Like many others, I didn't start out as a writer - though it was
always my childhood dream.
I grew up, and pushed the idea away as silly, continuing to search for a 'real' career. At least, that is, after bumming around for a while travelling across Europe (sleeping on beaches, hitching rides, you get the picture), with a bit of nannying and au-pairing thrown in to keep me fed.
I had my son in 1992 and once he was at school in '96, I went on to do my degree as a 'mature' student - a BA Honours in Applied Human Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University. My maturity (the ripe old age of 29 upon graduation) was certainly on my side, as I graduated with first class honours. Yes, there was a little bit of student beer swilling going on, but I was a bit of a swot on the quiet, and my parents were beaming.
Still, I left not really knowing what I wanted to do, and went straight into IT applications training as my first graduate job. Yeuch - it wasn't for me. I then went into the profession that I'd felt my was my 'vocational calling' - social care. Here I more or less stayed, finding the most challenging job I could have picked for myself, to be an Alcohol & Violence Worker within a youth offending team, working with offenders under 18.
I enjoyed the challenges of the youth criminal justice system, the job expanded, and I moved into a young people's substance misuse project to deal with a range of clients. I started working with under 21s on issues other than alcohol & violence, including other substance use, sexual health, pregnancy and life skills. I've been trained in counselling, motivational interviewing and other therapeutic methods, as well as on a number of health and child protection issues. However, my soul was in a state of unrest!
When my friend became editor for Out of Hand, a 'sub-culture urban youth' publication in the South West and asked me to write for her, this was the catalyst to freeing my creativity and writing bug. And I worked hard at making sure this was going to be my way of life from then on. My published work has increased to the point that I am at, that is, in a strong enough position to have been able to ditch the ‘day job’, and class myself as a 'freelance writer' - with some reputable clients, and some reputable work, under my belt.
Please see my home page for a list of clients I've worked with, and my portfolio for some examples of published work.
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