Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in a rather rough neighbourhood in Horsens, Denmark. In the 80's the tensions between two rivaling gangs had grown to a level of violence that drove the Police to start a section dedicated to fight gang wars. My sister, two brothers and I managed to stay fairly out of trouble, but of course this environment has made an impact on my view on life. Even the harshest criminal is usually soft inside and every person can change their violent behaviour if they set their mind to it and if they get the support to do so.
When did you first start writing?
I don't remember exactly, but I wasn't very old, maybe 6 or 7 years old. Back then I wrote a wide variety of stories using pen and paper. When I was 14 years old I bought an Olivetti Electronic typewriter and I remember with a smile how I used to write way too fast for that machine to keep up, even though I only used my own 3-4 fingered system. When the buffer on that old Olly was full it made a long beep and I let go of the keyboard waiting for it to finish. Then I would continue the next few sentences till the buffer screamed "enough already! Let me think!" again. I had that machine for almost 4 years, before it was worn out and I bought myself an Amiga 500 that lasted the next 5 years, before I could finally afford a normal PC with Microsoft Word installed.
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