About me

It all started (unexpectedly) when…

I began working on a comic during the summer of 2016, shortly before I was about to embark on my final undergraduate year of studies at the University of St Andrews. Back then, I had no intentions of pursuing the writer’s craft and had plunged into my head the idea of an academic research career after graduating with a BSc Neuroscience degree. At first, I was drawn into the world of storytelling from my wild, captivating imagination that consumed my attention ever since I could remember (I often daydreamed a lot throughout my life, especially during high school), and this idea for a comic book story quickly unravelled into a well-fleshed out plot. Before I knew it, I became obsessed - I started thinking deeply about the various elements of the story - from the character’s backgrounds, setting, turning points and story arc, to each whimsical and fascinating detail of the world building itself. This fun little side project reignited an old forgotten passion for creativity that reinvigorated purpose into my heart and mind… and ever since that fateful summer I embraced the writer within.

From there, I began involving myself in all sorts of writing: from blog articles for Label Press on topics ranging from physical & mental health, food & drink and beauty; to short stories about people and places that never existed; and some poetry illuminating the finer aspects of life and the modern world we live in.

Yet, there was one ambitious endeavour that I would soon begin… working on a novel. After graduating in 2017, with reckless abandon of the illustrious academic research life (sorry mum and dad!), I started working several different odd-jobs while making progress on this side project, in the hopes of establishing a professional writing career as a published novelist someday. However, what at first appeared as a straightforward goal soon cascaded into overwhelmingly unfamiliar territory. Little did I know that I would still be working on this target as I write this in 2020…

For those who know (and for those who don’t): the undertaking of a novel project is remarkably similar to one’s own version of Homer’s Odyssey. There are certainly many obstacles and challenges in the way, and at times you cannot help but contemplate whether you will eventually make it back home (aka: return to living sanity) afterwards. But it is a goal that I continue to push forward with and I will spend countless waking hours working towards over the next chapter of my life. While many things have changed over the past few years with this vocation since I departed from student life and entered the working world - including my initial great idea for a fantasy novel that has been placed on the “back-burner” for now (when I feel I am ready enough as a writer to do it the justice it deserves) - I continue to plod along, step by step, learning everything I possibly can of my craft from the greatest writers to ever exist.

Each and every day I learn, write and refine my craft (albeit with a frustrating level of difficulty at times) as I work on finishing my current project - a debut novel - (hopefully) sometime in 2020. With each passing week, month and year I struggle with crippling thoughts and worries as to whether I have done enough? Or if this particular story will ever come to fruition. But it is a story that I feel personally tethered to and I wholeheartedly believe it is one worth telling.

So, in the meantime while I continue to work on producing and publishing my first ever novel, I have a dedicated place to share news & updates, as well as my current works, thoughts [on film, literature & other topics] and musings that I have created along this writing journey. Please, feel free to relax in this safe space, take a seat with a hot drink of your choosing, and read till your heart is content and your mind is freed from the daily stresses of the world outside.

Much Love,

Amaan Akhtar