Craig A. Cooper
Writing frees my mind and feeds my soul
I grew up in a small Village on the outskirts of Calgary Ab. I’m the oldest of two brothers and a sister. Growing up my dad read to us and so did my mom. Storytelling was a big part of my childhood. We also listened to audio books on family trips. I fell in love with the art of storytelling.
I wrote my first book for a school assignment, being home schooled my mom sent it to a publisher and they wanted to publish, sending it back for editing. I had gotten my assignment done and didn’t want to do any more work on it. I was naïve and didn’t pursue the opportunity. Years later regret had set in and I set out to remedy that.
Setting out on a twenty-year quest to write my book Life a Drift; (coming soon) I got frustrated with traffic in Vancouver my home now. I wrote the feature length script for Road Rager’s Anonymous in a week, all one hundred and thirty something pages. In a manic state, I took the script and used it as an outline to create the book Road Rager’s Anonymous.
In 2020, I learned that I was Bipolar; looking back at what I’ve accomplished I could see how my disability has fueled my creativity. My moods come through in my writing and in my home life. Taking a toll on my family unfortunately, I was angry a lot of the time writing Road Rager’s. With Life a Drift I’m going through manic episodes where I write for hours completing chapters in days. I rarely sleep more than five hours. I have had to really watch myself writing the depressing parts as that plays hand in hand with my disorder. I find that listening to my music in my earbuds keeps me grounded as I write.
One day I might write a book about my experience with my disorder, how it has affected me and the ones around me. The time I’ve lost and the new-found freedom I have found. In the meantime, I’m going to focus on my creative side. I will say that if you are struggling mentally or know someone who is, it’s never too late to reach out for help talk to your doctor and they will point you in the right direction.
I hope you enjoy my story and please excuse the mistakes I’ve made. I don’t know anything about grammar or spelling. Thankfully we have technology that I can ask for spelling help, I look up words often and Microsoft helps with some grammar.
Pick up a book and go on an adventure.
