Being the creative sort - and perhaps to protect himself from disgruntled readers - Tim chose to write under someone else's name. He chose Barnaby Wilde for reasons known only to himself, a name which actually befits his quirky writings, all of which are enjoyable and highly recommended reads.
I am honored to present to you the following guest post from Tim Fisher/Barnaby Wilde:
Barnaby Wilde doesn't exist. Even his name is a joke. (If you haven't got the joke yet, think Steppenwolf and, if you still haven't got it, you'll have to Google).
The truth is that Barnaby Wilde is a liar. He
makes things up. He confabulates. He tells stories for personal gain. You can't
believe a thing he says.
The question is, why does he do it? The
obvious answer, one might suppose, is that he'd like to be rich and famous, but
even he doesn't believe that's going to happen. So, why?
Perhaps he just wants to be loved?
Actually, that might not be too far from the truth. Certainly he's delighted
when someone tells him that they've enjoyed reading something he's written. In
fact, he gets far more pleasure from a piece of positive feedback, such as a
book review, than he does from any commission he might make from selling it. In
that case, you might ask why he doesn't give all his books away for free. Well,
he has this strange belief that the only praise you can truly trust comes from
the stranger who's laid out his own money. If someone takes the trouble to
leave a positive review for something they've paid for, then it's probably
genuine praise.
Maybe he's insecure? He needs to feel
needed? Perhaps, though he has plenty of people around him who appear to find
him useful. He certainly doesn't admit to feeling insecure.
Could it be that he just has an urge to be
creative? Now, that surely has a ring of truth to it. He's certainly tried his
hand at a few creative endeavours such as wood turning, pottery and painting in
the past. Writing, though, has been there at some level or another ever since
he was a kid. One of his earliest memories is of his father one-finger typing a
story that Barnaby had written at his Primary School and turning it into a
miniature book. (No idea what ever happened to it, sadly).
On the other hand, could it just be
conceit? Maybe he just wants other people to see how clever he is? He swears it
isn't, but it's an unconvincing denial.
Barnaby's own explanation is that he simply
wants to entertain, amuse, and maybe, occasionally, mystify people. He loves
the sound of words. He loves puns and rhymes. He says his head is full of
stories and he thinks other folk might find them diverting.
But, as I said at the beginning, you can't
believe a word he says. He makes things up.
Barnaby Wilde has published seven volumes
of Quirky Verse, and five volumes of Short Stories, as well as a series of
Detective Stories featuring the motorcycle-riding Mercedes Drew and her
Detective boyfriend, Inspector Flowers, plus a series of Humorous Novels (The
Tom Fletcher series) featuring talking cats and parallel universes. All these
books are currently available as e-books. He has also contributed to several
publications by the writer's consortium 'Top Writer's Block', which publishes books
on behalf of the charity 'Sea Shepherd.'
You can find out more about Barnaby Wilde
and his books at http://www.barnaby-wilde.co.uk
or follow him on twitter @barnaby_wilde
Slainte,
David H. Keith
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