Having had 20 books published and an equal number in process, people ask where I get my ideas from. These questions spurned the idea to do a list of some of the things I’ve done since I started writing in 1993:
Divorced for the first time
Columnist for magazines in New Zealand, Australia, Sth Africa and England
Went to Australia on a solo odyssey
Spent time with Aborigines near Alice Springs
Worked at a resort east of Alice Springs as a barman and a horse and camel trek guide
Back to Tauranga as an accounting and business trainer
Got a Certificate in Adult Teaching
Got a Certificate in Teaching Adults
Moved to Auckland
Taught accounting to classes and to a Japanese boy with Aspergers
Moved back to Tauranga
Completed a course in grief counselling
Became a volunteer counsellor at the Waipuna Hospice
Completed a course in grief counselling for children
Became a volunteer for the Red Balloon organisation, that helps grieving children
Married a second time
Ran my Free To Be Me personal/spiritual growth courses
Ran men’s groups
Volunteered at the Living Without Violence program
Divorced a second time
Co-facilitated AIDS courses in Sth Africa
Moved to Australia for three months
Back to New Zealand as an accounting and business trainer
Editor for a magazine
Magazine publisher/owner
Sang karaoke and sang/played guitar at several country and western and folk groups
Married a third time
Worked at the local council as a change manager
Moved to England for 4½ years
Corporate trainer for a London bank in Sutton and London
Did a life coaching course in London
Completed a Transactional Analysis course in Oxford
Lectured to post-graduate students at an Iranian university near Oxford
Managed a four-acre property at Cobham, Surrey
Sang and played guitar at a woodland festival in Oxfordshire
Travelled to Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Czech Republic, Portugal and Egypt
Moved to Australia for ten years
Business trainer for a variety of training of organisations
Holidayed in Ubud, Bali
Ran a writing group and co-facilitated two others in Brisbane
Completed a Diploma of Business, a Diploma of Leadership and a Certificate IV (teaching)
Ran an AirBnB in Ipswich for three years
Was in Ipswich during the time of corruption, when the mayor was jailed and the council was dissolved because of widespread corruption
Moved back to Brisbane
Divorced a third time
Moved to the Gold Coast
Ran two spiritual services in Brisbane
Ran a writing course in Brisbane
Over this time I have published 20 of my books and 18 for other authors
Attended several workshops, learning about native Australian food
Joined groups learning about Common law
Racked up over $1,000 in speeding fines on my motorbike and another $1,000 in speeding fines in my car
Had fun cutting tapes around playgrounds and parks during the Dark Ages of the lock-down frenzy
Up to now I had written an average of 500 words a day
Travelled round New Zealand for a year in which I did very little writing
Started a daily podcast
I also had a life before 1993 so, as you can imagine, there is lots of life experience to go into both fiction and non-fiction books.
Does that answer the question?