Romance in Didcot
My Phobia
The popular theory to beat a phobia is to tackle it head on, I tried that with my phobia of public speaking, and for me it was a disaster, not the speaking event but the aftermath.
I was invited to read a segment of one of my books at a meeting, the book I chose was the second in my science fiction series (shown above).
I was nervous, but once I started to read, I enjoyed the reading, and I was well received - or so I thought - things after the event took on a sinister tone. I think the cause could have been jealousy from one of the more well-known writers in the group.
Later that week, I re-posted a post against dog fights, and the leader of the group twisted the meaning to say I said I was in favour of the fights, as an animal lover I am very anti-dog fighting. I have had dogs for many years, and I love them like our children.
Before I had the opportunity to defend myself, the witch hunt was over, I had been tried, and convicted by a kangaroo-court. It had taken me years to get the courage to speak in public, the last tie before that night was when I was in college. My phobia is so strong, I turned down an opportunity to talk about birds to a scout group while I was stationed at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland.