When I was growing up I watched a lot of kids shows on television. Some cartoon shows like Gigantor and Prince Planet and the puppet shows like Bill and Ben and Mr Squiggle. But I was obsessed with Thunderbirds. I'd race home from school and sit waiting impatiently for it to come on. Impatient to hear Jeff's countdown and the 'Thunderbird March', thrilled to again watch my favourite characters set off on another rescue. A thrill I still get now. Originally I watched it in black and white and when we got colour TV I was amazed to find that TB2 was actually green! I always pictured it as brown and could clearly visualise it coming over the horizon and hovering nearby.
I always thought the boys were real and International Rescue was a genuine organisation. Therefore I couldn't understand why they didn't help after this train crash or that flood or the earthquake overseas. I soon learnt that I was alone in my obsession and mentioning it brought forth strange looks and threats of men in white uniforms wielding straightjackets.
One day I played a Thunderbirds quiz online and it got me thinking. Strange but true. I went surfing the net and stumbled onto the fanfiction site.
Can you imagine the relief I felt to know that I wasn't crazy after all? That there were other people who thought the same way as me and who shared my dreams and fantasies? It was liberating and it fired my imagination.
So while I'm new to writing ffics, I have been playing and writing online trivia quizzes for years (Yes, one of my quizzes is about Thunderbirds and one about Gerry Anderson). I love coming up with the idea for a story or quiz, putting pen to paper (fingers to keyboard just doesn't sound the same) and bringing the story to life. Then comes the scary part. Posting and waiting to see if anyone else likes the baby I have put so much time and effort (and love) into.
It is one thing to write a story and post it on the internet. It is quite different to write a story well enough to have it accepted on this site. For that honour I am truly humbled.
