FAQ: How did you get the idea to become a writer?

From the garbage, of course.

Now let me explain.

I used to write a short story a day, back in Fiji Islands when I was very young. When I turned twelve, I finished my first screenplay called "Jeevansathi," meaning "Lifemate." It was completely written in Hindi and it dealt with divorce and extramarital affairs in the Indian culture. LOL. I Know -- I guess I didn't have better things to do at age twelve over the long summer break but to think about extramarital affairs and marriage breakdown. I had so much fun writing, that when I finished that script, I wrote another. This one was titled "Jewels." It was treasure hunt story, a more proper subject for a twelve year old to be concerned with, I suppose. I still have both stories tucked in a dusty closet somewhere!

Fifteen years later, in Canada, one of my friends was helping me move. I was throwing out everything I didn't need. He picked out two sentences I had written on a piece of paper which I threw in the garbage. He brushed off the coffee grinds and asked me who wrote that. I told him I did. He asked me if I copied it from somewhere. I told him no, I wrote that myself and throw it away. It's garbage. I was too stressed with moving to care. He put the piece of paper in his pocket. Two months or so later, when I was settled in my new place, he came over and handed me a magazine that was holding a short story competetion. He wanted me to enter that. I told him I didn't write. I thought he was being funny. He told me to just try. I eventually did. It took me three weeks to write four pages. But I remember how much fun I had. Being a creature that is known to like fun, I decided to take this further. I shared my story with others. They loved it but they didn't really believe that I wrote it. But that was okay. It told me that it had something. I entered the short story competetion and didn't win. However, this set me on a different path. I dropped the courses I was registered in the last semester towards the completion of my degree and enrolled in Creative Writing courses instead. I did well and started the chapter of my first novel. By this time more and more people were believing that I wrote and started encouraging me to continue. They wanted to know the ending of the suspense novel I started in University. I told them that I can tell them where I was going with that. But they wanted to read the ending for themselves. I assured them that there is no possible way that I will write an entire manuscript. They advised me that they were willing to wait as long as it took. Eventually, I finished that manuscript, then another, and then another.

So here it is -- How did I get the idea to become a writer? From the garbage, of course.

FAQ

I have been receiving a lot of emails with questions. I will discuss the following seven frequently asked questions in depth:
(1)How did you get the idea to become a writer?
(2)Are the characters in the book based on people you actually know?
(3)Which character is you?
(4)What stories did you grow up with?
(5)Do you believe that God exists?
(6)Why Elkford?
(7)How did you get the idea to write "The End of the Dark and Stormy Night?"