This is my second introduction on Steemit. After the first, 6 months ago when I signed up, this introduction is in response to an initiative by
You can read about her Storytelling Mentorship Group here, here, here and here
If you like the idea, then hop aboard this cool ship.
My first story as part of the #story-mentor can be read here. Ideally this post should have been written first, but better late than never!
So here goes the intro:
A contrarian by nature, he often manages to rub people up the wrong way with his opinions on life, the universe and everything. There are times when he manages to get under his own skin!
From childhood he has been an avid reader and was often late to school because he would be trying to finish off 'another' page instead of getting dressed. He grew up reading Tintin and Asterix, with the latter being a favourite even after all these years. He believes there are few who can compete with the legendary Asterix when it comes to having multiple layers within one frame.
His first proper book was 'City of Joy' by Dominique Lapierre at the age of 12. He read it from cover to cover, even if he wasn't old enough to fully grasp the joys and sorrows being narrated.
Over the years his reading habits have evolved and now he generally heads for the non-fiction section, with a special interest in history. As such he is always on the lookout for books written for lay people and not academics. The more history he reads the more it appears to be repeating itself in the modern world.
The last books of fiction he read were 'The Clifton Chronicles' series by Jeffrey Archer and 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' trilogy by Steig Larsson a year or so ago.
He hated writing as a child. His father authored 6 books and is a regular columnist in multiple national weeklies. As such, everyone around him, told him to put pen to paper like his pops. But he rebelled as was his nature.
Never say Never!
Until he fell in love with two wheels.
He was bursting with joy at the prospect of living life on two wheels and couldn't stop yapping about it to anyone who cared to listen. He tried expressing his love for wheels by clicking numerous pictures. Unfortunately his photography skills sucked monkey balls! Every time he started on about motorcycles, he was told to shut up and sit down.
Pushed into a creative corner, he needed to let out his pent up adoration for bikes. With no other viable course available, he started penning down his thoughts. Mostly for his own happiness rather than sharing it with anyone.
The other reason which pushed him to write a lot was a pretty girl in his life. The two more often than not fought like cats and dogs, and the only way he could get out of the doghouse was by writing to her, as she loved to read. He eventually ended up writing letters on a near daily basis, only to argue about something else the very next day! But due to this rather peculiar exercise, he did build up writing stamina, even if he didn't equip himself with the skills of the written word.
His other loves include, food (he is a glutton), travel (he is a pauper) and the exclamation mark! He always has to delete a dozen or so of these, before he can hit the 'post' button!
Another writing habit he had developed over time is to type on his smartphone rather than using a laptop. That is also the cause of numerous goof ups.
Jumping to the present,
He hopes to kick his creative butt into shape by drawing inspiration from the wonderful group that 