Saturday 16 July 2011

Chasing a Story

The Bookshop Guru

For me it started with a love of history and archaeology when I was young boy. I would spend hours just reading anything I could get my hands on, and it was mostly history. I was also drawn into the world of science by the voice and words of Carl Sagan who inspired my interest in artificial intelligence which I studied at university gaining a master’s degree. The captivation continues today with a keen interest in science and a fascination with historic and ancient sites. Interestingly, my book that is due to be published in the next few months comes from my experience at university studying artificial intelligence. I said then that I would write a book about this, and so I did. As engineers we were designing search engines, neural networks, genetic algorithms and a whole lot more, but what was about to happen to me was like synchronicity.

I remembered the words of the author Georges Bernanos as I sat there in the university library, who said, ‘What we call chance might be the logic of God.” And it was chance and maybe more, because as I buried myself in reading the mountain of books, journals and academic papers while researching my thesis for my dissertation I came across a story. But the story had no direct relation to the research I was undertaking, yet I knew then that I was hooked as junkie is to heroin. I couldn’t ignore what was staring me in the face. I felt like an investigative reporter finding a story for the first time and all I could do was keep chasing the story. One way or another I knew the story I had stumbled upon affected us all, we just don’t know or understand the reasons why. I knew then that I would write a book about what kept appearing even though I wasn’t looking for it.

Today, I spend my time researching and reading for I know that to write you have to read. And read not just what you are familiar with, but different genres both in fiction and nonfiction. You have to expand your horizons beyond your periphery learning and experiencing the wonder of books. At random I will choose a book and read a chapter or two, and sometimes only a few pages or paragraphs if the book does not hold my attention. This is my mission – to develop my creativity by immersing myself into diverse worlds. I understood the importance of critical thinking at university and this taught me not to accept anything at face value, but to analyse and evaluate what the author is trying to convey. I believe the same process needs to be expressed even if you are a writer of fiction – the reader has to believe your universe and scenario. The characters have to be believable and real within your mind as the reader.


Every week I randomly pick books at the bookstore, so that I am surprised and not limited by my bias. What I mean by this is we all grow up what I call excess baggage, which we can get from our parents, friends and foes, and, it’s the inability to think without bigotry or bias that can railroad your thinking. We all do it without thinking about it, but I try not to let it get in the way, by taking measures to limit its effect on me. By randomly sampling books I increase my knowledge of different writers and genres, which I believe helps my creativity. And I also believe the inspiration for a good story often comes from chance and synchronicity.

P.S. Sponsored by Madbrokes a comedian on antidepressants.


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John Newman - Love Me Again

Love and Listen

In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

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Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.


Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

4 comments:

  1. I agree that reading outside of one's inherent genre is a good way to expand the mind. Otherwise, we are all susceptible to entertain cyclic justification: a perpetual "back slapping" of our own preconceived ideology.
    -Steve
    http://about.me/booksatthebeach

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  2. There are a couple of good points in this blog.
    "The characters have to be believable and real within your mind as the reader."
    This is so true. If the characters are not real in a writer's mind then there is really no joy in writing about them, and there would be no spillover for the writer to want to believe in the characters either.

    "we all grow up with what I call excess baggage",
    Absolute truth here. From the time we are born we are given other people's thoughts and ideas. It is up to us as individuals to decide if those believes are what we want to believe in and follow during our lifetime. Good blog! I will be back to read more.

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  3. I meant there would be no joy for the "reader" to want to believe in the characters either. How come there is no edit button here?

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  4. Very cool blog...I LOVE archaeology. In fact, I'm a real geology and paleontology nut too...looks like a fantastic blog. Thanks for finding me on BB and I followed! ~Mandi www.mandituckerslack.com Oh, I have a post on my blog titled Tide Ever Rising...you might like that one :)

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