How I came to the words

I completed my first novel as a writer at the tender age of 11: a tale of fate set in Roman times. It was written with a fountain pen in a school notebook, illustrated with colored pencil drawings, and provoked much hilarity among the test readers. Later, I studied art history and cultural studies, and my first “real” book was published in 1996.

After graduating, an internship at a construction publishing house helped me broaden my horizons and learn the tools of the trade as a copywriter. Instead of writing about art, I now had to write about insulation and wiring and come up with amusing advertising copy for rental toilets or facade cladding.