The beginning of my journey

Where it all began...

I have always been an avid reader. When I was little my mum used to read a chapter of a story to me each night, I clearly remember getting lost in the words of the stories, letting my imagination fly and I remember a few of the stories with pictures as clear as if I had been watching a movie. While the early books were such classics as "the BFG" and "Fantastic Mr Fox" by Roald Dahl (books which every kid should read), when I began to be able to read the books for myself mum continued to read the more challenging books to me. A few of the books we read together were a little out of my reach for a while and I'm not sure that I really understood the depth behind a lot of what was written, but I learned to form amazing pictures in my mind from the descriptive passages. I think I was about 8 when we tackled Lord of the Rings for the first time.

By the time I was 10 or 11 I was reading everything I could get my hands on, from the Goosebump's series, to Clan of the Cave Bear. It was at about this age that I was given my first Science Fantasy novel to read - a novel that will have a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf for the rest of my life - Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey. I remember finding the first few pages a little slow when I first picked it up but I pushed on and when I began to read about Lessa my mind was whisked away to fantasy worlds that could be anything that you could imagine.

From then on I was a lot more adventurous in my choice of books, and I was lucky enough to have two parents that read extensively, and encouraged my reading every step of the way. In fact I remember knowing as a child that a book was the one thing I could ask for that Mum would never say no to, though I'm sure I almost sent her broke a few times!

For me reading has always been a wonderful escape, no matter what was happening in my life I always looked forward to loosing myself completely in the worlds the authors painted so skilfully on the pages. I don't think its ever something I will tire of, sometimes purely because I am nosy or interested in what is said, sometimes because I like or need a distraction, and sometimes because it gives me comfort to disappear back into a world where I am completely comfortable and the characters feel like old friends.



And now...

About 12 months ago now I decided to write a little story, which has turned into a novel, quite a chunky novel too, which I realised when I attempted to print it and ran out of ink. I have given it to a couple of test readers, one or two of whom are my closest and most trusted friends, and one or two who I don't know as well, and the feedback has been pretty positive so I am going to attempt to have it published as soon as I can figure out what the next step is!

While I am working on getting the first one published, I am also working on writing the second, planning the third and fourth, researching for a completely different series and trying not to get overwhelmed by all the ideas that seem to come floating out of the darkness in the middle of the night and at other completely inopportune moments - I mean, really, who comes up with a really great story idea in the middle of a job interview? And where am I supposed to jot down an idea when I am driving, or walking from the train station to the car? I am almost certain that most people who see me frantically scrabbling for a pen and a scrap of paper to jot down the latest thought, think I am completely insane, but as I have the memory of a goldfish (better than you think but still not great) I really have no other option!

So this blog will be a little about the books I read and the books I love, a little about the writing of my own novels and the creation of my own worlds, and a little completely random information garnered from research in the course of my journey - I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!