ABOUT ME
"If you make art, people will talk about it. Some of the things they say will be nice, some won’t. You’ll already have made that art, and when they’re talking about the last thing you did, you should already be making the next thing." - Neil Gaiman
Here goes nothing.
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It's that awful sense of dread that everyone feels when a blank 'About Me' page stares ominously and invitingly back at you, daring you to hold a mirror up to yourself and describe who it is you are, and what it is you've achieved. I can only liken it to those drama icebreakers I once played growing up at Drama Club, where you'd have to go round the circle and say three interesting things about you. Sure, the teacher would always reassure you with a 'just start with what it is you had for breakfast'. But as it grew closer and closer to your turn, the cold terror would begin to descend. Am I really that uninteresting?
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I have been a number of things in my life so far. I trained as an actor. I'm also a singer and guitar player. I once toured the world in a Simon and Garfunkel tribute show (playing Simon - I haven't the hair or the high notes for Garfunkel). I've also been an English Teacher for a number of years.
But there's one thing I have been longer than I've been anything else - and that's a storyteller. I've loved hearing and reading stories for as long as I can remember, and as soon as I had the words with which to tell stories, I have been making and telling them. On camping holidays with my cousins, gathered round the embers of an old fire, with my friends in the back garden, and in the school playground. Sometimes, I'd even sit alone and tell them to myself. Any stories will do, but I've always felt myself being pulled towards fantasy stories, science fiction stories, folklore and mythology. My influences are almost too many to list, but I will always hold a special place in my heart for Tolkien, who started the journey off for me with 'The Hobbit'; one of the first stories I ever read.
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For the longest time I've written only for me, in the comfort and safety of my own home. To scratch that creative itch I have in my head that urges me to play god and make a new world. I've decided that now, however, it's high time I start shedding some light on these stories again. This comes, of course, with the looming fear that I will discover what I've been writing isn't nearly as good as I think it is. I think I'm ready for that now. That's why I started with that quote by another of my favourite authors, Neil Gaiman. I'm going to make art, and hope that people talk about it... one way or another!
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On this tiny island website in an enormous sea of internet, you'll find short stories, reviews, and various blog posts about what I'm thinking about. I hope you enjoy what you read - feedback is always welcome (he says... bracing himself)
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Many thanks for stopping by,
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Sam
