THE EARLY YEARS
...THE LONG-WINDED VERSION
I started my life in Pakefield, Suffolk, not that I can remember anything because my parents bought a pub in Norwich and we moved there when I was a baby. I have some great memories of the place, like my foster brother trying to teach me to climb down a drainpipe (and getting stuck). Hey, I was only five!
*I think that's where my fear of heights started.*
It was also there I had my first encounter with the paranormal. Fine, you don't have to believe me, but I grew up with tons of weird stuff. *That's probably, why I'm a bit weird myself?*
But I'm wandering off track.
You would never call me a girly-girl growing up, preferring trousers and jeans to skirts and dresses (which I still prefer today). Don't get me wrong, I loved the ballet, but I loved boyish things more. Like getting dirty, trying to climb trees (and failing), playing football and cricket, those sort of things. Well, I did have five brothers to influence me!
I was a daddy’s girl, discovered my love of music through my father, kept rabbits, attended the Theatre Royal's Saturday drama school, passed my flute exams after realising I had a terrible voice for singing, was goalie for the hockey team (they declared it too risky to place me in a field position), and I was also very accident prone. Which I’m still to this day. And I had my first real kiss at the age of thirteen. Ah, I still remember it.
I also had a passion for reading. I adored books and tried my hand at writing poetry. Sometimes, the Headmaster would read them out at morning assembly, I couldn't do it myself as I had a bad stutter when I was a child. However, it is where I got my first taste for writing. That said, I loved drawing too, so I changed direction and took that path instead.
Then at the age of sixteen, my father died, and all my hopes and dreams of becoming a graphic designer died with him.
And so ended my childhood years.
THE GROWN-UP STAGE
At the age of seventeen, I got my first full-time job as a Window-Dresser. It lasted less than a year because the woman I was taking over from decided to stay. It was also the time I met my now, husband (more later). I flitted from job to job and became a “Jack of all trades, master of none” kind of person, with no clue as to what I wanted to do back then. But enough of the boring stuff.
So, I fell in love with a gorgeous boy I would see walking by my house. Little did I know my next-door neighbour was his cousin, and I divulged my liking for him to her youngest daughter one night. Within minutes of my declaration, she'd disappeared and then reappeared with him trailing behind. And so our romance began (well, for me anyway).
Soon we were engaged, and a couple of years later, married. He got me. The weird crap and mood swings, and he understood my pain because he also lost his father when he was thirteen. I always believed fate brought us together, and I still do to this day.
Okay, a bit cringey … wasn't it?
Life still took me from one job to the next, until I gave birth to our beautiful son. I pulled myself together and took a part-time evening position at a pet-retailer store. There, I acquired certificates in pet nutrition and pet care. Held a (now expired) forklift license. Became a first-aider. Passed my exams in Livestock/Pet shop Management (with distinction and credit). Passed my Amtra exams (with credit). And became a member of the Saddlers List. I also worked my way up and eventually took the position of Manager of my own store, and I lasted there for nearly thirteen years before leaving due to ill health.
Throughout that time, we had many holidays. America, Malaysia, Cuba, Spain, Greece and of course, at home too. Scotland, Ireland, Wales and numerous places in England. I do love travelling!
But during my growing-up years, I never lost my love of reading, and it didn't take long for the writing bug to strike again. Mostly poetry to start with, then ideas from when I was a child began to bloom inside, as well as an increasing need to write them down.
And so, we leave this stage behind.
THE NOW, ME
The past three years, no, actually four, have been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs (yeah, I love rollercoasters). A certain manuscript, which I both love and hate, consumed every part of my life. I'd wake at three in the morning (after another idea had come to me) and hit the notepad or laptop. Most of my ideas come from inside the old noggin', it's a veritable melting pot of weirdness. Brilliant for stories though.
Eventually I put it away, unfinished, and started a new project. Then Christmas 2012, I took part in a short story writing challenge on WordPress. Not my typical way of writing, but damn, was it fun! Christmas came and went, and the arrival of 2013 dawned along with a worm of an idea wriggling around in my brain. I thought; why not write a book where all the chapters are 300 words long? And so I did. Within a month, the book, or novella, was completed.
I love all the characters I created for EIGHT, holding conversations with them (on paper of course). No, I haven’t lost it! It's a method I use to get to know my characters better.
Then I put it down for another month, and in March 2013, I started the process of editing, cutting, rewriting... you get the idea. Don't ever think you'll get it right the first time (okay, maybe you'll be one of those who will), writing the story is the easy part, what comes next is where you really get to write. And write … and rewrite. Okay, I'll shut up.
EIGHT, ventured in to the world in its completed form in May 2013, as an e-book. Then after many mishaps and face-planting moments, the book is now available as a paperback. My first fledgling has finally left the nest.
As to my love and hate relationship with a certain manuscript, well, I'm pleased to say I finished it. Now it has been beta read, and edited by my fabulous editor Nikki Busch, I’m finally beginning the process of formatting it ready for publication.
In the meantime, though, I'm writing the follow up to Eight–The Game Has Begun called Eight–Annihilation.
Well, I think I’ve about covered it. Thanks for stepping into my world for a while; I hope I didn't bore you too much? If I did, I'm sure you'll recover. The scars will heal in time, so don't worry.
*The third person bit. Well, it sounds better that way.
SD still lives in Norwich with her husband, son and his girlfriend, and a psychotic, eating-machine of a cat.