Rob Knowles
Agent: none
Port Alfred, South Africa Email: randr@ibi.co.za When I read of the desperately unhappy childhoods seemingly experienced by writers, I feel somewhat under-qualified. I wonder if this is what they draw upon for inspiration. My childhood, for the most part, was a happy one. My parents supported me in most things, although they drew the line when I began stealing money from them...
My upbringing in Liverpool was religiously non-partisan, and I was left to discover my own God in my own time. Needless to say, such liberty was wasted, as I ended-up virtually eating the alter rails of our local church. Most thought I would take the cloth but, around my 16th birthday, I began to question everything.
And I’m still questioning. I have been in a serious relationship for the past 12 years, have two children from a previous marriage and all the trappings associated with my forty-seven years of life. This includes two dogs, an alfa and a mortgage.
I have lived in South Africa for almost 25 years now. I am a mechanical engineer with a computer science degree, and am thus firmly up-to-date with technology from an industry perspective. Yet staring at an old photograph, imagining the time in which it was taken, still holds great fascination.
I wonder how people can question that there are “more things in Heaven and Earth”, when our view of the universe gets more bizarre by the day. I believe that our spiritual side is neglected by science, and that religion is an excuse that allows other people to do our thinking for us.
I write of where we might have come from as well as the direction we could be heading in. I hate the term "Sci-fi", as it doesn't really describe anything at all. My writing is about people. I have published several articles and stories both locally and internationally.
The road to being an author takes time, patience, experience and talent, but most of all it requires tenacity and a belief in self. Furtunately, my ego is the size of a small planet (I'm thinking, Jupiter). On the days I do not feel like writing, I write anyway. Everyone should. And I know that, as far as the path I have taken, my journey is just beginning.
Published writer: Yes
Freelance: Yes |
