When I was just a kid and I first picked up a pen and piece of paper to write down a thought that was floating around in my head, little did I notice that for the first time I had wanted to write about something that was not academically required of me. This desire to write naturally was something that was born out of my childhood.

I grew up pretty much having to entertain myself. I was surrounded by Lego blocks and a variety of books that any 7-year-old could read. I totally immersed myself in my imagination. After school, I spent hours making complicated planes, ships and other crazy futuristic vehicles with my Lego blocks.

Afternoons were spent reading. Peter Pan,  The Jungle Book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Don Quixote (the kids’ version), Robinson Crusoe, The Three Musketeers, Sherlock Holmes and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer were just a few of the books I devoured. With each page I was magically transported into another world, a place where I felt safe. Suddenly, dreaming up things became a natural past time for me.

This constant dreaming finally brought me to writing. I guess you can have only so many ghosts, ghouls, fairies, eternally young sleuths and other heroes floating around in your head before you want to get them out of there…on to a piece of paper.

It was this childhood inspiration created by Lego blocks and books that fueled my passion for writing. It started off in a very clumsy, haphazard manner. I started writing about things that I’d see everyday. Maybe something that stood out on the route I took to school every morning. Maybe the kid who sat next to me wore something weird to school that day, and that would give me something to write about. All in all it was very childish how I started, but now looking back, I guess this simple, clear and concise childish perspective is what all adult writers sometimes strive to capture.

So, that’s why I write: I was stimulated by so many things, that these in turn triggered the extreme urge to put into words the things I had seen, felt or imagined. Personally, it’s just great to get things in my head out in the open. I hope that what I write inspires someone else who reads it to put the ghosts in their head…on to a piece of paper.