Meet the Author & Proprietor

Hi everyone, Steve here. I guess writing must be in my genes! My mum was a frustrated writer all her life, until she reached the age of around fifty, when she got the idea to but pen to paper (well it was an old typewriter actually) and started writing articles.

I'm only sorry that I didn't take much notice at the time, as the idea of writing for a living had not yet registered with me, as I was too busy trying to pursue my career in the Health Service.

It was several years later, after her death, that I found myself involved in writing and publishing. I was desperate to find a new way of working, having spent the best part of 15 years in the UK Health Service (NHS) as a Counselling Therapist (psychotherapist).

One of my passions in life had always been martial arts, so when I discovered an article somewhere about starting a business in home publishing, I got stuck in. 

I got myself all the gear I needed , such as a nice Canon camera, lighting etc. and decided to create my own small magazine which ended up being called "Kata Unlimited" To the uninitiated in martial arts, "Kata" is a Japanese word meaning "form". It represents one of the training regimes found in many forms of martial arts. I wanted to present the more traditional approach to martial arts, but also at the cutting edge when it came to the understanding of Karate.

Well I found myself  learning a great deal. I was the interviewer, the photographer, the writer, the editor , the desk-top publisher and tea maker! I thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing, but after a year I could see that the subscribers and advertisers were just not enough to support the business. So with a heavy heart I closed it down, but my interest in writing had been kindled (no pun intended).

I had started a Creative Writing Course and I learned a lot more about writing different genres. I had to make a decision about what direction to take. In the end, I went the direction of writing about what I knew best (at the time) which was martial arts. I had started some analysis of Karate on my own, and the chance reading of a book by an American author (Bruce Clayton - "Shotokan's Secrets") led to the beginning of a 10 year journey of research which ultimately led to a collection of writings which I have revisited over the years and finally published "(Okinawan Shuri-te). 

I discovered that I thoroughly enjoyed writing. I guess it's something about my need to be quite organised. Putting words down on paper was a way of sorting through all the ideas I had and putting them into some semblance of order. I could let it go then, well usually!

Many things have happened since then. Perhaps the most significant thing has been the re-lighting of my Christian life (thanks to meeting my wife). This has opened up a whole new area of writing and study, which is why you will see books here that look at various Christian related subjects.

So my writing has taken me in a variety of differing directions, but up until now anyway, has always been based on my accumulated experiences and knowledge.

I realised that my style of writing was more of a conversational nature, and many people commented how easy it was to read my stuff. So with that in mind, my intention has been to continue to write in that same way. I don't want to be pretentious. I have a good grasp of English (I teach EFL part time too at the moment) but I never went university and everything I have learned, I have picked up along the way.

I think the feedback I've had from readers has always been encouraging. Thankfully it has usually been of a positive nature, which has spurred me on to continue. I guess I must have been doing something right.

So I hope this gives you a bit of an insight into me and my writing. I will finish by saying what all authors say at some time in their life, that being I have a novel in be, just bursting to get out! I have already done much of the research but I just need the time to write it. Watch this space!

​

​