Updated Biography

I realised a few minutes ago that the biography linked on the main blog page was over a year out of date. Probably about time I wrote a new one really, so here's some updated information about me.

Name: Jon Burrage (aka Demajen
Birthday: 21st January 1981
Location: Wollaston, West Midlands, UK.
Profession: English Teacher (Supply) / Writer / Artist
Websites: Facebook, Blog

Hi. My name's Jon, I'm an Aquarius, and I'm an English teacher.

I graduated from Lancaster University in 2002 with a BA in English Literature, took a PGCE 02-03 in English, Drama and Media Studies, taught from 03-06 in schools in Preston and Lancaster, then took some time out to recover from depression and stress with an MA in Creative Writing at Lancaster Uni. I now work for a supply agency in the Midlands. I won't say I'm loving it, but the money is okay and I get to work with young adults, which is something I feel the need to do for some strange reason.

When I'm not teaching I do one of three main things:

1) I'm a gamer. Ever since I got a 128k spectrum back in the day I've enjoyed playing computer games. I own quite a few consoles (from the SEGA Dreamcast and the SNES to the bang-up-to-date Nintendo Wii and DS) as well as a relatively good PC that can handle most of today's games pretty decently.

2) I'm a writer. For the last couple of years now I've been working on and off on the first of a trilogy of 'fantasy' novels rooted in Shakespeare and mythology. I'm 3/4 of the way through the second draft, and one of my resolutions in 2008 is to finish it and start trying to find an agent and publisher.

3) I'm a digital artist. This particular hobby is often left by the wayside, as I'm not skilled enough to have a chance in today's competetive digital industry, so I look to my writing as a possible future source of income. If I could go back and make all my choices again, when I was 16, I'd almost certainly follow through the artistic path though. Wish I had done. Some of my art is available for download in the Gallery.

I have a relatively active web presence on various forums I host, as well as this blog and a regularly updated Facebook page which I use to keep in touch with people.

This all sounds very dry really, but underneath these 'professional' things I'm a fun-loving, daft git with a deadpan sense of humour and a tendency to do silly things, get involved with the wrong people, and generally make an ass of myself in public. ^_^