Why I Write

Eleven years ago, I was sitting alone in a high-rise hotel room, in Barcelona, Spain. I was on the way to visit my mother, who lived south of there, one train stop, and two bus rides away, in Torre Vieja. It was no ordinary visit. I was now living with an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) stent graft, and had been for about six weeks.

My life had changed.

What’s to do?

After reflection, I decided to reach out to other Ironman distance athletes with AAA. I found a few, during the subsequent 10 years, but not many. I recorded my experiences, successes and failures, on this blog. There are about 1,100 posts, kind of random, and my initial story is presented in the following video.

All these years later, I continue Ironman training, but I rarely think about that stent. It just keeps on working, like the “Energizer Bunny.” Now I’m battling peripheral arterial disease (PAD), as a final consequence of severe genetic dyslipidemia, but I’m still able to compete in Ironman races, fortunately. It’s why I’m not dead.

Signed up for Arizona, November, 2022. Silly me!

But my real focus, is my writing.

Why do I write?

Because I care a great deal about two things, animal welfare and tackling climate change. Both are addressed in my latest non-fiction book, but it is writing fiction that really draws me. It’s what I find myself emotionally attached to. Having a high Asperger’s Score, the whole business of emotions I find confusing. But my emotional attachment to my first novel is an unavoidable reality. But why?

My second novel, the first sequel to “Scientist in the Dark,” has the same underlying subtext, battling factory farms and human-induced species extinctions. I don’t actually write these books, my characters took over that job almost straightaway. In fact, one of my characters, Sally Smarts, aka Repo Lady, is writing a book for me, “The Girl Who Saved the Chickens.” Writing is weird!

I was born during a war in Europe, WWII, as bombs were dropping on the hospital, Mum told me a little bit later.

Now we have war in Europe, again. Shit! This prompted me to reinvigorate this blog. Much neglected as of late.

I see not being dead, through happenstance, to be a reason to live, a responsibility, to DO SOMETHING, to work to make the world a better, safer place, for all living creatures. Plants, animals, and all the rest.

I’ll start posting here, probably 1x/wk., about my ongoing struggles with PAD and Ironman. Plus, I think I’ll start a newsletter, about my victory garden, based on thoughts presented in my latest ebook.

Life is good, in spite of it all. Remember that, when you feel down. You’ll feel up again, soon enough.

-kev aka FitOldDog