34 years in the factory

Before I became a writer and established Shire Writing, I was a manager in a large multi-national factory. Being part of the management team, I was responsible for over £20 million of production per year. My life in manufacturing was exciting; I enjoyed the banter with my colleagues and it provided me with a nice buzz. However, it could also be stressful, so when an opportunity to change my life appeared, I grabbed it with both hands and ran like hell.

Freelance writer and author

After exiting those factory gates for the last time I decided to work for myself and set myself up as a freelance writer. I wrote articles, advertising material and stories for magazines and the internet. I was just begininging to enjoy the freedom of working form myself when the bout of indigestion I though I was suffering turned into a heart attack. Thankfully, my second wife, Terry Anne called an ambulance and I lived to write another day.

Writing aricles was okay, but I really wanted to fiction, so after winning a writing competition I decuided to write my first novel. I published my first book in 2009 and have written several other books and have more in the pipeline.

The artist

However, there has always been an artist in me trying to get out. I did a self portrait of myself when I was aged 16 and I was very pleased with the results, (probably because it looked more LIke Elvis Presley than me). I have dabbled in art all my life and set up a personal website back in the late ninties to show of my work. If you are interested you can check it out by clicking here on there, you will also find some paintings done by my wife Terry Anne and some of those are a bit special.

Although I love painting in watercolours, I am restricted for space, so every time I want to do a bit of art work I have to fill jars of water etc. By the time I'm ready to mix a bit of paint the inspiration has evapourated.

Pyrography

Pyrography solved my problem. The machine is small and when I switch it on, it only takes about 2 minutes to warm up. This is really handy if I get stuck on the plot for my latest book, or if I face a bit of writer's block, I simply turn around and start burning some wood.