Curiosity is a writer’s asset. Asking questions, being nosy, pushing boundaries. Writers need to that. They need to be curious to be able to write interesting and fresh stories. There’s only so much you can get out of your own experience. The rest you have to be willing to ask for.

I was a curious kid. Maybe a little bit too curious. A little self destructive too. Fortunately, I came to my senses and grew out of it. Regardless, there have always been three constants in my life: my love of reading, a passion for writing, and a desire to be fit and strong.

I was one of those kids who loved a good book. The library was one of my favourite places to visit. Once a fortnight I’d check the maximum capacity of books, I think it was like ten at the time. The books varied from Sweet Valley High and Nancy Drew (I was young) to Hare Krishna and the KGB (I was curious). I’d read every day, before school, at lunchtime and before bed. Reading had become ingrained in my personality.

Reading helped build my passion for writing. When I read R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, I had an urge to write horror stories about vampires, zombies and haunted houses. Then, I loved action packed spy stories with a little bit of romance. I was intrigued on subjects of national security, religions of the world, human science experiments, terrorism, spies, the Cold War, and the psychology behind society’s deadliest individuals. Once upon a time I wanted to work as a forensic pathologist, a criminal psychologist, and a defence attorney. How in the world did I end up with a Business degree and working with numbers?

The good thing about becoming a writer is you can be all those things and so much more. You can be anyone and be anywhere. You can create another world. You can research and learn about different aspects of society, culture, the good, the bad, the ordinary and the extraordinary. You can continuously quench your thirst for knowledge on any topic.

A writer is an everlasting student.

My day job may be working with numbers but I can still be a writer. Writing opens up doors, it’s allowed me to be involved in personal finance, investing, health and fitness, travel and fiction. You can check out The Wholesome Investor where I share my knowledge and research and hope to join forces with other passionate people in the future. I don’t profess to know it all, in fact, with each day I realise I know less and less.

I am an everlasting student.

How about you? Do you have a thirst for knowledge? What drives you to write?