About Me

P.M. Gilbert - Author

I’ve been fascinated by stories as long as I can remember. I grew up in a small town in Ireland in the 70’s. No internet, no PlayStation or xBox, no computers and no TV until the evenings, Videos hadn’t arrived yet either. The nearest cinema was 25 miles away in another town. So apart from playing made up games like cops and robbers with friends outdoors in the summer my two great escapes were lego and reading. Especially reading – that was the key to my imagination, adventures that would play like a movie in my mind.

I distinctly remember my mother teaching me to read using flash cards. She taught me well and I was able to read before I got to school. On my very first day at school at the age of 4 we were each given a book to read; you know the kind, a small picture book with a few words on the opposite page. It was a ladybird book, a Peter & Jane story for those of you from the 70’s that might remember those.

Well, I got in trouble that first day at school when I finished my book in a few minutes. My teacher, a rather stern lady, didn’t believe I could read. I sat and read the book to her. It was then I realised that most of the other children in the class weren’t able to read as well yet. I just thought it was something everyone did.

Reading has been an amazing constant in my life. I’d be lost without it, the ability to get lost in a story and become part of it. That’s what inspired me to write; that glorious comfort of being immersed in a different world. As a child and teenager tales of adventure were fodder for my imagination and so it continues today. I remember the excitement of getting the next book in an adventure series, no ebooks in those day! The wait between releases was often lengthy, often a year or more and I am grateful that my local library and bookshop kept my mind and appetite fed.

Of course we all grow up and the demands on our time change. Reading remains a constant presence in my life both for relaxation and continued education. So in amongst the demands of adult life I finally managed put pen to paper or in modern parlance, fingers to keyboard and started to write.

I hope my scribblings will give you some brief escape from daily life and thank you in advance for taking the time to open one of my stories. I hope you enjoy them :-)

P.M. Gilbert