Brian J. Abela
Hi everyone and welcome to my novel’s website!
I certainly hope you will enjoy browsing through the sections of this site and in so doing, learning a little more about what the story is all about. I have also included reference to a number of past events dealing with the story which allowed me to meet the growing number of fans for The Ponds of Wonder story.
I can remember at the age of 7 developing a love for writing. I suppose it all began when I started reading comic books and Fighting Fantasy storybooks. Computers were not very advanced in the early 80s, so as a kid we entertained ourselves with imaginative games, watching movie rentals on the old VHS players, one of my favourite movies as a kid was called The Goonies, and lots of reading! All of these pastimes, I believe, influenced the Ponds of Wonder story and the types of books I wish to continue writing for children.
Throughout my years of formative schooling, my love for science fiction reading continued. Some of my favourite authors growing up were, and still are: David Eddings, Ian Livingstone, Steve Jackson and the late Robert Jordan. I was also an avid comic book collector, so much so, that most people would find me at the local comic book shop every Friday once the new titles were sorted and placed on the racks for sale.
I also grew up learning to play different musical instruments, particularly the saxophone and keyboards. I spent a number of wonderful years in a marching band and formed part of a musical group called the Neon Knights with a great bunch of guys in my late teens and early twenties. Music gave me the opportunity to travel throughout North America and visit places which were just two dimensional in the pages of the books I had read in the library and at school.
Keeping the development of my imagination and cultural identity was important for me, but so too was the importance of exercise. As a young teenager I rode my bicycle or walked where ever I needed to go, unless the weather didn’t allow for it, in which case I would take out my public transport pass and use the city transportation system. I had also enrolled in a Taekwando club in order to enhance my balance, self-confidence and dexterity skills all the while keeping fit at the same time.
After graduating from University I entered the field of teaching and focused my attention on educating children from as early an age as 6 to as old as 60! Each teaching role provided me with a plethora of opportunities and experiences which I used to build upon in order to help me become a better teacher. I firmly believe that when teaching one should leave all one’s trials and tribulations at the door and focus on the students at hand, not always easy, but my love for teaching and the passion I had for it helped me to do so.
A short number of years ago I was given the opportunity of becoming an Assistant Head of School in a primary school sector which I have been doing for the past four years and in doing so I began a new stage in my career which I thoroughly love!
The Ponds of Wonder novel began as an idea for a creative writing story I had written when I was in grade 7 and had remained in the back corner recess of my mind and never disappeared. A number of years ago I decided to take the plunge and began to flesh out the story into a longer novel and thankfully, with the help and support of a number of important people, one of them being my wife, I managed to self-publish the book and get into print. Sadly there were a large number of expenses involved in distributing a paperback version of one’s story, but my love for this story was so great that I did not wish to shelve it and leave it collecting dust. Given today’s technological advances and the great accessibility that the Internet provides, I decided to convert the book into a digital version so that I could get the story out to as many young readers around the world with a simple stroke of a few keys on my keyboard and this is where I find myself today, promoting the story I have written and sharing my love for reading with others, simply for the fun of reading.
So I hope you enjoy browsing through my site. Please take a few moments and visit the fan section and leave me a short note of your visit, where you are from and what you liked about the site or the story. I'd also encourage you to visit the Blog section and browse through some of the articles. If you enjoy colouring, there are some great PDF files to print in the Blog section as well. Send me a scanned copy of the page you coloured and I will post it on the site for everyone to see.
Happy Reading to everyone!
Brian
Me with my wonderful son Eric.
Eric was born with a severe visual impairment. All proceeds collected from sales of my book through this website go towards helping purchase equipment needed for him to be able to move from one place to another with confidence and explore the world around him.