About Me — David Graham
An interview with me and myself
Disclaimer: all pictures by me unless stated otherwise.
Who are you?
David Graham.
Who is that?
This guy:
But also this guy:
Are they the same person?
I often wonder myself.
What do you write?
A bit of everything. Fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, self-improvement, history, science, psychology, human nature, films, novels, politics, the rights and wrongs of the world, this, that, everything.
What sort of fiction do you write?
Sci-fi and fantasy, thrillers, and stories about the human condition. I also love writing about the future and the potential dilemmas people may face in the years ahead.
What sort of poetry do you write?
Mainly freestyle. I love poetry which takes you on an emotional journey and I find freestyle is the best for that.
What sort of everything else do you write?
The fight to be positive and the benefits of a positive mindset, mental health, health and fitness, especially around how to get great abs and protect your hands and wrists. Lifestyle. I especially love sharing things that offer a new perspective, or a new way of looking at things. I also am a big fan of sharing knowledge that provides context to why the world is as it is, and was as it was. I also love space, science, the universe, humans, and the quest to understand everything. Like I say, I have a curious mind, so share a bit of this, that, and everything. Though on this platform, I mainly share interesting facts, mostly on the subjects of history, science and anthropology. Oh, I also post a list of funny jokes once a month or so. After all, what is life without a reason to laugh?
What are your writing goals?
One, to write something every day, two, to one day have a novel published the traditional way, three, if at all possible, earn enough from writing so that I can continue writing every day. Oh and here’s a random picture to break up the text, see the image in the clouds:
Have you always been a writer?
In my head, yes. In reality, no. I loved writing at a young age but due to issues at school — people for some reason didn’t seem to like me very much. But yeah, as I didn’t finish school and left with so few and poor grades and such poor English writing skills being a writer didn’t really seem an option, and so I focused on what I was good at, numbers and the stock market.
What sort of education do you have?
I have two degrees, one in finance and investment management and the other in English literature and creative writing. In your face all those who say you need good grades to get into university.
You got into university with rubbish grades?
Alas no, I just thought that was a cool line, in truth I went to college and worked really hard to get the grades I needed to get into university.
If you have two degrees, you must either be in a lot of debt or rich?
No, and I wish, when I was doing my first degree, I used my student loan to invest in the stock markets and turned seven grand into fifty. I used that money to pay for my second degree. By the time I had finished that degree, helped by a not-so-cheap holiday to New Orleans and Florida which involved Wrestlemania 30, all that money was gone. So no debt, but alas no riches either.
When did you start writing as a career?
I sort of started back in 2008, I set up an investment blog and talked about the companies that I found interesting, and offered market insights, and shared my research along with all the companies that I invested in. I also contributed to a website called Stockopedia, which at the time was sort of like an early-day style Medium but for the investment world, except you didn’t get paid.
Do you still write about the stock markets?
Funny you should ask; no. I find I like investing in the stock markets and reading about them a lot more than I like talking about them. And in fact I haven’t really written about the stock markets since 2010.
Why did you stop?
Well, it wasn’t because Stockopedia didn’t pay me, I didn’t need them to, I made good money from allowing ads on my personal blog — surprisingly, it was actually a lot easier to make money online as a writer back then.
Little claim to fame here but over the three years I ran my investment blog, I had over half a million views and considering that it was a niche subject (at least at the time), and this was before the Internet was big, I like to think that quite cool.
I didn’t ask you to blow your trumpet, I asked you why you stopped?
My bad, because I got injured. And at the worst possible time, I was just finishing up my finance degree and had job interviews lined up down in London and was pretty much on track to start what looked like a fairly lucrative career in investment banking.
What happened?
To cut a long story short, I tore the scapholunate ligament in my right wrist and it couldn’t be repaired, to rub salt into the wound I had to have some swellings surgically removed. It took me three years to recover. I know, fun times. Oh and here is a picture of the Angel of the North, a weird monument in the north-east of England, which is where I live:
So why did you not get back into investment banking?
It was not due to lack of will that’s for sure. Seems tearing a scapholunate ligament is not a wise idea, and every time I got better and was on track to try to get my career back on track, it flared up again and I ended up back at square one. This has been a repeated pattern since I got injured back in 2008.
It’s tough to do things when your hands are frequently taken out of action isn’t it?
You’ve no idea how much so, but on the plus side you never have to wash the dishes ;-)
Did you not used to be a photographer?
Yes, I worked part-time as a freelance photographer from 2013 to 2019, and within reason I photographed pretty much everything, weddings, events, people, objects, this, that — “this, that” seems to be my favourite phrase of this post. I will see if I can squeeze it in a few more times.
What’s the main thing you’ve learned from your time as a photographer?
One, that a lot of people expect you to work for free — funny how it’s like that in every creative industry — two, that a lot of people out there have most definitely “unique” photographic tastes; and three, that no one wants to see pictures of men, while everyone wants to see pictures of women, and men are sad because no one wants to see pictures of them, while women are sad because everyone wants to see pictures of them. Funny old world.
Can I see any of your photography?
Why yes, thank you for asking, here are a select few images of mine:
All of the above can be purchased as prints along with many more at the link below:
Canvasses and prints available for purchase by David Graham
So I’ll ask again, when did you really decide to take up writing as a career?
After I tore the scapholunate ligament in my left wrist back in 2019. Yep, that happened. A torn scapholunate ligament in both wrists. Don’t ask, long story which involves doctors screwing up and coronavirus.
Anyhow it happened at the worst possible time, just before all the lockdown’s happened meaning it didn’t get diagnosed for over a year. Meaning I lost total use of my hands during 2020, meaning I had pretty much no use of my hands and no access to medical support for most of 2020. Thank you, coronavirus.
So you elected to start your career as a writer, during a period when you couldn’t use your hands?
I know, I’m not the brightest spark at times. But thankfully due to technological innovations, I can write without using my hands — thank you Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
Though if anyone from Dragon is reading this, seriously, grammar and punctuation, come up with a solution for it because it is a nightmare trying to write good grammar and punctuation with your software. (Just getting in my excuse for any poor grammar and punctuation you may come across he he…)
Can you use your hands now?
Sort of, but not for typing or anything like that, that’s for sure, and unless someone comes up with a miracle cure for torn ligaments in the wrist, and the severe RSI-like problems that come with it, it is likely to remain that way.
Is it easy writing using voice dictation software?
Yes, it’s just unbelievably hard editing. I can write a piece in half the time but editing takes about ten times the time. Though if anyone wants any tips for how to improve their work rate, use voice dictation software for the first draft, then edit the normal way.
Is it true you used to be a professional gambler?
Ha ha… Funny you should mention that… Yes and no, I did matched betting and was only sort of a semi–professional sports gambler. I co-set up a photography studio but after an injury flareup which meant I couldn’t work added to the person I set it up with having to leave the area, it collapsed and I ended up with minus twenty-five pounds in the bank, and so obviously I took the genius option of taking up matched betting.
I then made a ton of money over two years, got injured, and then watched it slowly dwindle into the abyss as you know living costs money… Getting injured is so much fun. I highly recommend it, so many good things happen as a result of it…
Are you being sarcastic?
Yes, oh and matched betting is not gambling, it is a form of arbitrage, even still I wouldn’t recommend it — especially these days. Gambling of any sort is bad because it always leads to a desire to do more gambling.
I’m lucky because for some reason my mind just sees numbers and patterns which meant that I was one of the few who made money that way. Even then it took a hell of a lot of effort and nerves of steel, so I would never recommend anyone seeing any form of gambling as a way of making money.
Anything to add to that?
Yes. If you ever come across anyone telling you otherwise, telling you how much money you can make gambling, and that goes for cryptocurrency trading, forex trading, and much more, all of which in truth are forms of gambling, don’t listen to them, they are either an outlier which means you can’t repeat what they are doing, or they are lying to you.
Is this post written in satire?
Yes, and I spent much time self-reflecting on it, here is the proof:
See what I did there ;-)
Do you write much satire?
No, and if you’ve read this post to the end, you know why.
Is there anything else interesting you would like to share?
I have worked as an extra on both TV shows and a Hollywood feature film. Also, for a short while I worked as a commercial model and learned that it just ain’t that much fun. They sort of tell you what you will be doing, you turn up, they sort of tell you what to do, you do it and they take pictures of you, you then leave and pretty much don’t get paid for ages, you also then pretty much never get to see the pictures.
Though being an extra was more fun, and if you’re a fan of George Gently, look out for me in the last ever episode (season eight episode two), I get a great close-up.
Can we see any of your modelling pictures?
Why yes you can, this is me pretending to be a manager for a worksite safety manual:
This is me pretending to be all cool in Ray-Bans:
This is me when I used to have a tan:
This is me lamenting having lost my top:
This is me smiling:
And finally, here is Rio. I used to volunteer my photography services for a local animal fostering charity, Rio was one of the dogs they had in their care. I took a picture of him once. I promise I’m not sharing this just to detract from the vanity of having posted the previous pictures:
Final question, why do you write?
The same reason everyone who writes writes. Because I love writing more than I like making money.
Is there any way I can support you so that you can continue writing?
Yes, read my writing, share my writing, interact with my writing, follow me, follow my social media:
Check out all the other places I write online (you can find all those places by checking out my Linktree), and if you’re feeling especially generous, see the link below, any help would be highly appreciated:
That’s all from me, thanks for reading!
