Alex Serval

Writing allows you to do all sorts of things! Work, fill out forms, write letters, and so on. It's practical!

One of my friends, discovering that I write, says to me, "I want to write too!" I reply, "Good idea, but what subject do you want to cover?" just to test him a little. He surprises me: "Me, my life!"

"Wait, you want to do a report, then, something that will be discovered in a century and that everyone will laugh about, seeing how we lived 100 years ago?"

"Huh?! But I'm not going to make any money from that!"

"Don't worry, I only make very little, and yet, when I write, I have a blast!" He asks me, "Oh really? Explain?" He hadn't read anything I've written yet.

"Actually, I write with a touch of mischief, I throw in winks, references, allusions that make people smile, but also make them think. Not too much for the last one, though; the idea is to take people's minds off things, not to make them overthink." He scratches his head. "What do you suggest?" "Nothing, I'm just showing you that depending on what you write, readers will react differently. And everything has to be perfect, no misteikz (!), a nice layout, and above all, it has to reflect who you are."

The discussion ended there. I think he believed it was easy to write to be read, but as I discovered on my own, it's far from it!

All this to say that I've worked as a factory operator, a radio host, a DJ, and the manager of a digital printing company (that's where I discovered the language, as my vocational baccalaureate in electrical engineering hadn't prepared me for it at all!). Then I distributed flyers in mailboxes to start my own IT support business. There, I discovered social media and filming, but it was sunk by an overly pretentious administration. I played several small roles on TV, and a lead role in "Terre de Breizh: Révélation" (Land of Brittany: Revelation). I created a custom-built, easily personalized, energy-efficient, and easily repairable local PC. While on welfare, I stumbled upon some of my writing, so I took things to the next level. Nine books in less than two years, many dashed hopes, but also much satisfying work. A hero at the origin of a chapter in our history, a little girl whose short life is cut short, saved at the last minute, an ultra-logical computer scientist who discovers that Brittany is a very special place, and the under-the-table sale of the secrets of a groundbreaking invention discovered by a dead man!

Personally, my partner and I have hit rock bottom: eviction from our apartment, not because we don't pay, but simply because I dared to point the finger at a dishonest landlord, welfare, food banks (thanks, Michel), and every trip counts just to make ends meet... There you have it!