Introduce Yourself : Phil Keys by Phil Keys

I originally come from Derry City in Northern Ireland. I used to have a band called Whiskey Daze but found it very trying as I was manager, promoter, record producer , press agent and lead singer and chief songwriter. It is amazing how difficult it is to get 5 people to agree to come to the same place , at the same time on the same date. During the course of my work I met a fellow in Garret Lane in London and we talked about bands and the same as I mentioned above. He said that I would end up being a writer as he was and he had a similar background to mine. He was a novelist and I later found he had a best seller which was made into a Hollywood movie. His pen name was Louis De Bernier and his successful novel was Captain Correlli's Mandoline which starred Nicholas Cage. I took him up on the writing idea and went to a night class in Screen-writing in a place called Brockenhurst College under a wondrous fellow called Hadi Zarbafi, who was a brilliant teacher and mentor and he encouraged me no end. I forgot to mention that I now live on the south coast of England near Bournemouth and I love writing now. It gets me really excited returning to my characters and going on journeys with them. I jump for joy at their achievements and sometimes I uncontrollably weep at their misfortunes. I sometimes walk along side them and ask them if they would do so and so in certain situations. Some people might think I am mad but who cares. The beauty of writing is that in certain situations in life you wish, in retrospect , that you had done this or said that , With writing you can go back and do that. I love it . I also love Stage 32 as it opens up door into all the continents of the world and you can befriend like-minded people that, only a few years ago, would be completely impossible. Thank you all and best of luck to all of you . I wish you all the breaks you deserve. - Love and good Karma - Phil Keys.