My Heart's Desire

I write because I want to write, this is obvious for all of us, otherwise we wouldn't do it, but I am a realistic person. I realise that there is a great possibility that I will always need a full-time job in order to survive and support my family. This isn't to say that I don't have full confidence in my writing abilities; I do. It is just that I would rather have a back up plan that I know I could live with than be forced to stay in a dead-end zero satisfaction job for the rest of my working life.

There are in fact many careers that I love the idea of, the main one was and I guess to a degree still is, is the Police force. I did it as a Special Constable when I lived in England and applied to join the regular force but was not successful for various reasons that ranged from illogical to down right stupid, another career path that I love the idea of is forensics in particular forensic anthropology. (Just like the title character in the TV show BONES.) This has been a passion and dream of mine long before every tv show had some sort of forensic theme to it. In fact I think it was the first real career that I actively thought about pursuing.

While at the age of 26 there is still time for me to go away and in theory do both of these things, the fact that I have three kids and bills to pay holds me back, as I simply cannot afford to go away and study full-time, or part-time for that matter, for the costs are the same (in the Netherlands I also find my options rather limited in both areas and distance learning is an even greater expense than the traditional route.)

When all else is said and done, I am more than happy with my life, I have published a book, sold some copies of it (and currently 50% of all sales of The Musings of a Hideous Mind is being donated to the Japanese Relief effort (most likely via Global Giving) ) but when it comes to what I would really like to do with the rest of my life, other than write great, entertaining books and help as many good causes with the proceeds as I possible can there is really only one thing that comes to mind.

I would love to own my own book store. This may seem like a strange endeavour, especially in a time when the future of physical books is in question. However my plan would be for it to not just be a book store but a front for Indie authors across the world to showcase their talent. I would have a section devoted to real books, a section for electronic books, to both purchase, browse and even loan and read in store while enjoying a coffee and a snack at the little cafe / coffee bar annex.

It may be a strange little idea, or maybe many of you will see the picture in your minds and feel the strange warmth that I do when I imagine what it would be like. In any case, that is my goal, my back-up that could happily be my first choice should the need arise. Now all I need to do is figure out how to turn these imaginations into reality.

Thank you for reading this, and for following my adventures, I hope you have a wonderful afternoon, and please help me spread the word and help me raise as much money as we can to help Japan.