My Illumination Fiction Writer's Bio
Staring at the Sky for Inspiration
Hello and welcome to my fiction bio on Illumination. Let me first of all say that this is a truly wonderful initiative, not only for Illumination, but also for Medium. It is a project that I believe will bring ever more readers and writers to this platform. It will bring more synergy, more fusion, more diversity, more serendipity and overall more creative energy, and that can only be a good thing.
When I was a very young child my very first readings were fictional, just like they were for all young learners. I can still recall a series simply called Janet and John (they were apparently based on Alice and Jerry books in the USA).
The books were produced for early learners and were a runaway success. The important thing to note was that Janet and John books combined very simplistic text with beautifully drawn pictures. From that point on I was hooked on that combination as it fired up my young imagination.
From Janet and John I progressed to comics like The Beano and Dandy, etc. And those comics were supplemented by my dad's war comic series Commando with the great storylines and superb illustrations.
From the world of make-believe I moved onto reading newspapers. I read them all, from the rubbish gutter press to the Sunday qualities. This reading was supplemented by books such as Mario Puzo's The Godfather and car and music magazines.
Up until that time I had made no attempts at any creative writing of my own except for a little poetry. The thought of writing any sort of story never, ever entered my tiny little mind.
At the age of twenty eight I finally went to university to study English Literature and Art and Design History, again very interested in that winning combination of words and pictures. And it was only at this time that I began to entertain the idea of writing my own short stories. I was a founding member of the university Literary Society and we proudly wrote and produced material for a monthly publication.
After three years of studying all the greats in fiction I graduated and felt sufficiently fired up to pursue a career in that field. For lots of reasons, like the need to earn a stable salary, it never happened. And so the dream was put on hold. And there it remained until I joined Illumination.
Since joining Illumination I have written several short stories and thoroughly enjoyed the process. I have to say that I was inspired somewhat by Stuart Englander who is an excellent storyteller. I particularly enjoyed Stuart's story 'Going For Broke.'
Up and until that time I had already written one or two stories of my own, but I wasn't entirely sure how my stories would fare. I didn't know of any other fiction writers and therefore had nothing to measure my work by. I felt truly alone in pursuing that activity. Then I happened upon Stuart and the rest is history as they say. Stuart gave me the confidence to continue writing my short stories not only because he is a great story teller, a proper one, but also because now I no longer felt alone.
If there is but one message attached to this initiative for fiction writers, it is that you are not alone. Then again, that is pretty much the message of Illumination in general.
As a writer the first thing I look for is what you might call 'The Big Idea.' Once I have the big idea, everything else more or less falls into place. It is just a case of getting stuck into all the finer detail in terms of the plot, the time and place, the who, the what and the why.
I am particularly drawn to adventure, mystery and suspense, social realism, sci-fi and the supernatural simply because for me it is all low hanging fruit. These are subjects I have spent a great deal of time not only reading, but also watching with film and video and tv, both mainstream and art-house movies. It is all grist to the mill. I have read thousands of books and watched even more thousands of movies. In this way a great deal of material has been pre-programmed into the creative side of my brain and is waiting to be re-jigged and re-cycled.
As you can read in my header, I am looking for lightning in a bottle, both as a reader and as a writer. I want something which can serve as a form of escapism from the harsh realities of life. I want something which entrances me in the pursuit of hope and justice, something we do not always see in real life. I like to think that there is a greater power, call it god or a ghost, an alien or a phantom of my imagination. And those are the entities I try to bring into play in my short stories.
Below you will find a selection of links to some of my work. Please feel free to dip in and hopefully be inspired, if not to write then to overcome whatever difficulties you are presented with in you personal life. Above all, enjoy.
