My father was my inspiration. My earliest memories are of my father tapping away at his old black manual typewriter. He was a poet and wrote prolifically for most of his life alongside his work and his hobby birdwatching. I loved reading and read anything I could find in the house. Once I'd exhausted my own children's bookshelf I progressed to raiding my parents bookshelf. I loved writing stories at school and wrote some poetry in my teens and continued to write poems as the urge arose through out my life but my dream had always been to write a novel. Finally now in retirement the opportunity arose to focus on writing initially in an adhoc way, but from lockdown it became my escape from the world as I wrote and lost myself in my world and my characters as The Invitation was born.
I try to write even just for a few minutes every day. If I can’t write my main project then trying something completely different can help. A random prompt for example to try and get past the blockage.
I read all reviews. Both good and bad will help me develop as a writer. The good ones tell me what’s going well. The bad ones either help me to improve or perhaps they are from readers trying a different genre and it wasn’t for them. It’s helps me to consider genre more carefully for the future. There’s always a positive way forward.
