Hi, my name's Pete, and I'm a storyholic.
I've been addicted to children's stories for the last 10 years, but I think my addictions runs deeper than that, all the way back to school. My teachers were worried about me when they found me combining my Physics and Maths A-levels with English, and warned me about the dangers of mixing science and art, but I didn't listen.
As the years went on, I found myself dabbling in stories. I tried poetry at University, but didn't think much of it; everyone experiments at University, don't they? I started writing for work, but that's not really the same, is it? Besides, everyone else was doing it. I didn't see the danger signs until it was too late.
Then I had children, and the problems really started. being a new parent is a stressful time, and I soon found I was reading four or five picture books a day, just to get the kids to sleep, but I was sure I could handle it. Then I found other people's stories just didn't give me the same 'hit' any more, you know? and that's when I started writing.
I started with just one or two a year; no big deal but, before long, I found I was spending all my spare time writing. Picture book followed picture book; sometimes I'd have 10 on the go at once.
I knew I had a problem when I wrote 30 books in 7 months, and even this wasn't enough. So, I went searching for a new thrill. I had already dabbled in non-fiction and fairytales, but then I saw my daughter reading a chapter book and I thought, why not?
I didn't know chapter books were a gateway story. Before I knew it, I'd written 22,000 words and was hooked. Well, the inevitable happened and I started writing Middle Grade.
I'm scared I won't be able to stop. I mean, what will happen if I get tempted to write Young Adult? There's no way back from that.
Please help,
Addicted of Melton