Dammit!!!

Believe it or not it’s my seventieth birthday today. Now on with the motley!

Once you are truly bitten by the writing bug you just can’t quit. Age is definitely no barrier! I know, I’ve tried on more than one occasion over the past twenty two years. With most things I have done during my lifetime, it didn’t matter what it was; sooner or later I would eventually grow bored and have to change direction yet again.

Therefore at various stages over the years I have thoroughly embraced the following, sometimes singly – often collectively. For instance I love chess, wood carving, carpentry, painting (not the house variety!) and astronomy. Occasionally I used to try to play the chromatic harmonica. Larry Adler I very definitely was not!!

As well as the above, during my lifetime I have been known to delve into boat building, sailing, hiking, cross-country running, cycling – I had a bright red Raleigh 10 speed racing bike, sculpture, photography, hunting, caving and climbing. Even though I say it myself, I did manage to become accomplished at one or two of my activities. Boat building being just one of them.

Yet none held a candle to the satisfaction I still get out of writing, which probably accounts for why I continue to put myself through mental hell for the reader, each time I write a novella or novel.

With each book I feel that I improve. It’s a given that my detractors will disagree. But as its my seventieth birthday, I’ll be magananimous towards the retarded twits, at least until midnight tonight!

I even get a kick out of writing something simple like a blog post. Besides acting as a platform for worldwide Amazon links to my books (click on the ‘About’ Tab above), maintaining this blog on a daily basis has introduced me to so many wonderful people in all four corners of the world.

Unlike all of my previous activities, writing is the one thing that has brought me out of my shell. The only real drawback is that nowadays I can’t simply lose myself in a book anymore. The writer in me ends up editing it while I’m reading, making it anything but a relaxing pastime the way it used to be.

Why do I still do it? Writing is like a recurring disease. Once contracted, your stuck with it whether you like it or not, for the rest of your days. Does it get easier over time? No… Each new story is hard won. If you want to write, one thing you cannot be is a quitter. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m not one of those! Does writing blog posts like this one help my writing skills? Definitely.

At least with one of my interests  – chess, I can take a short break from writing occasionally. If you’ll pardon the pun its time to make a move. Catch you later folks. Enjoy my birthday. I intend to. Hope you enjoy the Larry Adler video as much as I did when I first saw it many years ago…

😉 x