Pharrell Douglas

I grew up in Canada in my early years before moving back to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. I think what really influenced me to write was that I had a lot of questions about my life and mother that I had bottled up inside. You see, my parents separated prior to me moving from Canada and I hadn't met my mother since. We talked on the phone a few times but that was that. After seventh grade, I had a long quiet holiday in front of me and writing was a great way to get my mind off my past. I had never written a story before that and I didn't even know how to. I just did. And right now I'm happy for that.

I first started writing after seventh grade. It was because of Jealousy. Our English teacher stood at the door of the MPH, giving us her last wishes as we entered to do our English finals. My friend Salim was in front of him. She told him he'd do well, especially in Creative Writing because she knew he was creative. At that instant something inside of me started reacting to that. It said, "Hey. I'm creative too! I know it."
So after the exams I head home and decide I'm going to write a story this vacation. When I started I realized I had no bloody idea in the world how to write a story. My first book was really bad. I copied everything from the movie Eragon. I've probably thrown it away. Lucky for me, I didn't stop there. I tried to write another, almost gave up on the 3rd page but went on. A year later I completed my first novel. It was High School Anonymous. Never published. Only Andrew has read it.