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semester off, and I was so un-motivated and all I could think about was a story I had just started writing before returning. I became even more unfocused and there wasn't a single thing about University that I really enjoyed. I'd made the decision to not move away to university because I didn't want that to become my entire life, I eventually realised that it just wasn't my priority. I had changed my course choice a couple of times, Psychology always being my major and floating between English Literature and Anthropology as my minor. Everything about it didn't 'sit' well with me. I'm not out for the kind of career a degree can get me; I was simply buying myself more time to figure out what it was I was going to do. I spent one night with a friend talking about my options for hours, and the conversation just went round in circles as it was clear that I did not want to stay at University and writing was all I ever wanted to do, I had just been too scared to accept this for a long time. What advice would you give to anyone looking to pursue a career as a writer or a self-published author? Never expect help, but accept it when it's there. The process is hard, stressful (especially alongside full time work) and it can be isolating. It's easy to regret making the decision to publish your work, so it's important to keep yourself surrounded by people who will support you and remind you of all the positive things that can come from a process like this. There are many people out there who are going to doubt you and offer nothing but negativity, and that can be overwhelming, but you have to remember why you're doing it. For me, it's not to get everybody's approval and for everybody to love the book (although that would be good,) it's just something I felt like I needed to do- so any support or positive feedback is more than could have been expected. Sometimes you have to take a step back to fully appreciate everything that you're achieving; which leads me on to the final bit of advice- it's okay to be proud of yourself. Can you describe your creative process, what inspires you? Living is my biggest inspiration, closely followed by other creative arts. This is a clichĂŠ but I've always believed that the best way for me to improve and grow as a writer isn't by studying it in a structured form, but to learn about other things in life; reading as many books as you can, watching movies, listening to music, travelling and meeting new people. It's those experiences that differentiate one person from
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