Susan King - This is (25 years of) your life... "One day I will write a book. Perhaps nobody will ever read it. Perhaps nobody will ever be allowed to read it, or perhaps I will, in one insanely rash moment, load it all onto a website and blame it on Eddie Elwood." What have I done with my life? Well! Over the past 25 years, I have studied in several totally unrelated subjects and worked in just as many more - my CV reads like my first novel! You see, I could never fully decide what I wanted to do; learning was based on reading, which I have always enjoyed, so I have been stuck in books for years - English, general and veterinary nursing, sales & marketing, social sciences, theology, transpersonal psychology, psycho-cybernetics, philosophy, metaphysics, and even some French and Gaelic. I have some certificate or other in Health & Safety and a current security clearance certificate from the Defence Vetting Agency. Then there was the time when they seduced us mere mortals with the wonderful world of Information Technology - so I did a City & Guilds course in Word Processing, Spreadsheets and Databases. (Floppy discs were still big and floppy and Word Perfect was the choice of the day.) The old Amstrad and it's cassette tapes got ditched, and the Internet arrived in our house. And then Microsoft launched Windows 95! Things swiftly progressed from there - no longer was the 9.6k modem the speed of the day - we had hit 28.8! Have you ever sat and thought about how much things have progressed SINCE 1995? In the space of only 10 years - look how far we have come. By the release of Windows 98, better Internet services and telephone bills of over a hundred pounds a month, I was well and truly hooked - and was spending more and more time writing, or rather typing, at the computer. I began by writing for racing newsletters. Then I wrote regular articles as a racing columnist for magazines such as Scottish Equestrian and Riders Journal, usually under the heading of RaceScotUK. I vaguely remember managing to get a few words into a long forgotten copy of Horse and Hound and The Scottish Farmer. I have had numerous articles, complaints, comments and newsy bits mentioned on various radio stations (under pseudonyms), was interviewed live on Radio Scotland (if anyone can remember 'MacGregor's Gathering'?) and was a frequent visitor to my local television project. (I am to blame for certain members of the NYK writing team ending up on the other side of the cameras). Oh! And we used to supply the sweets for the village store in Glendarroch - of the TV series 'Take the High Road', later known simply as 'High Road'. I think most Scots involved in writing at any level know someone who has either been in the show, has written for the show or has an association with the show! I happily know people from all of those categories. I've spoken to so many interesting people over the years and can happily name-drop like the best of them - Francis Shand Kydd on many occasions (now sadly departed), Uri Geller, Bobby Carlisle (poor soul, I thought the call was a wind-up but had forgotten having spoken to Antonia Bird the week previous), Ricky Ross and, of course, Eddy Ellwood amongst others. I can also lay claim to having dined with Mark McManus whilst being on set during the filming of a Taggart movie, and I sent my budgie to work for Dr. Findlay. The episode of 'Janet's Budgie' was never, to my knowledge, aired. (The character of Janet was played by Annette Crosbie, famous as the on-screen wife of Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave). Some years later, as editor of 'Now You Know', I had the pleasure of including a feature article written by Annette, as she spoke out in defence of her beloved greyhounds. Most of the above articles and stories, I hope to load on here in due course. During these same 25 years, I fitted in a wedding, 2 children, a divorce after 15 years, 10 house moves with 3 major relocations and, last summer, celebrated the arrival of my first grandchild - a beautiful little girl. I'm now the middle generation of five, on the female side of the family. So, I haven't really had much time to get serious about my writing. I did manage to squeeze in some song writing practice, prompted by the help freely offered by the International Songwriters Association, and I have a few radio scripts awaiting completion. Now I live in Wigtown, where I run the www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk websites and other associated projects. As editor of 'Now You Know', I also write as part of the team. When I can, I scribble with the Wigtown Scribblers, in between compiling newsletters and updating the Scottish Writers website. In my spare time, I continue my studies and read books. I think that covers just about every question anyone could ever possibly have to know. Anything else, you'll just have to ask!
Other Stuff Childhood Memories ~ The Internet in Rhyme ~ Friday Morning & HAIKU A Maze of Grace with a Lone Piper ~ Bonkle & Allanton Estate ~ Newmains An edited version of the above article was also published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press - 26th May 2005 - entitled, 'A Maze of Dying Books and a Lone Piper' A long drawn out philosophical metaphysical theological type thingey More coming soon...
The following are projects with which I am currently involved Now You Know ~ Scottish Writers Agnes 'n' Senga (co-written with Gill Bastock) Eddie Elwood ~ Big Bad Bunny ~ Paranoid Times
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