James E Dearden
Jim Dearden. Born 1953 in the Scotswood area of Newcastle upon Tyne. Married for 40 (+) years to Joan (we met at school). We have two children, Shona and Gavin (both graduates), and two grandchildren - Kathryn (age 6 going on 60) and Henry age 10 months.
I certainly didn't start out as a writer. My first degree was in Electronic Engineering. I followed this up with a part time MSc in experimental physics (which I didn't complete) and settled into work in microelectronics. After a few years I retrained as a teacher and ended up teaching physics and engineering with fairly rapid promotions before moving on to 'higher things' where I met my friend Ian.
What came out of that meeting of two minds was a book called 'GLOBE' where I applied my problem solving abilities and Ian his expertise in English. I outlined the story to Ian, broke it into chapters and we each took alternate chapters to write. Then we spent time getting the 'voice' consistent. Great learning experiences for us both. Things were looking good, I was one of the youngest chief examiners in the country, I had just finished an Open University degree but alas a career in education was not to be.
After being made redundant at the age of only 40 I became clinically depressed (for the second time in my life). In the past 20 years or so I've retrained in computer networks (was made redundant from that) did a part time fine arts degree, run an art gallery, been a professional artist/painter, photographer, home tutor and a supply teacher. I currently teach an animation class one afternoon each week at a local school. I also sing with a local G&S society, make props for shows and recently produced a musical (Annie Get Your Gun) in the local theater.
A few years ago I picked up my writing again when I picked up a flat, reddish-brown stone on a local beach that was scratched with runes. Its strange how a seemingly random event can turn into a key that opens a creative door in your mind - you could almost call it magikal. After several months of research into runes, the Norse, Celtic mythology, alchemical symbolism etc. I created and started to write the outlines for the whole seven runes series (originally it was going to be called the seven elements).
The seven rune novels fuse multiple elements from the Norse legends/Eddas, Celtic myths, local faerie tales and an alternative history. Initially the series is set in Scandanavia, Scotland and the North of England. I already have outlines for several more books as back stories to major and minor characters. Well, here's to a good year and a good harvest.
