Who I am

The longer version

I was born in 1967, in Nottingham, to working class parents. Before I started school we had moved house twice from one deprived council estate to a larger council estate. As I grew up as a young boy I was very much encouraged by my parents to “go out and play, and don’t come back until tea time.” The late 1970’s was a very different world for a child than it is today.

Having so much time and energy to burn my friends and I didn’t think twice about roaming the streets and fields around where we lived. We would always be inventing new versions of ‘tag’ and ‘hide and seek’, especially in the ruins of old businesses or houses - they were exciting adventures for young boys with too much imagination and time.

For most of my time at school academic subjects just didn’t work for me (and by that on paper I am not academically bright at all). However, I had just turned 13 when I got my first home computer - a ZX81 with 16k of memory - I was overwhelmed with the possibilities and disheartened at the prospect of not knowing how to make it do any of these things! But I persevered, got frustrated, and angry, and even vowed to “smash it into little pieces” - but I didn’t. By the age of 14 I was writing very simple but addictive games for myself and my sister. I had become heavily invested in something new, something that was mysterious but I had learned how to master, I was going to write a computer program to take over the world and make everything right!

I left school and wanted to pursue my love of computers but the UK economy had crashed, again, and unemployment was very high. I was told by my parents to “get a job, bring some money into the house”, so I did, I landed an apprenticeship at Raleigh Industrials, the bicycle maker. For 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, I made bicycle parts and sometimes I got to fit those parts onto the bike.

I left Raleigh because I was bored and felt like I wasn’t learning anything, except how to make bicycle reflectors and brakes. I needed something exciting, I was nearing my 20th birthday, full of energy, and I wanted to travel.

I didn’t get to travel but I did land my very first job in computing as a data entry clerk in an office where there were so many people who didn’t look, dress, think or act like it me. It was both scary and exciting.

It was about this time in my life I got married.

Fast forward a couple of decades and I found myself working at the local University as an IT team leader, despite the poor pay, I enjoyed my time at the University and have said many times if the salary was better I would go back to work there next week. It was during my time at the University that I got introduced to creative writing for the first time and I remember thinking how great and easy it would be to write a novel, get it published, and be rich and famous like Steven King!

That pipe dream didn’t happen!

During my time at the University, I had a couple of kids, my marriage broke down, and I got divorced.

However, my writing did take off and the more I wrote the easier the ideas came and the faster I got pounding away at the keyboard.

I wrote a novel, the tagline was “The unprovoked murder of a licensed magic-user’s wife exposes a conspiracy that encircles the world.” Essentially it was a murder-mystery novel set in a fantasy world called Draqbel that I built. I planned out several stories set in the world of Draqbel that followed a Witch Finder on their adventures.

I was introduced to The Snowflake writing methodology, which helped me stay focused on what I was writing about.

I also discovered the wonderful genre of Pulp, writing one or two short stories following the Lester Dent methodology - it’s harder than you think to write a full-blown action-orientated story in just 6,000 words.

Eventually, I ended up collaborating with a local photographer to create an exhibition that combined photography (his), writing (Station 13 was my story), and music (someone else) - that was called Dark Visions and during the summer months (I think) we took the exhibition to several galleries across the country.

Fast forward to now, 2024 as I write this, and I have a high-paying role as a senior leader in the animal healthcare industry whilst I enjoy sharing my multi-decade knowledge of IT, people management, and 'getting stuff done' I'm very much emotionally drained after every working day and my social batteries are taking longer to recharge with every passing month.

With my partner, I’ve moved to a village in The National Forest (the countryside) and the sounds of nature now wake me before any man-made alarm. The people are friendly, they stop to talk, help us when needed, and provide us with lots of background information on the village, it is wonderful and lowers my stress levels so much.

So much so that I've decided to 'pick up my virtual pen' once more, as I get my head back into being a creative writer, I realise how much I've missed this, yes I have to use technology in every aspect of being a creative but it's on my terms.

One of my dreams is to give up the high-paying role and have my writing support me, my partner, and our wonderful life in the countryside.

Thank you for reading.

Steve.

Examples of the Pulp artwork and stories I wrote

The world of Draqbel