Today is my birthday and I'm 42 years old. I got a card from daughter saying happy birthday "stupid punk" and one of a dinosaur on the front from my son. Sums it up really.
I have been writing from a very early age, I can remember writing cowboy stories when I was very young. I once wrote about a rape in one of my stories and I remember my dad going mental when he read it. Aged 8 or 9 I didn't understand the the exact meaning, but he never bothered to explain it to me - he ripped up the story and gave me a good hiding. I can't remember it putting me off, but I never persued writing as a career. I also learned to read at an early age. Treasure Island was the first book I ever read - and I read that with my dad, so there was some positive aspects of our relationship. After bumming about in bands I got into journalism, which seemed a happy compromise, but it took all my energy as I worked really hard and reached almost the top - or as far as I wanted to go. I remember when I met my wife 20 years ago I said I wanted to be a writer, and I feel that everything I have done is to get me to this stage. That's why I find writing so easy - of course it's hard work and intense, but I enjoy it and it doesn't seem like work. My journalism training has helped because I am a disciplined writer but I love the fact that I have creative freedom. I have written lots of poetry in the past, mainly because that's all I had time for and I enjoy the internal tension of the two disciplines struggling to get themselves heard in my writing.
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