Literary Birthday – 5 February – Tom Eaton

Happy Birthday, Tom Eaton, born 5 February 1977.

Quotes

I often start bits of fiction at the end: an image or a more complete climax sticks with me for a few weeks or months, and then I try to work out how to arrive at that final image.
I’m still not entirely sure what it means to be a writer. When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I write, not that I’m a writer. It seems too formal a description for my life, which is really a haphazard mixture of sloth punctuated with enormously diligent and massive production, excitement, boredom, procrastination and good intentions that come to nothing.
I think I was in high school when I first began hoping that I would be able to make a limited living by writing, and at the moment I’m slowly figuring out how to indulge the habit while still remaining part of the human race.
When [writing] it’s going well there is no better feeling, and it’s always over far too quickly.
Keep your head down and let trained professionals worry about the meaning of life.

Tom Eaton is a South African author, satirist, journalist, and screenwriter. His books include The De Villiers Code and The Wading. He also writes for The Times, Business Day, Sports Monthly, and whatever else takes his fancy. Follow @TomEatonSA on Twitter.