always feel an immense void inside me
as if some part of me was forever lost. This is how big my love for books
is. Ok, l totally like films because I can visually see what’s happening...but
in books, I don’t only visually see what’s happening with my third eye but I live it.
Therefore since
I was little I wanted to write books to transmit my own imagination...to let people live and experience my world…
I finally took
the big step when I was 10/11 years old when I completed my first short story called Threesome, which is now long lost, although I still remember the story as if I had written
it yesterday. A smile slowly creeps on my face when I remember the time spent
printing it and drawing the pictures for it. Anyway at that stage I never dreamt
of publishing it and maybe that’s why I lost it.
I didn’t take the plunge
again till I was 14/15 years old when I started writing a WW II story called Hard Times. I never finished it because I realised that it wasn’t going
to be a believable story as I don’t know exactly the facts of WW II and I never experienced it. And my primary aim is to make believe the reader that what’s written has truly happened...even though
it might be fantasy. And therefore I had to abandon it.
During my GCSEs, when I was
16, an inkling of an idea was born in my head and I quickly drew the main characters...I started acting the first chapter
and I soon realized that I could be on to something, and therefore I started writing it...and The Opal of the
Sun was born. From
then on, I went on to write its sequel, Britannia: 119 AD. Then during the summer of 2003 another idea...this time not simply fantasy, but also
with a touch of horror, was born...and during September 2003 I finished The Child of Darkness. Also during the summer of 2003 I had another idea for a totally different kind of story, but
it was still in its embryonic stage so I let it be and chose to write The Child of Darkness.
Later during the year 2004 it continued to develop and by June 2004 I was ready to write Josie, a psychological thriller, which I finished in one month and is the shortest book of them all,
with The Child of Darkness being the longest.
When I write I don’t have
the entire plot ready in my mind waiting to be typed down. Au contraire I feel
like a reporter, reporting what I see that instant only. I’m not an omniscient
author. Sometimes my story takes a totally different path from my original plan,
but at the end I’m always pleased with the end product. In my books there
isn’t the hero who is always mighty and can’t be hurt. My characters
are ordinary people, with ordinary problems...they will get hurt...their plans won’t always be a success...they fail...sometimes
they even die…
I’m not influenced by any author in particular although
I do have my list of favourite authors which has evolved as I’ve grown up. When
I was a child my number one author was Enid Blyton especially with her brilliant, Famous Five series. C.S Lewis with his Chronicles of Narnia were my favourites too as were the books of Charles Dickens such a Bleak
House and the gothic novels of Edgar Allen Poe and the like. As I embraced
my teen years Agatha Christie, Nina Bawdin, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Phillip Pullman, dominated
my reading list. As I neared the end of my teens I experimented with Stephen King and other
minor authors which I can’t remember the names of. Although these 8 authors
are my favourite of all times, I read tons of books by several other authors, such as Lois Duncan and Tolkien which I liked
a lot but these 8 have made it to the top of my list. The only person that
has somewhat influenced my writing is the WW I poet, Wilfred Owen with his brilliant war poems.
When I need inspiration I just read his poems such as Apologia Pro Poemate Meo, Dulce et Decorum est, Anthem for Doomed
Youth, and many more.
My favourite
genres are fantasy, horror, thrillers, mysteries and gothic novels. I don't like biographies with the exception of Depraved,
a story about America's first serial killer! I also don't like love romantic books
such as those of Barbara Cartland and the like which are so predictable!
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