Welcome to my first blog, and I never thought I would be writing those words. I have thought long and hard about writing a blog as I do not want to start something which I am not fully committed to. I have decided to go for it with a slowly, slowly approach, so I will write at least one blog each month.
What am I going to write about? Well, about myself, and how I came to write my novel, A Questionable Hero. 
Writing has come as a big surprise to me. Ever since I left school at fourteen, I have not written anything. I do not read many novels either: in fact, I have only read five novels in my life: Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, twice; Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon by Thomas Harris and Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock. 
The reason I don’t read much is because I am dyslexic, so I have problems with words. I do not know my right from my left, I can spell the same word differently two or three times in the same sentence, I read what isn’t there –  it all gets a bit mixed up in my brain.
My school days were the worst days of my life (so far!) because I had problems reading and because dyslexia was little known. My teachers assumed I was stupid, and when I left school I thought I was stupid. It was only when I started work I realized I was not as daft as my teachers led me to believe.
I wanted to be a vet but there was no chance of me ever going to university so one day I went to the school’s careers office with my Mum. The woman behind the desk asked me what I wanted to do. I had no idea, but then my Mum said, “He cooks the dinner at home sometimes.” Four days later I started a six-month trial at a hotel to be taken on as an apprentice, and for the next five years that is what I did. I went to college one day a week and passed my City and Guilds exams with distinction.
How I came to write my novel is an odd tale. Over Christmas last year I had a really bad infection. I went to the doctor’s and he prescribed for me some strong antibiotics. The third night on the medication I had a vivid dream; I am not sure if I was asleep or daydreaming, but I saw in my mind the vivid beginnings of my novel. It was like watching a video. When I woke up the next morning I had forgotten all about it, then that evening I was chatting to my step-daughter, and she mentioned something and it all came back to me, like a bolt from the blue.
I told my wife and friends I was going to write a book. They all thought I had gone crazy, and to be honest, I thought I had as well! But that is how I started writing; I just had to do it.
Please feel free to comment on my blog. I am open to any constructive criticism. Thank you for reading this post. More to come next time.