Same old me, just here in the new place. Here’s a mini bio.
I’ve been writing ever since I learned how, and storytelling even before then. In a previous existence I would have probably been a wandering storyteller, earning my bed and board by spinning tales and knowing when to move on.
Like a lot of writers I started reading before I started school, and read anything I could find. Words have always fascinated me.
I bought my first typewriter when I was fourteen, and had my first encounter with a word processor in the earlyish 80s. Wasn’t too impressed initially, but the damned things grew on me. But despite having learned how to repair them, up to a point, they’re still essentially a typewriter with a memory. It’s an extension to your own brain, not a replacement.
Since then I’ve had a few regular columns in magazines, sold more than a few short stories, written several novels and had one published back when I still hammered stuff out on a Brother typewriter and submitted it on paper.
I 've taught creative writing - part time - for a few years, which was something of a crash course in how to handle all kinds of people and their associated dramas and hangups. If the tutor doesn’t learn as much from his students as vice versa then he probably shouldn’t really be there.
Now I’m ‘that old guy who knows a bit about writing, knows there are no ‘magic bullets’ or shortcuts, and that the apprenticeship is lifelong and still remains fascinating.’