Stephen L. Nowland
I was one of those kids who daydreamed his way through school. All the little adventures I'd concoct in my mind were far more interesting than math or tests or sport. Somehow, I passed the important bits (art and english) and moved on, but always with a creative perspective to my life.
Unfortunately, I spent most of my 20's dealing with poor health, including resultant chronic fatigue syndrome which interfered with my life immeasurably, but gave me ample time for thought. An abortive attempt to create a novel happened around 1996, but I look back on such things as stepping stones on the road to where I wanted to be.
My first complete novel was actually done back in '03, but it was a derivative work based on elements from other stories, something I didn't realise until after I'd written it. The mind can do funny things if you don't keep it on a tight leash! Still, there were some unique points to the story I kept, so I scrapped the rest and began a completely new story, which now stands at 5 books completed with a 6th on the way.
In around 2010 I picked up a paintbrush and some paint and touched up an old canvas work I created back in high school to add a splash of course to the house I was living in. The result was so encouraging I've been painting ever since, and had my first exhibition at the Beaumaris Art Group in February of 2014. I love painting landscapes, but I've started working digitally now too so my portfolio continues to diversify.