Boredom is a wonderful and creative thing. When there are no expectations, the mind becomes clear for peregrinations in open skies.
When thoughts and speculations are allowed to meander some original thinking is developed, as well as an awful pile of meaningless dross.
I perfected the art of boredom as a primary school child in the 1960s. I could spend hours staring at the sky or the sea just mind wandering. Growing up on the coast gave me a massive watery canvas on which to work and a chant of waves to induce the trance. Mostly I was just wandering, but sometimes, I fleetingly viewed a nugget of an idea which was streaked with genius.
Short of a coastline, the best way to induce this trance like state is through books.
How I used boredom to profitable end, and the trouble it got me into, are outlined in my Reso trilogy of books. Some indication of their enduring popularity can be gleaned from the fact that the library in my hometown no longer stocks them as they are the most stolen volumes from their shelves- that is the ultimate in back handed compliments. Only the ‘I read your book, it was wonderful and hilarious and brought back those times so well. We’ve passed it round the family and all agree it is a superb read!’… you are allowed to buy more than one book… you could give it as a Christmas or birthday present for heaven’s sake!
The Reso begins the story in the 1960s, Beyond the Reso tells the seventies tale of secondary school, and Resolution focusses on the university years and beyond.
I had to use a pen-name as David Hughes is perhaps the ultimate beige name in Wales – several hundred of them are already in print! I chose the surname of a particularly fondly remembered teacher, John Ambrose, and my mum’s maiden name. The name has garnered hoots of derision over the years, but it tends to be memorable.
The books are particularly suitable for a school age readership from upper primary onwards and deal with many of the trials and tribulations of school, as well as the transition to the world of aspirations and careers beyond school.
They are suitable for anyone who has had a childhood, particularly those who can’t remember it, or those who can.
The books are available to order from all good bookshops, or online here
Ambrose Conway 