Justyn Edwards

Childhood

I have an autistic brother, so I was often left to play alone with my overactive imagination. I loved this. I would spend hours playing with Lego – making intricate scenes, which I suppose were my first stories. I always wanted to be a writer, but everything I wrote was very, very bad. But then one day, I realised that if I could see that it was rubbish this was a good thing because it meant I knew it needed to be improved. I found that if I rewrote my stories they would eventually become not quite as bad. And that was how I learnt the power of chipping away at something until it became OK. That made me even more determined to become a writer.

As an Author

I like to write on my laptop. I’m not fussy about where I write as long as there isn’t a lot of noise or too many distractions. I’m a morning person and I like nothing better than waking up early and getting stuck into some writing. There is something very special about being ahead of the day and I often find that first thing is when I have lots of good ideas. When I’m really in the zone, my brain seems to start writing while I’m still asleep and I'll wake up with whole sections finished. During these times, my wife is very grateful my chosen medium is the English language and not pottery. Or acrylics.

Ten things you didn’t know about Justyn Edwards

1. I love running unless the weather conditions go badly downhill or the road conditions do the opposite.
2. I don’t like the colour mauve. It’s just so arrogant but what does it really bring to the table?
3. I’m scared of Rottweilers.
4. Mauve Rottweilers are the worst.
5. I love Indian food, Thai, Chinese, fish and chips, junk food, cakes. OK, I love all food. Hence the need for running.
6. I love going to the cinema. Always with popcorn.
7. There is nothing better than going for walks along the beautiful Cornish coast. This is often where my brain comes up with new ideas. If I remember to take it with me.
8. I’m very bad at dancing. Very, very bad. Indeed. It is through tremendous good fortune that I’ve never been asked to do Strictly Come Dancing.
9. I have the world’s largest collection of fourteenth-century weasel droppings.
10. Not everything I write is true, and sometimes I struggle to end lists on a high.