Saturday 21 February 2009

Let me introduce myself

I am a professional programmer living and working in London.

Some of my earliest memories are not really mine. They belong to a little girl, whose quests and adventures used to put me to sleep… or at least get me in bed and on my best behavior. The girl – my parents never told me her name, but still I was pretty sure who she was – wasn’t perfect and that calmed me, but she was brave and strong, and she rose up to her challenges, no matter whether they involved slaying a dragon or two, or putting away her toys. I learned a lot from her, which, I guess, was exactly the point.

At an early age I got involved with computers. I studied hard and jumped few grades, finishing school at the age of fifteen. My next step was easy. I went to study in the country I loved the most. Great Britain. I knew exactly how great it would be; after all, I daydreamed it all during my last year at school. My daydreams turned out somewhat inaccurate: my knowledge of English was miles away from conversational, studying was hard and I ached for parents every day. But, as my bedtime heroine, I tried to rise up to the challenge. I’ve finished University at eighteen, became a software developer with a great company and made Britain my home. I still miss my parents though.

I always liked to write. Well, imagine first, then write it down sometimes. Somewhere along the line, while I was in Uni, I started writing all the time for my parents. Our roles reversed. I was embarrassed to admit that my real experience wasn’t a fairy tale I’d expected, so I wrote short stories for them. Those I could make fun and those I could control. Besides, it was a great way to teach them language that I fell in love with. Later, when I got a job, writing time became scarce so I developed a software program where I could enter my ideas, observations, quotes of the day. When enough data is available, the software provides a rough draft of a short story, which I polish and send to my parents. This is how I got an idea to write a full-length novel. I’ve got a title now and a plot that my program helped to formulate. I’ll try to write it and I hope it will be interesting enough to be read. This blog is a diary to track my progress and an incentive to make sure I don’t give up.

1 comment:

  1. I always dreamed to learn English language but when I was young girl I haven’t any possibilities. Then I married, later my child was born, only when my daughter began to learn English my old dream was woke up.
    Ana, you are the great daughter for your parents! What wonderfully you decided a problem with English for your mum and dad. I envy to them with good mothers feeling.

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