A New City: An Introduction

If you've read any of my books, short stories or articles, you might have noticed something about them, realized there is a general theme running through them, a search for something- someone.

People are always searching for something or someone. You'll find it in films, books and in life. Watch the news and at the moment you'll see the US government and their troops looking for Bin Laden or Weapons of Mass Destruction. That's what we humans are all about. We search, but we do not want to find, for once we find, then the search is over, and we are useless. Can you imagine if all those people who grip their versions of the bible actually found God, actually stood before him, and I'm talking before they die? What would be the point in their lives? Who is George Bush if he isn't the guy looking for Osama Bin Laden? Who is Fox Mulder if he isn't the man looking for proof of Alien existence? Who am I, if I'm not the man trying to find the perfect story to write?

Thing is, we see the perfect story to write, the almost genius words laid out on a page, but it's not ours. We walk into a book shop and look through the books, flipping through the fresh pages, smelling the waxy leaves and glance across the first paragraph. It may grip us, it may not. If we find a book that talks to us, finds us on some level and it seems as if each sentence was written for our eyes only, then we start to wish we had written those words. As a writer, you start to question why you didn't spot that perspective on life, why you could have put it that way. I myself , read the beginning of Fahrenheit 451 and kick myself, knowing I'll never write anything as poetic. But I'll try.

I hope you, if you're a writer, you'll keep trying to write that elusive thing called the perfect Novel. I remember writing my first book called Love, Regret and Murder and thinking it would be grabbed and published straight away. I had made every mistake in the HOW NOT TO WRITE... book and when I read it now, I flinch, my eyes close and my face blushes. My next book is better, but not good. It goes on, until now I feel that I'm getting a lot better. Sixteen books later and a lot of years have passed. Some I send of and some I write just for the pure hell of it. I couldn't stop if I tried.

I'm a sociable creature and like to be around people, but I also need my own world. I love that moment of sitting at your desk, your Lap top in front of you, with a new page to write. Yes, it can be daunting too, but only until you get that writing rush and soon you realise that you've been sitting and writing for hours.
There's more chance you haven't read something I've written, unless you know me or have somehow come across my writing in a bizarre way. You may be like me, you may be trying to write that perfect story, whether for Film or television or a book, or you just may be bored. If you're bored, I suggest you write something, anything, because it's a way to grips with who you are. When you see your thoughts poured out in front of you, even if they are masked by the word 'Fiction', you can see yourself reflected, a distorted, but still compelling image of yourself that few would recognise. Your deepest fears and raw hopes sit there in the minds of many characters. It's interesting that SIMS is so popular, especially when you realise that it's about being an author, being in control of those characters, giving them problem and desires and hopes.

Your world may not be want you want, but you can sit and create a new world. I have created many worlds, and a great deal of characters in them. I always want to share my worlds with other people and this makes my writing more of a giving experience. I also write non- fiction, in the form of articles and will put many here for anyone to read and comment on. I hope I do get comments, good or bad.

The City I live in has recently changed, from London to Plymouth, but I will keep writing, trying to finish my latest novel, which I guess could be called a thriller, but it's not really. It's a story about a man and some stuff that happens to him. It's 420 pages long at the moment and growing, becoming something more than I thought it would be. That's what happens sometimes when you write, it grows out of your control and the characters do things that you don't expect. My latest book has a new strand of a story that has flourished and taken over neatly bringing me towards the end. Hopefully it will be finished soon and I can talk about my progress.