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When I was young there were so many things I looked forward to doing with my life. So many interests. Joys such as ancient history and archaeology, sailing, rock music, and art have stayed with me - and over the years my interests have grown to include stuff like anthropology, social justice, wildlife protection, and photography.
Right from the start, though, there were two things that I knew would happen: I would go to sea and I would write.
I went to sea almost straight from school,
and
spent eighteen years on various ships and boats. I visited dozens of countries, including one whole blissful year island-hopping in the
Caribbean, and it was exactly how I used to dream it would be during those long afternoon lessons at school. And I continued to dream while I sailed the seas. I told myself stories and explored beyond the horizons in my mind, remembering the past, visualising all sorts of futures, imagining lives in the cities I drank in, planning adventures on the beaches I swam from, and visiting other worlds during all those night watches under the stars. I learned that places will talk to us, if we will listen. And I learned that every one of us is larger than life.
Before I put pen to paper, I was already a writer.
I'm home now. The sea still calls me, but the stories call me more urgently and I have to tell them.
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