~Writer ~ Author ~ Creator ~
~ World-Builder ~

I joke that I was born with a Library Card in my hand, but it's not that far off. Storytelling has been probably my favourite thing since I was born - it's something that's fascinated me, supported me, cradled me, healed me, soothed me, and also frightened the ever-living crap out of me (thank you Mr Stephen King, for writing the awesome & awesomely terrifying IT!!),

I've been read to since I was pretty much born, and I've been "reading" since I could make up words to go with the pictures in story books! I was reading the Enid Blyton Boarding School books to myself when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Then I upgraded to Agatha Christie's Poirot by the time I was maybe 10, reading them to my little sister (5 years my junior) with the accents and everything from the brilliant ITV 's David Suchet TV Show.

A Patricia Cornwell gem found in the book stall section of the Harvest Fayre held in my former primary school, the October after I left, started me on an entirely new — yet similar — reading trajectory. I came across Body of Evidence when I was 11 and was fascinated by it. Incidentally, a double-book of The Scarlet Pimpernel & Around The World In Eighty Days at the same time. It was a good day for books there.

The first time I tried I read Body of Evidence, I didn't understand it - so I kept it safe and came back to it when I was 13, getting already bored with Point Horror, Point Crime, and Sweet Valley High Books I was downing in. Once I read that book This Time, though, I was hooked -- and Forensic Science would forevermore hold a First-Class Place of Importance inside my head. It still is, almost the most prominent "Special Interest" in my little Autistic head. All because of that one book I bought on a whim...

I was 12 years old when I first read Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Since then, I am comfortably into Double-Digits as to how many times I have read it. In comparison, I may have seen the movie three times at the most - well-made, perhaps, but bares Zero Comparison to the gorgeously incredible Novel Itself.

I've been a Big Michael Crichton Fan since then. His strangely under-appreciated novel Airframe is my absolute all-time favourite -- even beyond Jurassic Park; it's the catalyst for my Air Crash Investigation (A TV show aka Mayday) gleeful obsession. The forensic science & engineering expertise, knowledge and genius that goes into undertaking genuine AAIB/NTSB etc Air Crash Investigations is beyond fascinating and uses all of my favourite things at once -- Science, Engineering, Computers, Data Analysis, Forensics, Puzzle-Solving, Problem Solving, Investigating & Data Collation.

I have been collecting books since I was a small child; continued to do so until my bookshelves were so full I could literally house no more... But Then The Kindle Came Along, and I managed to build a New Collection online. Apart from a few Important Books and my Patricia Cornwell set, I do not own actually that many books anymore; instead, they're all on varying eBooks platforms, with the Majority on Kindle.

Stories have been my Salvation, my friend, my constant, throughout my life. They've been through so many guises, too -- Books, Movies, TV Shows, Audiobooks, Musicals (Disney Movies included here). Even Games. The stories told fuel my very soul and keep me sane and happy.

Because Storytelling has been such a prolific part of my Life, Existence and Identity, Writing has always quite naturally been instilled in me, also. Any kind of writing - for storytelling doesn't only live in Fiction. It's also Blogging, writing Essays or Reports, Blurb for YouTube Videos, or eBay Products. It's in Songwriting and even Writing & Making Music. It's everywhere, in everything, and I love it.

Unfortunately, Unforeseen Circumstances changed it all.

FND [Functional Neurological Disorder]  Fibromyalgia,
Autistic Burnout & Sensory Overload

All Came to FRAZZLE & DIMINISH my ability to mange
Reading, Writing & Disconnecting to The Worlds That Stories Bring

My Conditions have taken all of this away from me, to a greater extent. I am unable to focus, concentrate, remember... and worse of all, find it almost impossible to Disconnect from Reality to enter their own unique worlds that open up to me.

This isn't just One Type of Storytelling -- it's ALL Of Them. No Music, No Movies, No TV Shows, No Books. No Audiobooks. No Writing. Not Even Games.

It's been... Heartbreaking. Gut-Wrenching. Like I got grounded and I can no longer play with any of my "Friends" anymore. Because ofter all these years of "playing together", that's what they feel like - my friends.

There has been Some progress with this of late, at least. I can spend a little bit of time adding to books I've written, or to Blogs. I can play some of Mass Effect or Dragon Age Inquisition. I can play some Build Mode and of "Live Play" Mode of SIMS 4.

Unfortunately, it's erratic, it's not every day or even every other day, sometimes. But... It's Not Complete Radio Silence.

It's also meant I've been able to finally return to my own creations -- for ill or for good, they are mine, and I like writing them. Or re-writing them, when I find there are better ways of writing what has already been written.