SILVERAni AWAKENS

I studied physics at Oxford University. After leaving I messed around being young and foolish for a few years, until the need for pride drove me to take a job as an accountant. Eventually, I saved enough money for a deposit on a flat and moved out of my parents’ house. Six months later I had a nervous breakdown, and my colleagues at work called an ambulance which took me into psychiatric care.

For four weeks I was in hospital. The psychiatrist told me I had severe, long-term depression, coupled with an autistic spectrum disorder. He was not overly concerned with the breakdown, understanding it would pass quickly. However, dealing with depression was far more difficult, while autism is an ongoing challenge. Many autistic people suffer from depression and isolation, and suicide rates are ten times higher than average.

I was released into my parents’ care and informed I classified as disabled. Six months later I returned to work, living in my flat during the week, but returning to my parents’ house at the weekend. My mother and father both made enormous efforts on my behalf during this period, caring for me even though I was in my early thirties.

Two years later, I quit my job, worried that it was exacerbating the risk of another breakdown. I sold my flat and ended up back where I had been over a decade earlier, unemployed and living at home.

With little to do and concerned that I would never be able to fully take part in society, I began to write stories to try and find a way to express myself. I wrote six books that I was never quite happy with, improving my skill and enjoying the process. The seventh book, For I Shall Love A Dragon, was the first I was proud of.