Barnaby Wilde is the pen name of Tim Fisher!
Tim was born in 1947 in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, but grew up and was educated in the West Country. He graduated with a Physics degree in 1969 and worked in manufacturing and Quality Control for a multinational photographic company for 30 years before taking an early retirement to pursue other interests. He has two grown up children and currently lives happily in Devon.
There. I've given you his real name, age (if you care to work it out) and where he lives. Everything a stalker would thrive on.
What you also have to know is that he is one of the quirkiest and most enjoyable writers I have come across since I began writing. For me, no one has matched his verse or his use of puns. I do believe he must be a jolly fellow and a decent chap along with it. But read on. Here is what he thinks of himself...
Just who does Barnaby Wilde think he is?
Barnaby Wilde, of course, doesn't exist. Even his name is a joke. (If you haven't got the joke yet, think Steppenwolf and, if you still haven't got it, you'll have to Google).
The truth is that Barnaby Wilde is a liar. He makes things up. He confabulates. He tells stories for personal gain. You can't believe a thing he says.
The question really is, why does he do it? The obvious answer, one might suppose, is that he'd like to be rich and famous, but even he doesn't believe that's going to happen. So, why?
Perhaps he just wants to be loved? Actually, that might not be too far from the truth. Certainly he's delighted when someone tells him that they've enjoyed reading something he's written. In fact, he gets far more pleasure from a piece of positive feedback, such as a book review, than he does from any commission he might make from selling it. In that case, you might ask why he doesn't give all his books away for free. Well, he has this strange belief that the only praise you can truly trust comes from the stranger who's laid out his own money. If someone takes the trouble to leave a positive review for something they've paid for, then it's probably genuine praise.
Maybe he's insecure? He needs to feel needed? Perhaps … though he has plenty of people around him who appear to find him useful. He certainly doesn't admit to feeling insecure.
Could it be that he just has an urge to be creative? Now, that surely has a ring of truth to it. He's certainly tried his hand at a few creative endeavours such as wood turning, pottery and painting in the past. Writing, though, has been there at some level or another ever since he was a kid. One of his earliest memories is of his father one-finger typing a story that Barnaby had written at his Primary School and turning it into a miniature book. (No idea what ever happened to it, sadly).
On the other hand, could it just be conceit? Maybe he just wants other people to see how clever he is? He swears it isn't, but it's an unconvincing denial.
Barnaby's own explanation is that he simply wants to entertain, amuse, and maybe, occasionally, mystify people. He loves the sound of words. He loves puns and rhymes. He says his head is full of stories and he thinks other folk might find them diverting.
But, as I said at the beginning, you can't believe a word he says. He makes things up.
You can find out more about Barnaby Wilde and his books at http://www.barnaby-wilde.co.uk or follow him on twitter @barnaby_wilde
He has also contributed to several publications by the writer's consortium 'Top Writer's Block', which publishes books on behalf of the charity 'Sea Shepherd.'
You can find a separate page on this blog devoted to TWB.