Graeme R. Smith
Categories: Male Authors - Anglophone Authors - Novelists - Acadian Coast - Southeast
Source: Author / auteur
Biography
Born: RAF Wegburg, West Germany. But I was only there six months, so it probably doesn't count :-). Since then: Many places – some in the UK, but since I was forty-one, Canada. Toronto for over twenty years, and now Kent County, New Brunswick.
Working history? Some time as a student Psychiatric Nurse, over forty years in Information Technology – now retired. Writing history? The very first book with my name on the cover was co-written with a long-time online gaming partner and published by the game company in 2008. The first book with just my name on the cover was published in 2012. Since then? Depending on when you're reading this, well, let's say multi-published - by Canadian publisher Books We love. I thought about trying to come up with a really cool pen name. But I decided to take the easy way out – Graeme Smith. It's my real name. Or maybe it isn't – maybe it's my keyboard's name, and I'm just an artificial intelligence, buzzing round a massive (or in my case, very tiny (blush)) computer's microchips :-). And believe it or not – there aren't many of us – er me – on Amazon. So, there it is, and here I am. Me – Graeme Smith – Fantasy author. Time was, I worked on a psychiatric ward. Now I write about people who believe in magic and dragons, and who live where the folk who don't are the ones who need help :-).
How has New Brunswick influenced your work?
At the time of writing, I've only lived here a little over a year. So, it's hard to differentiate between New Brunswick's influence, and that of being retired. But living here has quite genuinely changed my life – so likely my writing as well. Is it because my life here is quieter? Absolutely not! My wife and I wake up, and every day is forty-eight hours of non-stop life. And by that, I mean “living” – not the nine-to-five existence of work. And being able to “live” as opposed to being able to exist in that nine-to-five, brings a new perspective. To live in New Brunswick's fresh, clean air, among people who are real and alive as well? That makes a great deal of difference indeed. Now – if only some of them had relatives in New Orleans… My next book is set there, but I've never been (blush).
What do you consider to be the highlight of your career so far?
I was first published by a house now closed (as a result of the owner's ill health). I didn't initially know what to do with the titles I had with that publisher (I had a second publisher with other titles). When I mentioned what was happening, my second publisher said, “give them to us!” I asked them why they would want them. They said, “Because they're by you.” And that was all they needed. It was, I confess, an amazing feeling.
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Featured Publication |
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Much Ado about Dragons (2021) |
Excerpt: Allow me to introduce myself. I'm an Idiot. This wouldn't be news to anyone who knows me, apart from my mother. She believes me to be an incredible idiot and would be amazed I'd been able to improve to just 'idiot.' Her view is probably more accurate. She's known me even longer than I have. If I'm going to be totally honest (a bad habit I'm trying to break), Idiot is only one of my names. To the Elves, I'm 'Oh-god-it-eez-eem-aygayn'. To the dwarves I'm 'Bugger-lock-the-door-and-keep-quiet-he-might-go-away'. To the Halflings – actually, I don't know what the Halflings call me. I can't ask. They have a restraining order, and really good lawyers. With writs-writs with nails in. But still, I'm an Idiot. And not unhappy with that. It's a well-paying job with no heavy lifting. Or it was – until the dragon… |
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Source(s): Author.
