B.W. Knight

As you already know my name is Bridget,

I was born and raised in southern Ireland,

I am one of twenty-one children,

I was born into a poverty-stricken family, and when I say poverty stricken I mean just that.

We had no running water or electricity, neither did we have any sort of sanitation in our house, and as for books, I can honestly say that I never saw a book in my life outside of school, but that didn't matter because I couldn't read or write anyway.

But the saddest part of all this is when my children used to bring their homework home, and ask me to help, of course, I couldn't help them, and that is one of biggest regrets I have, the guilt of it almost chokes me at times.

I have had a lot of ups and downs in my life and seen far too much misery in my lifetime.

I have traveled far and wide taking in countries like India, staying in Delhi, New Delhi, and whilst there I visited the Taj Mahal. The Golden Temple and lots of other amazing sites.

Nepal, I have been on one of the best mountain flights in the world around Everest, on Guna Airlines in Kathmandu. I have been to the Gambia in Africa. The place where the author of Roots, Alex Haley’s great, great, great Grandfather Kunta Kinte, was kidnaped from, and transported to America.

I have visited Sydney, and whilst there I had the pleasure of a conducted tour of the Sydney opera house where I watched the performance of Swan Lake.

We traveled from Sydney up to Brisbane, and beyond in a Campervan.

I have visited Auckland New Zeeland and Australia three times.

I have been to Thailand, Singapore and other places in Asia.

I have traveled around America and seen some amazing places like Disney World, The Kennedy Space Center, Hollywood, Miami, Washington, New York, and of course I visited the Niagara Falls in Canada. I also stayed overnight in a Log Cabin in the Grand Canyon.

I have traveled all over England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and I have traveled to most places on the Continent like Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Luxemburg, Holland, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, France, and lots more places.

Without having suffered hardship, or struggles in life, I don’t think I would have been able to write, because I wouldn’t have had anything to write about. And as Jeffrey Archer once said, being able to write doesn’t make you a writer, it is being able to tell a story.

For the best part of my life, I could hardly read or write, and as for writing a book well that idea never crossed my mind.

I enrolled in a creative writing course at Westminster College around 15years ago! I died a thousand deaths when they handed me an enrolment form, I was asked to fill it out, of course, I had a panic attack, and nearly run out the door when I realized that they wanted to know about my qualifications, what qualifications, I haven’t got any. I left school barely able to write my name. I thought to myself as soon as they realize I don’t have any qualifications that will be the end of it.

I’m thinking it is foolish of me to have such notions. But I thought well I’m here now so I will try my best and fill it out. So I calmed myself down, but at the same time, I’m thinking, I can’t sit in with all those well-educated people, the thought of it half frightened me to death. But anyway I bit the bullet and took another look at it. Again I calmed myself down and thought of my late parents, Kitty and Willie Walsh. I felt that they would have been proud of me enrolling on such a great course, I then thought to myself oh what the heck, so I just put two lines right across the page and wrote in NONE.

I was shocked when I realized that they had accepted me on the course.

But my embarrassment didn’t stop there.

I really was struggling, and when it came to spelling Chelsea, I couldn’t, so I got my Mobil phone out of my bag, and held it under the top of the desk and called my son, and in a low voice asked him to spell it for me, but the joke is I was living there at the time!

I persevered, and here I am now with two novels and one Autobiographic behind me. God is good.