How I got started writing the books

The first story I ever read that made a connection with me was 'Stig of the Dump' by Clive King. About a week after reading the book at school we had to write an essay. I was about seven or eight at the time and once I started to write my story, loosely based on Stig and adventures that I would have with him, I was quite amazed that the story just flowed out of me. I wrote many pages which I certainly had never felt the need to do before. The story was 'okay' and I was thanked by the teacher who was impressed with my imagination and quantity if not with the actual quality, grammar and content.

I was not really motivated to write any more and the feeling was lost, but not forgotten. Over the years at school all my essays were ventures into the wilds of my imagination and most times they did not meet with any great feedback from the teachers who read them. One reason was probably because my writing has never been very easy to read. In fact I won an award at primary school for my most specially difficult to read "spider-scrawl" writing. I was proud of this in an eccentric way.

My hand writing has never improved, actually it has probably become much worse. In fact when I was courting my wife Elizabeth I wrote most every day. It is a remarkable achievement that; one - she was clever enough to decipher my letters; and two- that my letters helped in winning her heart. But then that speaks more about her capacity for love than any innate ability of mine to win her heart. I am so lucky.

I only ever had one other real adventure into writing, when I was in my twenties, and I do remember that the flow of words and my imagination was a joy to me. The story was again long though the content lacked sufficient quality.

With the arrival of our children our lives changed in more ways than I could know. Since the wee ones were born we have always read them books. At times we would sit together and read and talk about stories and that was how Rodger the Badger was first created. Elannah and I were talking about writing a story together and it was about a Badger named Rodger. Elannah supplied the drawings though it was many year later after the arrival of Sam before I actually started to write 'Of Lights in the Night'.

This time I was able to write without putting pen to paper and have people peer squinting at the page to decipher my words. Thank god for computers, now my writing was with keyboards, so much easier to read. My life's journey had arrived at a point where my imagination and my skills on a keyboard with the power of a good word processor, a wonderful wife and family to inspire me and fire our collective imaginations just all came together and it worked.

So my advice is that everyone should remember their dreams and follow them, it may only be a matter of timing until you reach them.

Sean Noonan

Author

'Of Lights in the Night, Friends and Adventure' first of 'The Everlasting and Fantastical Adventures of Elannah and Sam' collection.

http://everlastingfantasticaladventures.blogspot.com/