Today's post is going to be a little different than my previous ones. I'm going to talk about my background, when I started to read and write, and what I have going on right now with writing and life in general.
I would hazard a guess and say that I differ than most writers as I have had no formal education beyond high school. When I graduated back in 1991 I went straight away into the workforce, and with an exception of about five years, I have been a blue collar factory worker the entire time. Although factory work can be a bit dull and repetitious; I have found that it allows my mind to disconnect and create worlds, characters, and storylines. A few of my coworkers have thought me a bit odd at times when I have been caught acting out scenes from stories or working out a fight sequence, but that's what we are anyways-there's something a little different about writers that make them want to tell their stories.
Reading came to me at an early age. I read The Hobbit the summer between first and second grade, and as a reward for my interest in reading I was gifted the first four books in Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Martian Tales series. To this day I still have those four books. Many hours were lost losing myself in those fantastic covers. The behaviors and manners of John Carter in those books set the ideals of what a man, husband, and father should be to me. I cried after watching that horrendous movie that came out a few years ago.
Naturally the next step of being an avid reader was to try my hand at writing, and of course all my stories were in the realms of the fantastic. My junior year I took a creative writing class and the teacher and I butted heads on many occasions. He didn't approve of my fantasy approach to everything and on the final assignment he forbid me to do anything that involved the past- but science fiction was okay. Seems kind of odd as at one time the two were linked together. So I did a futuristic tale of a vigilante that fought gangs that were filled with ninjas and mutants (it was the late 80's after all).
About that time I discovered the author that has influenced my style of writing the most-R. A. Salvatore. Mr. Salvatore's battle sequences and characters in his early works inspired me to finally take writing more seriously and eventually I finished a manuscript I was happy with. Since that time I have written several short stories, one novel length manuscript and I have a handful of novels in the works. Currently I am working on the second book in The Blades of Allura series and contributing to a blog of short stories with another friend and fellow author.
That's me in a nutshell, along with that I have been married to my beautiful wife for eighteen years and we have five wonderful children we have raised together.
Happy Reading.
-EW-
