The hardest writing for any author, I suspect, is writing about themselves. It sure is for me.

While I can write the most personal quirks, the most embarrassing situations and tell the truth for any character in my fiction, writing about myself is, well, uncomfortable.

I’m not one for the spotlight. I like the shadows. I’m most comfortable there. Most writers are.

Writing is my passion and I’m my happiest when I’m pounding out a story. If it’s 3am and I’m still at the keyboard you are right to be scared. Anything can show up on the page at that hour.

Like many writers I am an avid reader. My earliest memories are of Zane Grey westerns. I devoured them like candy. His strong male characters would, no matter their personal flaws, do the right thing when it mattered most. That is what drew me to his books.

I imagine I learned a lot of my own moral code from the characters Zane Grey created.

Like many writers I am also an introvert. Do not allow the protestations of past co-workers convince you otherwise. They see what I want them to see – the social face that allows me to function out in the world. Every writer has one.

It’s how we survive until we make our way back to the safety and security of our writing room.

I am a good writer.

That’s not arrogance speaking. That’s a fact substantiated by the money folks pay me to write. Bad writers don’t get paid.

I didn’t start off a good writer though.

My first novel, written when I was 16, is proof of that. It’s about teenage gangs in high school, about bad choices and worse friends. I wrote it as an assignment for English class. My teacher took pity on me and commended me for its length and ambition with a C Plus. Notice he did not say talent.

The book is horrible. Really. I stumbled across it a few years ago and attempted to read it. By the end of the first page I wanted to vomit. It’s trash.

I accept that.

I started writing young and wrote anything that struck my fancy. Some of it was published, most wasn’t. I wrote letters to the editor, newspaper articles, short stories, poetry, novellas, books, screenplays and short films.

Major newspapers, both print and digital, published me as time went on. Then I edited a national magazine for a firearms advocacy group for two years. That’s where I learned first-hand just how hard we writers make things for our editors.

During my tenure as magazine editor I learned how to edit anything into readable form. Why? I had to meet deadline. That’s a lesson that serves me well to this day.

I’m also a huge horror movie fan. I love vampires (not the ones that sparkle), werewolves and scary guys like Hannibal Lecter.

My interests vary widely as do my forms and genres of writing. I love writing current events commentary. That love has turned into numerous book projects, including a book on the RCMP’s ongoing issues as well as a book on Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. That book, published in early 2017, went on to become a #1 Bestseller on Amazon.

I’ve written a vampire movie, series of two serial killer movies in a series and I’m in the process of turning all three scripts into books. I just finished the first draft of the novel based on the vampire script and so far so good.

When I finish that I’ll turn the two serial killer movies into novels and add the third and final installment to that series. Along the way I’m sure I will write other odd things, too.

Like most writers I have more ideas than I have time to write.

That’s the beauty of the creative mind, isn’t it?