Rowan Blair Colver Online - Rowan Blair Colver Online

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Meeting God In The Middle by Rowan B. Colver

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Bio:

I was born in August of 1981 and lived in Devon on a small farm called Sheldon. I moved to Bexleyheath in Kent when I was about 2. From there I went to Bursted Wood Primary School until I was 11 and then I went to Bexley Grammar School. At the age of 14 I moved to Sheffield and attended High Storrs School. At High Storrs I achieved 8 GCSEs at A-C. I went on to study A-levels in science and unfortunately began to suffer with poor mental health. Unaware of what was happening to me and confused, I dropped out of school after a series of bad results. I always had the intention to finish school, which I did with the Open University. During my further studies at the OU I had 2 children. My studies took another turn for the worse when my relationships broke down in both instances. Having run out of funding and self-esteem, I stopped working towards a degree. My mental health was affecting my ability to hold down work, and I was able to manage a few jobs washing dishes in restaurants and at the Sheffield United football ground. I also played guitar in bands for which we had some good success for the time. When my daughter was diagnosed with Cri Du Chat syndrome and it became clear she would need my care for the rest of my life, I had to make an effort to provide and be available.

I began writing as a hobby in the late 2000s after my music performance gradually came to a close. Releasing studio music and poetry on the internet, I won a few awards and gained a healthy following. I wrote a book about the council estate where I lived called "A Poet, On Park Hill? ". This was featured in the local paper and followed on to an interview for BBC Radio 4. I wrote a lot of books after this, with different themes and settings. Poetry, stories, and non-fiction all in turn came out as I scrambled to find a foothold in the writing industry. Naturally I was easily led into a few scams and false leads, which is what happens when you do something all by yourself with no experience. I eventually decided to begin writing as a volunteer for Now Then Magazine which is based in Sheffield. I was quickly taken on board by a handful of music promoters who began writing to me personally with feature suggestions. I was provided with enough music to begin writing about it on my own website. This was The Electro Review.

I had also begun working on Alternative Fruit. I wanted to use culture and art to build bridges between communities. After September 11 and the Iraq war, there was a lot of mistrust between global communities. My aim was to rebuild some of this trust by demonstrating that people who look like me are not all soldiers and politicians. I also wanted to provide a way forward that does not rely on violence or law breaking to get on. With Alternative Fruit, the message is that art and creativity can change the world without hurting or upsetting anyone. As my music submissions grew, I began writing about non electronic music in Alternative Fruit in a journal called Sound Read. This reached 5 editions.

Sound Read Six replaced The Electro Review and the Sound Read journal in Alternative Fruit. This took the music submissions to their own site for which I write and report on each piece in turn. The site has its own YouTube playlist and works to promote hard-working indie and grass-roots artists. Readers are given a run-down of great talent that comes from many genres and styles.

To compliment the blogging venture and to ensure my product was of the best standard possible, I studied several online courses. Having completed NVQ Level 5 Leadership and Management, Entrepreneurship, Digital Marketing Practice, and Social Media Marketing, I found myself extremely qualified. I also took several shorter courses including ones from Udemy and FutureLearn in order to improve all-round ability. Learning is a life-long process and this has not stopped.

Working to produce written work in book form, and moving on from the original output that was initially unfocused, I opened Deltic Books. Using various other names, I created a list of books that is still growing. The theme is emotional and psychological with humanitarian elements. With a desire to encourage readers to think about the human inside the machine and the feelings that go with it, the scope is set to reach ever further with each new edition.