About

 

I guess you want to know a little something about me?

Things you’ve (probably) figured out:

I’m a writer.

One day I hope to become a successful published writer.

I don’t particularly enjoy writing, but as someone wiser than me once said: I enjoy having just written.

Why don’t I enjoy writing? Because it’s damn hard. I’m a perfectionist and, while I am compelled to write because of who I am, I have a hard time ever thinking it is good enough.

Hence the blog. Here I am forced to let my words go without strangling them to death. There’s a simple freedom here that I can’t get when working on any larger ‘projects.’

So thank you for reading!

Things you might have guessed:

Aliya Smyth is my pen name.

One of my favorite personalities of all time is Mark Twain. I don’t like everything he’s written, but he had a rich and witty view of the world, a cracking imagination and one of the best pen names I have ever come across. Plus, that mustache:

Chromolithograph from the 1898 oil portrait by Ignace Spiridon.
Chromolithograph from the 1898 oil portrait by Ignace Spiridon.

For those of you who don’t know, Mark Twain’s real name was Samuel Clemens. Not a bad name to be sure, and certainly if you threw his middle name, Langhorne, into the mix, it was a real doozy. But he heard the cry ‘mark twain’ on the riverboats, where it was called out to indicate that the river was two fathoms deep. And so his pen name was more than a name; more than just an alternate identity. It had a deeper meaning. (Did I mention I like puns?)

My real name has a bit of notoriety attached to it. It wasn’t even me who had the fun of dragging it through the dirt. Plus, other people who write use my name and I don’t want to be stepping on their toes. Sigh – the problems of having a common name.

Whether you like it, hate it, or just think I’m a weirdo when you get the pun, send me an email and I’ll give you an honorable mention on my pen name hall of fame.*

Things you might not guess unless you’re Sherlock Holmes:

I have two beautiful children, a girl and a boy.

I love to travel. Prague, Rome, Ireland, England, and Greece being some of my favourite places.

I hate snow except around Christmas time. Which makes it even crazier that I live in the freezing north.

I absorb stories of all kinds. But tales of adventure and struggle against tremendous odds have been my favourite since I read The Lord of the Rings in sixth grade.

Guinness is good and rum is yum. (This should be obvious to all, but I’m willing to be patient with those who don’t know yet.)

And I, like Mark Twain, can really work a mustache.

Cheers.

Image from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/give/bene62/bene62story1.html

 

*not an actual hall of fame.