Spotlight On Writers
Richard M. Ankers
@Richard_Ankers
- Where, do you hail from?
- What is the greatest thing about the place you call home?
Diversity. I say that in relation to everything and everyone that comprises the region. We have a great variation of landscape here, from hills and waterfalls to big-city sprawls and everything in between. There’s always something of interest never too far away, both new and ancient. The wide variety of people here reflect their domain and have only broadened the county’s perspectives.
- What turns you on creatively?
Everything. I’m inspired by everything from the turn of a phrase, to a particular word, to nature, landscape, and small details. I believe there’s always something to get the old creative juices flowing. Books and comics, art and film, they all have much to offer. But strangely, I often find my greatest inspiration comes from peace and quiet. Zen-like moments and snatches of calm are priceless in a world regularly rendered mad. If I could sit in full view of the mountains and a river or stream, and write my little heart out, you’d probably never see me again.
- What is your favorite word, and can you use it in a poetic sentence?
My favourite word is Nonchalant, though ‘Insouciant’ runs it close. There’s something about its description as casual disdain that has always done it for me. I would use it in something like the following:
His nonchalant perusal of the party and the guests therein belied his true predatory intentions.
- What is your pet peeve?
I hate littering. As someone who loves nature, seeing paper, cans, and just about everything else you can imagine these days, tossed without any regard or empathy for the world they live in, fills me with disgust. I would be delighted to point that out to anyone doing so, too, no matter how many of them there were. I remember reading a story in the English comic 2000AD when I was a very young boy that showed piles of trash filling the landscape, and it stuck. Tidy world, tidy mind, my grandad used to say. He knew what he was talking about.
- What defines Richard M. Ankers?
That’s a very difficult question to answer, as I always think it should be for others to say. If pressed, I’d err towards determined. I don’t like being told what to do or following the crowd for following’s sake. I think everyone has something to offer, and you should never be pigeonholed or told you can’t do something. Shyness meant I spent years hiding my writing away from the world — not even my family knew I wrote — and that is an eternal regret. Determination to get over that particular hurdle, which for me was massive, is what probably defines me best.
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