Barry Widdowson

Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening. Whenever you're reading this, I hope things are well with you.

Don't you just hate talking about yourself? I know some people love it, but I am definitely not one of those people. But let's give it a go shall we.

How the Story Began

School wasn't, shall we say, the happiest of places for me. I was bullied throughout secondary school (verbally not physically) which left me with a great deal of anxiety. However, it also pushed me towards books. I ran from dinosaurs in the lost world. Fought duels with the musketeers. Travelled to Neverland and so many other places. As I got older, my interest expanded to science fiction and fantasy and the characters became some of my best friends.

The Passion Stirs

I'd always been good at writing stories, or at least that's what my teachers, friends and family would tell me and I genuinely enjoyed writing them. Although I initially didn't have the confidence in myself to believe I could go anywhere with it. Still, the Passion had started to kindle and never went out. Sometimes it would be stirred gently. Mostly in the form of poetry but eventually, of course, by stories. But it never blossomed into a full fire. At least not yet.

The Fire Ignites

I'd love to tell you that there was some dramatic, triggering event that started my true writing journey but that just wouldn't be the case. It was like a switch being flipped. Ideas came, although the journey from idea to page wasn't easy and it certainly didn't happen with confidence to begin with. But it happened. I started writing more. More stories. More poems and eventually found a wonderful creative writing class at a local library. Which in turn led to open mic nights and even more writing.

The Story Continues

As with many tales there is more to mine. However, I feel now we need to look to the future. Now im not a fortune teller by any means. I have no idea where my writing will take me but, I do have hopes for it. I hope that I can inspire people. That my stories can plant the seed of ideas in people and from those seeds, I hope will grow not only new and amazing tales and poetry, but a sense of belief in themselves that they wouldn't normally possess. Also, I hope that my stories will provide, however briefly, an escape from the ordinary, day to day world that we all need sometimes.